Lot 135

Carl Tolpo Yellowstone Park c. 1955 Litho's (25)

Estimate: $400 - $800

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$50 $10
$100 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$25,000 $2,500
$100,000 $5,000
The lot features a collection of 25 original lithographs, circa 1955, of the Lower (Grand or Great) Falls of the Yellowstone River in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone National Park by Carl Tolpo. The lot includes 25 new-old-stock originals directly from the artist, handed down by his son. They were printed in 1955, during Carl Tolpo’s lifetime, from the original. The original work of these lithos was done from the perspective of the artist in the Yellowstone Grand Canyon at Artist’s Point. Carl Tolpo was born in Ludington, Michigan in 1901. During the course of his career, he established his reputation as a portrait, genre, and landscape painter, as well as a portrait and figure sculptor. As a painter, his works in fine oil portraiture particularly include State portraits and landscape oil paintings of the western USA, mostly the Yellowstone Park region. His works are on display in the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This lifetime lithograph depicts the Lower Falls and the Grand Canyon it carves out at Yellowstone National Park. An osprey can be seen flying over the falls in the sky. Ospreys were often depicted in Tolpo’s work, as he was an avid fisherman. The painting was done from “Tolpo Point”, which was later officially named in his honor in 1953 and is where he painted his colossal work of the Canyon—a piece that is on loan to YNP and on display. Each print measures 25 7/8”x20”. The prints are loose in new-old-stock, well preserved condition. They were removed from the original wrappings for the first time since Tolpo ordered them back in the 1950’s to be brought to you on this rare occasion. These prints have regularly sold for as much as $300 a piece, which would value this lot at $7,500. These are truly a wonderful piece of Yellowstone history and would be a fantastic gallery, antique store, tourist store, or collector addition. The piece is marked in the artwork, "1955 (copyright) Carl Tolpo July th Aug 1954 Y.G.C. at Red Rock" and under the artwork, "Lower (Great) Falls of the Yellowstone River Grand Canyon Yellowstone National Park painted by Carl Tolpo.”