Jackson Hole Art Auction
Jackson Hole, WY
Fall in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is one of the most popular destinations for Western art fans for the entire year. And Jackson Hole rolls out the red carpet for visitors: museum exhibitions, gallery shows, outdoor events, culinary delights…all under the beauty of the Grand Tetons.
The Jackson Hole Art Auction, one of the crown jewels of the fall season, returns September 19 with a huge selection of Western lots that will surely interest collectors of all stripes. “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 auction exclusively online for the first time in its 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 art from Carl Rungius, Bob Kuhn, Bonnie Marris and Robert Bateman. 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.
Other highlights include Howard Terpning’s It’s Been a Long Day (est. $200/300,000), created in 1976, at the beginning of his Western career; Morgan Weistling’s Apples and Oranges (est. $40/60,000), which shows several children having a snack on the floor of a farmhouse; G. Harvey’s Good Wage Wranglers (est. $125/175,000); and two works from Martin Grelle, Cheyenne Remnants (est. $150/250,000) and Wedding Preparations (est. $150/250,000). Also in the sale is one of Gordon Snidow’s most famous works, A
Remnant of Another Time (est. $40/60,000), which shows an old cowboy kneeling down in dramatic shadows.
Elsewhere in the sale, the Jackson Hole Art Auction will offer a selection of John Coleman bronzes, all from a single collection. “There are 16 in total, and the collector had a great eye. They should be really impressive to collectors, many of whom are very familiar with Coleman’s work,” Leshe says. “One of the pieces, 1876, Gall - Sitting Bull - Crazy Horse, was so big and heavy we were afraid it was going to crash through the ceiling of the gallery so we left it on the first floor, but it’s magnificent.”
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.”