The appraised work is an oil on canvas painting executed by American artist Dalhart Windberg (b. 1933). The painting depicts an autumnal landscape with a small church visible in the middle ground and a vast mountain range partially obscured by fog in the background. Windberg was born in Texas and is known as a painter of romantic landscapes, inspired by his travels throughout Texas, Mexico, Spain, Greece, and other European countries. He began his career working under fellow Texan painter Simon Michael but had to put his practice on hold to serve in the armed forces in post WWII Europe. During this time, Windberg was inspired by the landscapes he saw but also deeply affected by the destruction in the wake of the war. In 1967, he transitioned into a professional artist and quickly gained widespread recognition.

The estimate provided is based on comparables recently offered and sold at auction. Works by Windberg seem to regularly appear at auction, with approximately 40 coming up for sale in the last five years—mostly at auction houses in and around Texas. Overall, the results appear fairly consistent, with paintings typically selling within their presale estimates. After taking a sharp decline in 2015, the artist’s auction market appears to have stabilized and has returned to a level close to its height, which was in 2007. The subject work’s size, compositional complexity, condition (based on photographs provided), as well as the artist’s current auction market were taken into consideration when determining the estimate. In many cases, pricing for similar examples available on the primary (retail) market vary, and are often higher than secondary (auction market examples).