Under the Tetons
Collectors will have their shot at stunningwestern works during the Jackson Hole Art Auction in Wyoming
Collectors will have their shot at stunning Western works during the Jackson Hole Art Auction in Wyoming
September 19, 12:30 p.m.
Jackson Hole Art Auction 130 E. Broadway
Jackson Hole, WY 83001 t: (866) 549-9278 www.jacksonholeartauction.com
On September 19, the Jackson Hole Art Auction is returning to Wyoming with a huge selection of Western artworks that should thrill bidders.
“We’re excited about the sale and what we have to offer,” says auction partner Maryvonne Leshe.“so far we have about 250 lots spread out over two sessions in a single day.we have some truly wonderful works in the sale, including some beautiful wildlife works, which is a category we’ve always been very strong in.”
Due to the shifting guidelines related to the ongoing health crisis, organizers of the sale have opted to hold the sale exclusively online for the first time in the auction’s history. “We’re certainly hoping for good conditions, and Wyoming has been better than other states, but rather than worry about where things are going to be in a couple months, we just decided to move everything online,” Leshe says. “In addition to virtual bidding on four different platforms, we will also have lots of people working the phones. This is the wave of the future and people are getting very comfortable
with all of it.”
Although the auction will be online, the lots will be viewable a month before the sale at Trailside Galleries in Jackson Hole.
Highlights in the sale include Thomas Moran’s Cascade Falls,yosemite (est. $750/1,250,000), which is on the auction catalog’s cover.“it is a gorgeous painting, just really beautiful,” Leshe says.“and it comes from an important collection, so I think there’s going to be a lot of interest in it.”
The auction also has a trio of noteworthy works by Oscar E. Berninghaus: Green Aspens (est. $30/50,000), The Hitching Post (est. $40/60,000) and The Lookout (est. $125/175,000), which shows a cowboy relaxing on his horse as he watches a herd in fading afternoon light.
Wildlife works, though, always play an important role in the sale and this year the category is again exceptional with works from Carl Rungius, Bob Kuhn and even a butterfly painting by Albert Bierstadt.the Rungius work, Wyoming Elk, should draw considerable interest, with estimates ranging from $150,000 to $250,000. The Kuhn pieces include the leopard painting A Cry to the Wild (est. $50/75,000), Red Fox Airborne (est. $50/75,000) and No Free Lunch (est. $50/75,000), a dramatic scene of a bear chasing down four birds as they swoop across the painting.a Kuhn bronze, Winter Chase (est. $20/30,000), will also be available.
Leshe adds that, while the ongoing pandemic has not been ideal for the market, the artwork is still exciting bidders.“the stock market is great, people have money to spend and they are looking for great pieces,” she says. “We are feeling confident about the sale and the market.”