Fifth Avenue Art Galleries

All of the paintings that George Inness's wife, Elizabeth Hart Inness owned, were auctioned off at an official executor's sale at the Fifth Avenue Art Galleries. Montclair Meadows was auctioned on Friday, February 12th, 1904, the first night of the auction. James P. Silo was the auctioneer that presided over the events and was "instructed to sell each and every picture without reservation of any kind" according to the manager for the Inness estate and stated in the catalogue of the event. In a New York Times article that discussed the event, 61 paintings were disposed of out of a total of 187 paintings that were auctioned off the evening that Montclair Meadows was up for auction, although in all the listings, it does not appear that it was sold on this evening, but it was noted that there was a "large company present." In all of the accounts of this night, Montclair Meadows was not sold, so it is difficult to understand what would have happened to the painting at this point. The following few decades there is little information about Montclair Meadows until it makes its way to Houston, Texas at the Meredith Long & Company Gallery as early as 1957.  

Text Sources:

New York Times, "Inness Pictures at Auction," February 13, 1904.

New York Times, "Inness Estate Pictures," February 12, 1904.

Executor's Sale: Catalogue of Inness Paintings by the Late George Inness. New York: Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, 1904.