Prix de West
Oklahoma City, OK
When bidding is opened at these big museum shows, the telltale sign of a profitable exhibition is slips of paper in the bid boxes. And not just one or two papers slipped in the by-draw boxes— although, all it takes is one—but filled boxes. Stuffed boxes. Overflowing boxes.
So, when the opening bell at the Prix de West rang and you could hear the sound of bids being ripped from bid books, you knew it was going to be an eventful sale.
And that’s exactly what happened on June 9 during the annual Prix de West at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. The exhibition and sale achieved a sales total of more than $3.4 million, thrilling artists, collectors and museum officials.
Not only did many artists perform well, a high number sold out before the opening weekend was over. Among some of the topperforming artists were William Acheff, Carrie Ballantyne, John Banovich, Greg Beecham, G. Russell Case, Scott Christensen, John Coleman, Tim Cox, C. Michael Dudash, Josh Elliott, Martin Grelle, George Hallmark, T. Allen Lawson, Z.S. Liang, Jeremy Lipking, Richard Loffler, Daniel Smith, Tim Solliday and Morgan Weistling, among others. Additionally, a live auction portion of the exhibition, with color commentary by auction host Hallmark, achieved more than $210,000, of which $76,000 came from a single Kyle Polzin floral work.
The opening weekend also featured artist discussions, painting and sculpting demonstrations, and an awards gala. Award winners were Bruce Greene for work on paper, Bill Anton for cowboy subject matter, Walter Matia won the sculpture award, Beecham was honored for his wildlife work, George Carlson won the Frederic Remington Painting Award, Brent Cotton won the landscape award, and John Coleman won the buyer’s choice award. Len Chmiel won the Robert Lougheed Memorial Award for his body of submitted work, and Mian Situ won the coveted museum purchase award for his work Blasting a Route through the Sierra Nevada Mountains, 1865, Central Pacific Railroad.
The Prix de West exhibition will remain on view at the Oklahoma museum through August 5.