Hopper, Bellows paintings lead American art auction

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Paintings by two iconic artists, Edward Hopper and George Bellows, are expected to be the top selling lots at an auction of American Art next month, Sotheby's said on Thursday.

Hopper's "Bridal Path," an oil painting done in 1939 and the first to appear at auction since 2006 when the sale of "Hotel Window" set a record price for the artist, has a pre-sale estimate of up to $7 million for the May 17 sale in New York.

"The equestrian subject and focus on movement are highly unusual for Hopper's oeuvre, but the composition's sense of mystery is pure Hopper," Sotheby's said in a statement announcing the sale.

The work features New York's famous Dakota apartment building in the background, which is unusual for Hopper whose paintings are usually ambiguous with universal settings.

"Tennis at Newport," one of four Bellows paintings of the sport done in 1919 and 1920, is also expected to be a big seller with a $5 million to $7 million price tag. Two of the other works of the same subject are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Other works that will go under the hammer include "In the Sun" by Childe Hassam, which was stolen from a Massachusetts home in 1976, unrecovered for decades and is estimated to sell for as much as $2.5 million, and David Johnson's "View from New Windsor, Hudson River," which was painted between 1867 and 1870.

Christie's American Paintings, Drawing and Sculpture sale on May 18 will include 100 lots, ranging in price from $10,000 to $3 million, that could total in excess of $22 million.

Fitz Henry Lane's "Gloucester, Stage Fort Beach," done in 1849 which depicts where English settlers landed on Cape Ann in the 1600s has the highest pre-sale estimate at $3 million.

"Perth Amboy West (Tottenville)" by Oscar Bluemner, which is one of his earliest, large scale paintings in his modern style, could sell for a similar sum, according to Christie's.

(Reporting by Patricia Reaney, Editing by Christine Kearney)