reet tytu 2 by freolpdoe4

INSIDE State of the Art: Arizona • Western Auction Directory • Howard Terpning JANUARY 2020

149

Scottsdale Art Auction Saturday, April 4, 2020

MAYNARD DIXON ESTIMATE: $45,000 - 65,000

MARK MAGGIORI ESTIMATE: $25,000 - 35,000

17'' X 21" WATERCOLOR

32'' X 34" OIL

FRANK TENNEY JOHNSON 20'' X 16" OIL ESTIMATE: $80,000 - 120,000

LOGAN MAXWELL HAGEGE ESTIMATE: $15,000 - 25,000

18'' X 20" OIL

Auctioning Over 350 Important Works of Western, Wildlife & Sporting Art

For more information please call (480) 945-0225 or visit www.scottsdaleartauction.com. Color Catalogue Available $40.

SA SCOTTSDALE ART AUCTION 7176 MAIN STREET • SCOTTSDALE ARIZONA 85251

•

480 945-0225

• www.scottsdaleartauction.com

CHIRICAHUA

42'' X 42'' OIL

C. MICHAEL DUDASH

Tales of the Painted West SHOW AND SALE â&#x20AC;¢ SCOTTSDALE, AZ A RTIST

M ARCH 5 TH - 15TH R ECEPTION & SALE : M ARCH 7TH

For more information or to view additional works please visit www.legacygallery.com.

Reputation matters.

Olaf Wieghorst, Reﬂections, oil on canvas, 20” x 24”, auction estimate $10,000-15,000.

30th ANNUAL MESA OLD WEST SHOW AND AUCTION MESA, ARIZONA

JANUARY 24-26, 2020 .

WESTERN AMERICANA ANTIQUE SHOW Saturday, January 25, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm Sunday, January 26, 9:00 am - 3:00 pm $10 daily or purchase online and save Friday Early Buy-in, $100, 8am-5pm SHOW LOCATION Mesa Convention Center 263 N. Center Street, Mesa, AZ 85201

WESTERN AMERICANA AUCTION Friday, January 24, 6:00 pm The Cordy Rich Collection of Antique American Firearms

Saturday, January 25, 5:00 pm 30th Annual Old West Auction AUCTION LOCATION Delta Marriott Mesa (Next door to the Show) Purchase Catalogs online or by phone.

Email: ContactUs@OldWestEvents.com | Phone: 480-779-9378 | #MesaOldWest

OldWestEvents.com

Letter from the Editor

JANUARY 2020 Monthly PUBLISHER

Vincent W. Miller

EDITORIAL EDITOR

Joshua Rose editor@westernartcollector.com

MANAGING EDITOR

Rochelle Belsito rbelsito@westernartcollector.com

DEPUTY EDITOR

Michael Clawson assistanteditor@westernartcollector.com

ASSISTANT EDITOR

Alyssa M. Tidwell

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Taylor Transtrum

SANTA FE EDITOR CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER EDITORIAL INTERN ADVERTISING SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

John O’Hern Francis Smith Maia Gelvin (866) 619-0841 Lisa Redwine lredwine@westernartcollector.com

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Christie Cavalier ccavalier@westernartcollector.com

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Anita Weldon aweldon@westernartcollector.com

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Heather K. Raskin hraskin@westernartcollector.com

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Cami Beaugureau camib@westernartcollector.com

TRAFFIC MANAGER

Britton Courtney traffic@westernartcollector.com

PRODUCTION MULTI MEDIA MANAGER ART DIRECTOR PRODUCTION ARTIST PRODUCTION/EMAIL ARTIST

Adolfo Castillo Tony Nolan Dana Long Justin Kessler

SUBSCRIPTIONS (877) 947-0792 SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER

