Icons of the West
Images of cowboys, Native Americans and other Western figures hit the auction block at Coeur d’alene Art Auction July 28
Important Western works from some of the icons of the genre will be available July 28 at the Coeur d’alene Art Auction in Reno, Nevada. The top-selling Western auction in the country—it has realized more than $310 million over the last 15 years—returns this year to the Grand Sierra Resort with a number of major works from some of the defining artists of the West. The sale comes on the heels of a number of multimillion-dollar Western art sales, indicating that the market is ready for some exciting bidding, especially for the top-quality works that frequently appear at the Coeur d’alene Art Auction. “the market is in real good shape. we’ve been watching some of the spring sales, and we’re seeing how excited consignors are, not to mention advance bookings are up,” says auction partner Mike Overby. “One carryover from last year we’re excited about is the 20 percent increase
in brand-new bidders.we like to see those new people in the Western art world as they start their collections.we want to build off that.”
Overby continues, “everything is looking really great for another big sale. We’re all excited to get it going.we had a really strong year last year”—the auction realized more than $16 million in 2017—“and we’ve seen that carry over into consignments for 2018.We landed some great works early on, and then they just never let up…it’s a very even sale.we’re not top heavy on one artist, and we’re spread out among all the top artists, both contemporary artists like Howard Terpning and then also the extremely important historic artists like Alfred Jacob Miller.”
Miller is one of several artists that are within striking distance of major
new auction records.the sale will offer Miller’s The Thirsty Trapper, an 1850 oil that is estimated at $1.5 million to $2.5 million. Even if it hammers at its low estimate, the premium will likely push it past a $1.7 million record set for the artist in 2012.
“Art collector Jack Warner has owned this piece for many years, and it’s a museum-quality Miller that we’re seeing a lot of excitement for,” Overby says.“aesthetically, it’s such a pleasing piece with great coloration and so much subtle detail like the teepee camp in the background. Pieces of this magnitude are rare, so to have it available is a rare occurrence.”
William R. Leigh, known for his high-action cowboy and Native American scenes, will also be striving for a seven-figure record with Embarrassed (Range Pony in Town), which shows a rider fighting a bucking horse as a number of onlookers gaze on.the dramatic painting, with its bands of fading golden light cascading across the town, is estimated at $1 million to $1.5
million, which puts it in contention with Leigh’s 2011 auction record of $1.15 million.“we do very well with Leigh at the auction because there’s so much room to move with him. Compare him to Russell or Remington, and he’s tremendously undervalued, so we get to see lots of action as bidders fight to get one of his high-action paintings,” Overby says, adding that the same piece was sold at auction in 2010 for $962,000, which set an auction record at the time.“what really makes this painting for some people is that it features downtown Cody,wyoming, back in the old days.and it’s a complex painting, certainly one of his best.”
Leigh will have several other major works, including West Virginia Woodchopper, estimated at $300,000 to $500,000, and From the Rod to the Rifle, a moose attack scene estimated at $80,000 to $120,000.
Taos works include major pieces from Eanger Irving Couse, such as the nocturne River Camp – Moonlight (est. $80/120,000), and two important pieces by Joseph Henry Sharp: Chief White Paint Mountain (est. $150/250,000) and Hunting and War Songs (est. $200/300,000).
Other potential top lots include
Edgar Payne’s 1921 oil Solitude’s Enchantment (est. $300/500,000), Leon Gaspard’s A Street in Peking (est. $150/250,000), Bob Kuhn’s African scene After the Short Rains (est. $150/250,000), and Howard Terpning’s 1981 oil Dust of Many Pony Soldiers (est. $800/1,200,000). Overby says he is especially excited about Laverne Nelson Black’s Along the Old Trail, estimated at $150,000 to $250,000. “It’s a great piece, and a large piece at 30 by 40 inches. It truly is one of his masterpieces. It was used by the [Santa
Fe] Railroad as a commemorative plate, so it was highly reproduced, which means it will be very familiar to a lot of people,” he says.“it’s the finest Black [work] we’ve come across.”
Three other iconic names include: Frederic Remington, whose bronze Mountain Man has been estimated at $150,000 to $250,000; Charles M. Russell, On thewarpath [or] Brave,a watercolor estimated at $60,000 to $90,000; and Carl Rungius, whose moose scene Coming Up the Valley, is likely to sell between $80,000 and $120,000. Other artists include O.C. Seltzer, Olaf Wieghorst, E.william Gollings and Gerard Curtis Delano, whose Canyon del Muerto, Navajo Res.arizona has been estimated at $80,000 to $120,000.