"Harness Racer at Belmont Park 1884, Philadelphia" by Agustus Kollner

24.5” x 29” including frame

Watercolor on paper, signed lower right Agustus Knoller and dated 1884. Inscribed on the reverse in pencil "This trotting came off Aug 15th 1884 at Belmont Park near Manayunk." This is the Belmont Driving Park in Philadelphia, which had a very active harness racing course established in 1880. It also appears to list the name of the horse and jockey, which could be "Pallas, Bithers driving." This is a very rare larger scale watercolor by a prized American artist with work represented in The Met, Smithsonian, and Brooklyn Museum. The paper is watermarked "J Whatman" for James Whatman, who invented wove paper in the 1750s and was known as the best possible paper for watercolorists. The piece presents very well and has a great presence. The frame has had some repaired nicks here and there, but is solid and period. The watercolor has strong colors and a couple of small tears around the edges that were expertly conservation repaired years ago are evident. The only one that is visiible to the naked eye is approximately .5" in the upper center from the top edge.