Emily Yee service@westernartcollector.com

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

This is our January 2020 issue and we couldn’t be happier. Why you ask? Well, 2019 was such a wonderful year for us we can’t even begin to think what lies in wait for this coming year. And why was 2019 special? Well, we were fortunate enough to spend a lot of time this year with those people we love the most—gallery directors, artists and, of course, collectors—at events across the country. We attended and participated in all our favorite events such as the LA Art Show, the Boston International Fine Art Show, Art Market Hamptons, Art Aspen, Art on Paper, the Palm Springs Art Fair, Palm Beach Art Fair, Texas Contemporary, the Santa Fe Indian Market, The Russell and all events in Great Falls in March, the Coeur D’Alene Art Auction, the Scottsdale Art Auction and even found new events such as the Jackson Hole Fine Art Fair, the Laguna Beach Festival of the Arts, the FOG Design+Art in San Francisco and the International Guild of Realism annual show at Principle Gallery in Alexandria, Virginia. On top of all this, we have also launched a new website that is changing the way art is bought and sold from galleries across the country. With Western Art Collector we have always embraced both the print and digital worlds. When we launched this magazine way back in 2007, we provided a digital version of every single issue and we are proud to say that this continues until now, our 13th year of business!! Now, however those digital offerings have increased to include our new online show spaces, where galleries can also upload 20 pieces of art from their new inventories. Finally, you can see extended works of art from the top galleries across the country just by visiting our website. And, you can also email those galleries directly to inquire about adding work to your collection. So, as you can see, we have a lot to look forward to in 2020. More friends, more collectors, more wonderful art events and, even better, more art purchasing! Also, be ready for some more big news and a whole new business venture we will be launching soon. Stay tuned!!!

April Stewart astewart@westernartcollector.com

ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR

It’s a New Year

Kimberly Vickers

Sincerely,

admin@westernartcollector.com

Copyright © 2020. All material appearing in Western Art Collector is copyright. Reproduction in whole or part is not permitted without permission in writing from the editor. Editorial contributions are welcome and should be accompanied by a stamped self-addressed envelope. All care will be taken with material supplied, but no responsibility will be accepted for loss or damage. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the editor or the publisher. The publisher bears no responsibility and accepts no liability for the claims made, nor for information provided by advertisers. Printed in the USA. Western Art Collector 7530 E. Main Street, Suite 105, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 Telephone (480) 425-0806. Fax (480) 425-0724 or write to Western Art Collector, P.O. Box 2320, Scottsdale, AZ 85252-2320 Single copies $9.95. Subscription rate for one year is $39. To place an order, change address or make a customer service query, please email service@WesternArtCollector.com or write to P.O. Box 2320, Scottsdale, AZ 85252-2320. POSTMASTER: Send all address changes to Western Art Collector, P.O. Box 2320, Scottsdale, AZ 85252-2320

Joshua Rose Editor P.S. We are hearing so many stories lately about people buying work directly from the pages of this magazine! We will be sharing those soon. In the meantime, if you have any stories you’d like to share, please send them to me at editor@westernartcollector.com

Get Social!

western art collector

WesternArt Collector

@artmags

collectart

PUBLISHER VINCENT W. MILLER WESTERN ART COLLECTOR (ISSN 1936-7546) is published 12 times a year by International Artist Publishing Inc.

www.WesternArtCollector.com

ON THE COVER. . . Howard Terpning, Cold Makers Bridge, oil, 28 x 36”

AMERICAN ART May 2020 | Dallas | Live & Online Now Accepting Consignments | Deadline: February 28

Frederic Remington (American, 1861-1909) The Bronco Buster, conceived 1908, cast circa 1910 Sold for: $615,000 | November 2019

Always Accepting Quality Consignments in 40+ Categories 1.25 Million+ Online Bidder-Members

Paul R. Minshull #16591. BP 12-25%; see HA.com. Licensed by the City of New York #1364738/9-DCA 56690

Attributed to JOSE ARAGON Our Lady of Guadalupe, ca. 1830 Hand-carved and painted bulto 33 x 14.5 inches Estimate: $10,000-$18,000

The Joseph Pytka Collection of New Mexico Art & Artifacts Save the Date: 02.29.20 Preview opens February 17 at 932 Railfan Road, Santa Fe Inquiries: curator@santafeartauction.com 505.954.5858

JOSEPH HENRY SHARP (1859-1953), Call of the War Chief, oil on canvas, 30 by 36 inches

MARCH 19-20, 2020 | GREAT FALLS, MONTANA The Russell is the premiere fundraising event for the C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Montana, attracting artists, collectors, and patrons from around the country. The three-day schedule of events and exhibitions culminates in Saturday’s Live Auction featuring important pieces by Charles M. Russell and other historic artists. This sale also showcases new work by the country’s most acclaimed contemporary western artists. The Russell, now recognized as one of the most prestigious western art events in the country, provides critical funding through commissions and premiums that directly support the museum’s educational programs and cultural outreach. 400 13th Street North | Great Falls, Montana | (406) 727-8787 | cmrussell.org

