John Moran Auctioneers’ Art of the American West
Monrovia, CA
On September 8, John Moran Auctioneers will host its Art of the American West sale, featuring both Western and Native American works. The pieces span from historic to contemporary, allowing for a look at how the modern world has impacted artists’ visions of this vast and culturally diverse region. Morgana Blackwelder, director of fine art at the auction house, adds, “[The sale] really spans what the West is comprised of, not only cowboys and Indians, but that romantic idea of sweeping landscapes, prairies and mountains—that westward dream.”
In the Western art segment of the sale will be approximately two dozen contemporary bronzes that arrive from collections in Arizona, New Mexico, Montana and Wyoming. “A lot of [those items] will be of the cowboy. The Western depictions of ropers or cattle, and there will be some American Indian figures in a more traditional pose,” Blackwelder says. “It’s got a diverse range in there.”
Among those items will be Chris Navarro’s Almost Home, depicting a cowboy bringing home a calf he rescued during a snowstorm. The work is expected to sell between $1,200 and $1,800. Mark Martensen’s bronze of a Native American with a pistol has a presale estimate of $10,000 to $15,000, while Richard Loffler’s Grizzly is set at $4,000 to $6,000.
There will be about a dozen works by Karl Bodmer hitting the block during the sale, which are just some of the highlights of the prints and photography that will be available. A standout from the artist is the 1841 hand-colored aquatint Periska-ruhpa— Moennitarri Warrior in the Costume of the Dog Danse (est. $20/30,000). There also will be a number of orotones from Edward S. Curtis arriving at auction, including The Vanishing Race (est. $4/6,000) and The Scout—apache
(est. $10/15,000), which Blackwelder says “is one of his more commanding images.”
Paintings coming to market include a standout portrait by Joseph Henry Sharp of a Sioux Indian in profile. The 1903 work looks to
fetch between $5,000 and $7,000. Blackwelder explains, “The piece, I would say, is a typical depiction from Sharp, in that he spent the majority of his career interacting with and portraying Native Americans as they are and their importance.”
In the Native American art category is John Nieto’s Cosmic Aspirations, 1993, which has the same estimate as the Sharp; a large Navajo Germantown weaving (est. $6/8,000); a four-color Acoma olla (est. $2,5/3,500); and a monumental Apache olla that looks to sell between $8,000 and $12,000.