Ogden Minton Pleissner

Ogden Minton Pleissner is the modern master of the American sporting picture: anglers mid-cast on a salmon river, grouse shooters in October cover, painted in watercolors of extraordinary structure and restraint. The same hand documented the Second World War for the Air Force and LIFE — a range that puts him in American museums well beyond the sporting field.

Revere Auctions provides free auction estimates for Pleissner’s work: send photographs and our specialists will respond with an honest valuation.

Who Was Ogden Minton Pleissner?

Pleissner was born in Brooklyn in 1905 and trained at the Art Students League. His first reputation was Western — Wyoming pack trips supplied landscapes that the Metropolitan Museum bought when he was still in his twenties — and teaching at the League confirmed a craftsman’s command of both oil and watercolor.

The war remade him: commissioned by the Army Air Force and then working for LIFE, he painted the Aleutians, England’s airfields, and the Normandy campaign — work now in national collections. The discipline of painting fast under field conditions perfected the watercolor manner that defines him.

After the war his subjects settled into the sporting world he loved — Atlantic salmon rivers of Canada, New England grouse covers, Long Island duck blinds — plus the streets and squares of Europe from regular travels. Vermont became home; he died in London in 1983, and the Shelburne Museum maintains a gallery of his work.

What Did Pleissner Paint?

The signature Pleissners are sporting watercolors — salmon fishing on the Restigouche and Grand Cascapedia, wing shooting in birch cover — composed with an architect’s bones beneath the fluency. Oils of the same subjects exist and lead the market when they appear.

European street scenes, Western landscapes, and the war pictures complete the output. Editioned prints after his best-known sporting subjects circulate widely and trade far below original work.

How Much Is My Ogden Pleissner Painting Worth?

Several things determine what a work by Ogden Minton Pleissner brings at auction:

• Original versus print — his popular sporting images were published as collotype and offset editions — originals carry the value, and the difference is total
• Medium — oils lead; major exhibition watercolors follow closely; small sheets trade more modestly
• Subject — salmon fishing and grouse shooting subjects are the heart of his market
• Condition — watercolors must be unfaded and unfoxed
• Provenance — sporting-club and camp histories add appeal to exactly the buyers who bid hardest

The honest answer is that no two are alike, and the difference between an ordinary example and an exceptional one is a conversation with a specialist, not a chart. Send us photographs through our free auction estimate form — front, back, signature, and any labels — and we will tell you what you have.

The Market for Pleissner

Original Pleissner watercolors typically bring four to five figures at auction, with major sporting subjects and oils well into five figures in recent years. The sporting market treats him as its modern standard, and museum standing keeps the top results firm.

Because prints after Pleissner are everywhere, the free specialist confirmation matters here more than for most artists.

How to Sell a Work by Pleissner

The strongest results for an Ogden Pleissner painting come at auction, where national and international collectors bid against each other. Revere Auctions offers free, no-obligation auction estimates: send photos and dimensions and our specialists respond with a current market valuation and a recommendation on how to sell. Consigned works are professionally photographed, cataloged, and marketed through our fine art auctions to a worldwide bidder base, and we regularly arrange shipping for consignors across the country. If you need a formal written valuation for insurance or estate purposes, our appraisal and valuation services team can help; you can also read more about how selling at auction works.

Related: American & Western paintings, our fine art department, appraisal services, free auction estimates.

Reviewed by the fine art specialists at Revere Auctions, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Ogden Minton Pleissner: Frequently Asked Questions

How much is an Ogden Pleissner painting worth?

Original watercolors typically bring four to five figures, oils and major sporting subjects more. Prints after his work trade far below originals. Revere Auctions provides free auction estimates from photographs.

How do I know if my Pleissner is an original watercolor or a print?

Editioned reproductions of his sporting subjects are common and well made. Under magnification a print shows a dot or grain pattern; an original shows true washes. Send photographs, including a close detail, and our specialists will confirm free.

What did Pleissner paint in the war?

Commissioned by the Army Air Force and later working for LIFE, he painted the Aleutian campaign, English airfields, and the Normandy invasion — work now in national military and museum collections.

Where can I sell an Ogden Pleissner painting?

At auction with a house that reaches sporting art collectors nationally. Revere Auctions offers free estimates and formal appraisals.

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