UPCOMING HIGHLIGHTS

CHARLES M RUSSELL (1864-1926), Following the Buffalo Run, F RLO È´ E\ LQFKHV

JOSEPH HENRY SHARP (1859-1953), The Bonnet Maker, c. 1920s, oil on canvas, 15 by 18 inches

THOMAS MORAN (1837-1926), Green River in Wyoming, RLO RQ FDQYDV Èµ E\ LQFKHV

EANGER IRVING COUSE (1866-1936), Indian by Firelight, n.d., oil on canvas, 24 by 29 inches

CHARLES M. RUSSELL (1864-1926), Friend Old Wagon, ZDWHUFRORU SHQ DQG LQN RQ SDSHU Ã´ [ Èµ LQFKHV

CHARLES M RUSSELL (1864-1926), Woman Petting an Unsaddled Horse, n.d., pen and ink, 8 by 9 inches

CHARLES M RUSSELL (1864-1926), Indian on Horseback, 1898, oil, 13Â¾ by 10Â½ inches

BISCHOFF’S GALLERY

Cloud Rider

16" x 20"

Oil on Canvas

G. RUSSELL CASE A D E E P E R S P I R I T UA L C O N N E C T I O N W I T H NAT U R E W E S T E R N L A N D S CA P E S BY G . R U S S E L L CA S E

www.bischoffsgallery.com

3925 N. Brown Avenue Scottsdale, Arizona 85251 • 480.946.6155

Stephen C. Datz Shadows in Light, Shadows in Time, Oil, 36” x 72” (Top)

Stephen C. Datz Wild and Scenic, Oil, 30” x 60” (Bottom)

STEPHEN C. DATZ CANYONS, BUTTES, & BEYOND JANUARY 17 – FEBRUARY 7, 2020 OPENING RECEPTION WITH ARTIST FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 2020, 5-7PM

6872 E. Sunrise Dr. #130, Tucson, AZ 85750 • 520.722.7798 • office@medmanart.com

MEDICINEMANGALLERY.COM

BRUCE AIKEN “Ama Dablam” oil/canvas, 54 x 48”

BRUCE AIKEN FINE ART 113 North San Fransico St. • Suite 209 • Flagstaff AZ 86001 • 928-226-2882 •

www.bruceaiken.com

@bruceaiken

Visit Los Angeles and See Works by 64 Premier Western Artists FEBRUARY 8–MARCH 22, 2020 DON’T MISS artist talks by Billy Schenck and Kim Wiggins on Opening Day, February 8. PARTICIPATING ARTISTS Tony Abeyta • William Acheff • Peter Adams • Bill Anton • Gerald Balciar • Thomas Blackshear II • Christopher Blossom • Autumn Borts-Medlock • Eric Bowman • John Budicin • Kenneth Bunn • Scott Burdick • George Carlson • G. Russell Case • Tim Cherry • Len Chmiel • Michael Coleman • Nicholas Coleman • Mick Doellinger • Dennis Doheny • John Fawcett • Tammy Garcia • Richard V. Greeves • Logan Maxwell Hagege • Harold T. Holden • Doug Hyde • Oreland C. Joe Sr. • Steve Kestrel • Susan Lyon • Mark Maggiori • Walter T. Matia • Eric Merrell • Denis Milhomme • Dean L. Mitchell • Jim Morgan • John Moyers • Terri Kelly Moyers • Bill Nebeker • Conchita O’Kane • Dan Ostermiller • JoAnn Peralta • Daniel W. Pinkham • Kyle Polzin • Howard Post • Kevin Red Star • Grant Redden • Mateo Romero • Gayle Garner Roski • Roseta Santiago • Billy Schenck • Sandy Scott • William Shepherd • Tim Shinabarger • Mian Situ • Adam Smith • Daniel Smith • Matt Smith • Tim Solliday • Margery Torrey • Kent Ullberg • Dustin Van Wechel • Brittany Weistling • Kim Wiggins • Jim Wilcox

AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, CA 90027-1462 TheAutry.org/Masters | Event Contact: 323.495.4331 LEN CHMIEL, AS THE DETAILS EMERGE (DETAIL), OIL, 24 X 40 IN.

