Joint Report
NOVEMBER 5-6, 2017
Arts of the American West
$1.3 million
During its two-day Arts of the American West sale, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers brought to market a collection of paintings and bronzes from a Midwestern museum.the offerings, which included pieces by noteworthy Western artists, drew competitive phone bidding and interest in the room.the highest earner from the items—and the top lot of the sale—was The Roper by William Robinson Leigh, which depicted a cowboy on
his bucking bronco with a lasso raised in his hand.
Estimated to achieve $100,000 to $150,000, the painting more than doubled its low estimate when it sold for $281,000.The work, which was evocative of the subject and style the artist is most recognized for, went to a private collector.
Other standouts from the museum’s offerings included a Charles M. Russell watercolor from circa 1889 titled Pointing Out the Trail
(est. $100/150,000) and Frank Tenney Johnson’s Rocky
Steeps (est. $40/60,000). The former work, which depicted a guide pointing the way over a mountain cliff to a group of riders, sold for $125,000.The Johnson painting, a nocturnal scene, yielded $27,500. Charlie Dye’s Brush Popping (est. $20/30,000) was also of note, selling for its low estimate. According to the auction house,“interest in the collection was driven by them being offered from an institutional collection with exhibition history and the iconic depictions of scenes typical of the artists represented.”