Coeur d’alene Art Auction
Reno, NV
Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), On the Warpath [or] Brave, ca. 1892, watercolor on paper, 15½ x 10½” Estimate: $60/90,000
When it comes to works of art, there are certainly more important aspects to any given work than its auction price. The color, the subject matter, the composition, the quality of the paint, the vividness of the light…dozens of different elements make up any given work, and the auction price is way down at the bottom, if appearing at all, on that list.
And yet it’s still fun to imagine the excitement in the room as an important work of art is shown to potential buyers: bid cards flip upward clutched within steady hands, a drumbeat of bids trigger yelps from the auctioneer, numbers creep upward in leaps and bounds, the gasps in the room as numerical milestones are passed, and the work that edges closer and closer to a world record only to shatter it, or fall sadly short.
The numbers, which can seem so impersonal and misplaced in an artist’s studio, rule the auction, and that is abundantly clear at the annual Coeur d’alene Art Auction, this year held July 28, in Reno, Nevada. The topselling 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 works that are primed and ready for what could easily be thrilling new artist world records.
“Everything is looking really great for another big sale. We’re all excited to get it going,” says Mike Overby, auction partner for the Coeur d’alene Art Auction. “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. We’ve seen substantial interest in this year’s works.”
Overby adds that this year’s sale will once again feature a strong variety of Western works, all of them evenly spread out over genre and time period. “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 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 be striving for a seven-figure record as well 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.
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 award-winning 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 we’ve come across.”
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).
Three other iconic names include: Frederic Remington, whose bronze Mountain Man has been estimated at $150,000 to $250,000; Charles M. Russell, On the Warpath [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 scene Canyon del Muerto, Navajo Res. Arizona has been estimated at $80,000 to $120,000.
In addition to these historic artists, contemporary painters such as Bill Anton, Luke Frazier, Steve Burgess, Ken Carlson, Dustin Van Wechel and Joseph Velazquez will also have works available. French painter Mark Maggiori, whose works of the American West have been rising rapidly at auction and museum exhibitions, will be offering Father & Son, estimated at $25,000 to $35,000. “This painting has been inspired by my friend Chris O’connor, who is working as a cowboy in Arizona. I respect his humble way of life and the way he raises his kids,” Maggiori says. “His son is following him around and you can tell he’s been spending his whole life watching his dad and wanting to be like him. I wanted to paint a very Arizona piece, a contemplative moment when those two are resting for a moment, apparently staring at something in the distance. As for my personal pleasure, I added this pink shirt to the father in reference of James Reynolds masterpiece Arizona Cowboys that is one of my favorite Western art paintings.”
Overby says that this year’s sale will come at a very strong time for the Western art market. “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,” he says. “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.”