CONTENTS

JANUARY 2020

Previewing New Exhibitions Every Month Coast To Coast

TACOMA

NEW YORK

JACKSON HOLE

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS

DENVER

SEDONA PRESCOTT PHOENIX

TULSA SANTA FE

SCOTTSDALE MESA FORT WORTH

TUCSON

DALLAS

MIDLAND

116

118

120

UPCOMING SOLO & GROUP SHOWS 116 14

Andrea Vargas Ode to the hummingbird

118

Stephen C. Datz Above and beyond

120

Arizona origins 30 new works

SPECIAL SECTIONS

Western Auction Directory By Michael Clawson

State of the Art: Arizona

FEATURES 52

The Spirit of the West By John O’Hern

Howard Terpning: Standing the Test of Time

By Michael Clawson

Gilcrease Museum: Once and Future Visions

By James D. Balestrieri

A Banner Year for the CAA By Michael Clawson

DEPARTMENTS Western Art News Visual Feast Western Art Trail Western Makers Curating the West Recently Acquired Artist Focus Pages

124

Paso por Aqui: George Hallmark’s Return Midland, TX George Hallmark, Solitude, oil, 16 x 12”

34, 36, 38 42 44 46 48 50 122

AUCTIONS & EVENTS PREVIEWS

124

Midland, TX

126

Petrie Institute’s Western American Art Symposium Denver, CO

130

Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale Denver, CO

Richard Galusha Retrospective: An Artist’s Journey

142

Steamboat Springs, CO

136

Living Legends II with a Special Tribute to Bob Kuhn Jackson Hole, WY

128

132

Paso por Aqui: George Hallmark’s Return

Brian Lebel’s Mesa Old West Show & Auction

Dallas, TX

144

Mesa, AZ

REPORT

134

Kyle Polzin: Grace & Grit

140

Christie’s American art sale

Scottsdale, AZ

New York, NY

Heritage Auctions’ American art sale Hindman’s Arts of the American West Denver, CO

146

Santa Fe Art Auction

148

Altermann’s Santa Fe Sale

150

Sotheby’s American art sale

Santa Fe, NM

New York, NY

BILL NEBEKER nebekerar t@cableone.net billnebeker.com

“GLASS THAT SEES FAR” 20”H x 15”W x 10”D

“Whether by trading or capturing as a war trophy a Southern Comanche sentinel has adapted his searching abilities with what seems to him as an almost magical spy glass which allows him to see much farther”.

ACCEPTING CONSIGNMENTS

S Frank McCarthy | Driving them to the Edge Oil on linen | 9 by 12 inches Realized $8,400 at Auction 2019 X Ray Swanson | The Old Navajo Cares Oil on panel | 40 by 30 inches Realized $36,000 at Auction 2019 T Joe Beeler | The Hostiles Revenge Oil on panel | 30 by 48 inches Realized $36,000 at Auction 2019

UPCOMING 2020 AUCTIONS

Online Only Auction | February 21st | Invaluable & Live Auctioneers Live Auction | May 2020 | Santa Fe

For a complimentary auction evaluation, please send artwork images and information to info@altermann.com. Visit our website to see past auction results, and a list of artist we are seeking.

345 Camino del Monte Sol, Santa Fe, NM 87501 • (855) 945-0448 • ALTERMANN.COM

TAO S SOC I E T Y O F A R T I S T S helped shape the identity of the American Southwest

from top left: Critcher, Ufer, Berninghaus, Hennings, Dunton, Adams, Higgins, Rolshoven, Sharp, Couse, Phillips, Blumenschein

J UNE 14-16 SIXTH BIENNIAL COUSE FOUNDATION GALA & ART AUCTION

couse-sharp.org/gala Sponsors include Heritage Hotels, Parsons Fine Art, Heritage Auctions, Addison Rowe Fine Art, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, Owings Gallery, Tres Estrellas Gallery, Zaplin Lampert Gallery

JULY 6, 3-5PM OPENING FOR TAOS PUEBLO PORTRAITURE: THE PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIES OF E. I. COUSE Exhibition through November 2, 2019 DOCENT TOURS BY APPOINTMENT MON-SAT OPEN HOUSES FIRST SATURDAYS, 3-5PM Experience the Couse home, garden, studio, & collections, Sharp studios and exhibition, Kibbey Couse lab & machine shop

