?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 10,000 - $ 15,000
PALMER HAYDEN (1890 - 1973) Michie Field, West Point.
Oil on canvas, circa 1950-55. 582x760 mm; 23x30 inches. Signed in oil, lower left recto. Signed and titled in oil verso. 3 vertical breaks in the canvas, 2 with restoration verso.
Provenance: the artist; private New York collection.
There is a watercolor version of this same composition in a private collection, and another view of Michie Stadium in the collection of the Hayden estate.
Palmer Hayden first joined the army's all-black Company A, 24th Infantry Regiment in 1911, changing his name from Peyton C. Hedgeman at his enlistment. After having served abroad in the Philippines, Hayden was discharged in 1914 only to re-enlist at the break out of World War I later that year. He joined the black cavalry troop of the 10th Cavalry at West Point where he worked as a groomsman. He enjoyed the freedom of horse riding and drawing while off-duty, and stayed on at West Point until 1920. These experiences encouraged him to pursue a career as an artist. Hayden later returned to West Point through his painting. Bearden and Henderson note how he drew heavily from his imagination with most subjects, apart from his marine landscapes. Bearden/Henderson pp. 158 and 165.
