Altermann Galleries & Auctioneers’ Santa Fe Sale
Santa Fe, NM
There is something for everyone at Altermann Galleries & Auctioneers’ next sale in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Artworks in the November 8 sale, which will have two sessions with a combined 450 lots, include depictions of cowboys and Native Americans, as well as pottery and other objects, all of it top-quality work from prominent historic and contemporary Western and Native American artists.
One major work in the sale is Allan Houser’s lifesize bronze Reverence, depicting a robed standing figure. The work is pure modernism, with strong lines and an elegant design that accentuates the mysterious figure’s tall, slender shape. The Chiricahua Apache artist, who started as a painter and transitioned into sculpture, is widely collected, with works in the Smithsonian, the National Portrait Gallery and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Reverence is estimated at $45,000 to $65,000. “This is part of a very
small edition of four, and it’s a remarkable piece. We consider it very important, and this one was even acquired directly from Allan Houser, which makes it even better,” says Richard Altermann, owner of the auction house.
Two major works by Santa Fe artist Elias Rivera will be available to bidders: Tapestry of Souls, estimated at $50,000 to $75,000, and Visions of the Solola II, estimated at $35,000 to $55,000. Both works are diptychs and came out of a collection in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Tapestry of Souls features more than a dozen figures, including some children, as they wait against a yellowwalled building. Visions of Solola II features seven women and a child enjoying food from white bowls as they sit on a long bench with a blue sky behind them. The work bears a striking resemblance to Charles C. Ebbets’ 1932 photograph Lunch atop a Skyscraper (New York Construction Workers Lunching on a Crossbeam).
Melvin Warren will be represented by The Holding Pen, estimated at $25,000 to $35,000. The painting is a classic example of the Texas artist’s work: it shows several working cowboys near their horses in a corral while desert buttes and later-afternoon shadows fill the background. Warren was a prominent painter in Texas and his works were frequently purchased by President Lyndon Johnson, another famous Texan with strong ties to Western culture. Altermann has sold numerous Warren pieces, including Approaching the Storm, which held the artist world auction record from 2014 to 2019.
Also available will be Ray Swanson’s The Old Navajo Cares, an oil showing an elderly Navajo sheepherder as he feeds his sheep from a metal bucket. The image is striking for the magnificent composition, with distant clouds seemingly framing the figure, and also the detail, especially in the silver and turquoise jewelry the man wears as he goes about his day. The work is estimated at $25,000 to $35,000.
A work by the late Donald Crowley, who passed away in March, will be offered. A Proud
American features a Native American woman wrapped in an American flag. It is estimated at $4,000 to $6,000. “In the times we live in, this piece represents some muchneeded unity for a country that is so divided,” Altermann says of the work. “It’s a great piece made by a very accomplished artist.”
Also available in the sale is Martin Grelle’s Sunday Sojourn, showing two mules pulling a wagon with several people, and then a horse and rider following not far behind. The setting for the work is a gorgeous winter scene with a road that crosses a small stream. “Martin has certainly found a lot of fame for his Native American paintings, however, there is still a lot of interest in these earlier cowboy works,” says Altermann. “These works have a lot in them and they’re really wonderful.”
Two prominent Native American objects include a Margaret Tafoya wedding vase (est. $4/8,000) and a polychrome plate (est. $25/35,000) made by Maria Martinez and Popovi Da. Tafoya, Martinez and Da are some of the most collected Native American artists, and these two works are exceptional representations of the artists’ abilities, says Altermann.
“It’s a very good time to be buying and selling art,” he says. “We have lots of consignors and the market is showing a lot of strength. Back during the recession, people would ask me if they should sell. I would tell them they should hold on for a bit longer, if they could. Now everything is looking better and we’re seeing those collectors come in to buy and sell.”