THE LUNDER RESEARCH CENTER Ask us how you can participate in our fundraising to complete our vision for a center for TSA scholarship, interpretation, and inspiration

TAOS, N E W M E X I CO

575 .751. 0369

thecousesharphistoricsite

Teton Warrior ǬǬ ǯø Ĉ ǫǱć Ĉ ǫǬô #ĂÿþĊõ t &ô Ǯǯ

The Hitchhiker ǫǭ ǯø Ĉ ǫǫć Ĉ Ǯô #ĂÿþĊõ t &ô ǭǯ

Crow Fair Shawl Dancer 25h x 16w x 9d #ĂÿþĊõ t &ô Ǯǯ

SUSAN KLIEWER bronze studio

Ľ ļ įļŅ ƐƑƏ t ŀĲıļĻĮ ĮŇ ƐƎƋƋƑ t ƑƐƊ ƊƐƊ ƌƎƉƊ t ĺļłĻŁĮĶĻŁĿĮĶĹŀŀĲıļĻĮ İļĺ ŀłŀĮĻ ĸĹĶĲńĲĿ

Todd Conner, A Glance Into the Past, Oil, 24” x 36”

The Night of Artists Exhibition and Sale takes place along the iconic San Antonio River Walk and showcases over 300 works by more than eighty of the country’s top Western artists. Attendees will enjoy a full weekend of events, including the Exhibition Preview, Live Auction, and the Luck of the Draw Sale and Reception.

Opening Weekend: March 27 & 28, 2020 Public Exhibition & Sale: March 29 - May 3

Visit briscoemuseum.org/noa for event details.

March 27 – May 10, 2020 Our Artists: Maura Allen; Heather Beary; Evelyne Boren; Linda Budge; Heather Burton; Shawn Cameron; Stephanie Campos; Jennifer Cavan; Nancy Dunlop Cawdrey; Sonja Caywood; Sherry Cobb; Rox Corbett; Sheila Cottrell; Amanda Cowan; Lisa Danielle; Judith Durr; Joni Falk; Deborah Copenhaver Fellows; Heather Foster; Jessica Garrett; Jessica James Gilbert; Linda Glover Gooch; /LVD *RUGRQ 3DWULFLD *ULI¼Q $QQ +DQVRQ (ULQ +DQVRQ 6WHSKDQLH +DUWVKRUQ Harper Henry; DG House; Natasha Isenhour; Micqaela Jones; Shelby Keefe; Susan Kliewer; Laura Koller; Michelle Kondos; Laurie J. Lee; Susan Lynn; Diana Madaras; Jan Mapes; Sharon Markwardt; Heidi Marshall; Deanne McKeown; Barbara Meikle; Nancy Michaelson; Julie Nighswonger; Susanne Nyberg; Kim Obrzut; Mejo Okon; Karen Petrovich; Stephanie Revennaugh; Tamara Rymer; Samantha Sherry; Elsa Sroka; Gail Jones Sundell; Rebecca Tobey; V…. Vaughan; Liz Wolf; Sam Woolcott; Dinah Worman; Star Liana York

21 North Frontier Street • Wickenburg, AZ 85390 928.684.2272 • westernmuseum.org

Emil J. Bisttramâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Taos Mountain sold at auction for $27,500.

ACCEPTING CONSIGNMENTS FOR UPCOMING AUCTIONS ARTS OF THE AMERICAN WEST

DENVER

MAY 8, 2020

We invite you to receive a complimentary auction estimate of historic and contemporary Western paintings, bronzes, American Indian art, artifacts and jewelry.

hindmanauctions.com/locations/denver denver@hindmanauctions.com | 303.825.1855

ALEXANDRIA WINSLOW

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Spring Has Sprung (Picacho Peak AZ)â&#x20AC;? Original Acrylic on Gallery Wrap Canvas, 24 x 36

Risa Waldt

Winter Dawn Sedona

Oil

30 x 40"

www.alexandriawinslow.com backporchstudio@q.com

ZZZ ULVDZDOGWĂ&#x20AC;QHDUW FRP Ă&#x192;

MISSING AN ISSUE? VISIT WESTERNARTCOLLECTOR.COM/PASTISSUES OR CALL 1 ď&#x161;Ž877ď&#x161;Ż 947ď&#x161;ş0792 TO PURCHASE PAST ISSUES

Create a library of fine Western art in your home by purchasing past issues of Western Art Collector. Enjoy timeless works of art, follow artistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; careers, and explore gallery and museum exhibitions and coast-to-coast art destinations that continue to define the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Western art market. Collectors of Western art rely upon Western Art Collector to stay informed on the latest works from the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top contemporary Western artists as well as artwork from historic Western masters. Our magazine allows collectors to get a real sense of Western art that is coming available for saleâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and opportunity to buy it right off our pages. Stay informed on the latest exhibits across the country, subscribe today online at

WWW.WESTERNARTCOLLECTOR.COM

DEREK NO-SUN BROWN

“GO RIN NO SHO,” SUMI INK, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

SANTA FE 130 LINCOLN AVE., SUITE D, SANTA FE, NM . 480.440.3912 SCOTTSDALE 7077 EAST MAIN STREET, SCOTTSDALE, AZ . 480.481.0187

Authentic Tribal Art Dealers Association

We are an association of tribal arts dealers, auction houses, museums and collectors dedicated to establishing and maintaining the highest standards of ethics, integrity and responsible collecting practices. To this end, ATADA dealers guarantee authenticity, condition, and title given with every purchase. We encourage the public to educate themselves about the cultures these objects represent and the roles they played, and continue to play, within their cultures.

atada.org

30 Years

SEDONA

30 Years

“Stormin’ Through” t Bill Cramer t 0ùü ǬǮ Ĉ ǭǰ

“A Grand Morning” t .ùóøõüüõ $ÿþôĂñĄ t 0ùü ǬǮ Ĉ ǮǪ

suite a at tlaquepaque t .. t www.mountaintrailssedona.com t sedona, az

Starting with our DECEMBER EDITION!

Read the entire issue on our website… Our new website has all the same high-quality content as the printed magazine.

Beginning with our December issue, subscribers will have direct monthly access to America’s best Western art in their mailbox AND on our homepage. You can even buy single issues to read right on your screen. Choose the Print + Digital magazine OR the Digital magazine only. Both have identical content that you can read on the screen of your PC, tablet or smartphone at any time. Either way you can navigate from story to story and see all the beautiful new paintings available for you to collect.

Feature Articles, Special Sections, Collector Homes Read full coverage of the Western art market in every monthly edition.

& (MONTHLY)

(BIMONTHLY)

PRINT AND DIGITAL

1 YEAR $39 (US$53 CAN) | 2 YEAR $72 (US$99 CAN) AVA I L A B L E I N N O R T H A M E R I C A O N LY

For faster service Subscribe Online* *Subscribers get automatic access to all stories online.

ONLY $20

1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION

DIGITAL ONLY 2 YEAR $38

AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE

Watch All the Videos Videos take you inside galleries, collectors’ homes and artists’ studios to see and hear about their latest artworks.

www.WesternArtCollector.com/subscribe

AND preview new artwork from upcoming shows before they open! Be the ﬁrst to see thousands of new paintings about to be hung at America’s best art galleries.

ONLINE EXHIBITION SPACES

Browse New Artwork Click and go to each advertiser’s Online Exhibition Space and see hundreds of new artworks for sale.

Art Destinations and Directories Plan your art year around the hundreds of listings of places to see and events to attend.

Cheri Christensen, Hangin’ in Fredericksburg, oil, 30 x 40”

The Whole Edition in Your Pocket! Read all the stories and browse all the new paintings while on the go. Now you really do have something to read—and enjoy. Robert Moore, Morning Sparkle, oil, 30 x 40”

David Yorke, Waiting for His Return, oil, 26 x 36”

Grant Hacking, Challenge Issued, oil, 24 x 30”

Western Art News

Monumental Work Bill Nebeker has enlarged one of his most popular bronzes for a monument in his hometown of Prescott, Arizona.

n 1987 Bill Nebeker created If Horses Could Talk, a bronze work showing a hunter peering through binoculars on a rocky outcropping. The piece had a humorous twist: a deer is quietly sneaking under the ledge that the hunter is sitting on…if only the horse could just tell the hunter. That small work is being turned into a massive monument for Prescott, Arizona, Nebeker’s hometown. The life-and-a-halfsized work will sit in the center of a roundabout on a major thoroughfare through Prescott. Although it’s based on a smaller bronze, the artist had to design it from the ground up due to the large scale of the monument. “When you’re standing underneath something that big, it looks different when you’re looking up at it, so I’ve changed the original design in several places,” Nebeker said from his studio in 2018 during work on the initial maquette version in clay. A large clay version was eventually cast as several dozen pieces while the City of Prescott and Arizona Department of Transportation worked through the logistics of the installation and maintenance of the piece of public art. If Horses Could Talk was slated for a late 2019 installation.

Right: Welders piece together If Horses Could Talk. Far right: The smaller 1987 version of If Horses Could Talk by Bill Nebeker.

Bill Nebeker with his monument of If Horses Could Talk, which is destined for Prescott, Arizona.

COEUR D’ALENE GALLERIES AND THE COEUR D’ALENE ART AUCTION ANNOUNCE THE 33RD ANNUAL MARCH IN MONTANA AUCTION

Please join us March 19-21, 2020 at the Great Falls Elk Lodge #214 Request a catalog: info@marchinmontana.com. Visit iCollector.com or our app “March in Montana” to view lots online. Thursday March 19: Auction Preview & Dealer Show: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Friday & Saturday March 20 & 21: Dealer Show: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Auction Preview: 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. Auction: 11 a.m. Live, Internet, Phone & Absentee bidding available. All events are free and open to the public. Featured: Detail of- William Standing (1904-1951) The Last Chase, 38” x 69” oil, $25,000-35,000 MARCH IN MONTANA | 213 E. SHERMAN AVE, COEUR D’ALENE, ID 83814 | 208-664-2091 | INFO@MARCHINMONTANA.COM

Western Art News

Northwest Stories A new exhibition at the Tacoma Art Museum examines the role of public art of the 1930s.

pening February 22 is Forgotten Stories: Northwest Public Art of the 1930s at the Tacoma Art Museum in Tacoma, Washington. The exhibition will examine artwork that was created during a period of intense economic downturn, when the federal government initiated the Works Progress Administration to help put people back to work. Some of the people employed by the program were artists, many of whom created public art all around the country. The show will focus on artists of the Northwest, where hundreds of artists were employed and thousands of works of art were created. Their stories have not previously been told, and the museum is hoping to introduce visitors to this important period of creation in American history. Works in the show include Elizabeth Colborne’s Mossy Wood, Washington color lithograph and Jacob Elshin’s 12-foot oil painting Miners at Work, which depicts nine ﬁgures doing back-breaking work alongside a horse-pulled minecart. The exhibition is part of TAM’s historical Northwest Perspective series and will include a major publication. For more information about the exhibition, visit www.tacomaartmuseum.org.

Elizabeth Colborne (1885-1948), Mossy Wood, Washington, 1934, color lithograph, 13½ x 9”. Seattle Public Library Special Collections.

“Monarchs of the North” by Martin Grelle 46 x 60” Original Oil on Canvas

“Desert Walker” by John Bye 33 x 47” Original Oil on Canvas

“A Nation Blessed” by G. Harvey 38 x 32” Original Oil on Canvas

“New Coffee” by Anton Ovsianikov 15.8 x 21.6” Original Oil on Canvas

Western Art News

Los Caballos A new mural in Fort Worth, Texas, features artwork by prominent Western artists William Matthews and Buckeye Blake.

wo massive glass and tile mosaic murals and a pair of bas-relief bronzes have been unveiled at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. The music, sports and entertainment venue, ofﬁcially opened in October 2019, features a number of public art components, including a 12-by-63-foot mural by Denver painter William Matthews and a pair of bronzes created by Texas-based artist Buckeye Blake. The artwork, made possible by a gift from the Alice L. Walton Foundation, is titled Los Caballos and it commemorates the horse, a timeless symbol of the American West. Matthews’ work, which is on the southern façade of the 14,000-seat arena, was fabricated in the celebrated female-owned studio Mosaicos Venecianos in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where artisans pieced together more than 600,000 hand-cut glass tiles of 570 different colors to create the image. Blake’s bronzes stand 12 feet high and were conceived from Matthews’s original composition drawings and sculpted by Blake, a member of the Cherokee Nation. The building’s north façade features a soaring triptych measuring 10 by 108 feet that shows icons of Texas culture. Created by Evergreene Architectural Arts, the mural was fabricated in Italy using more than 600,000 colored glass tiles. It depicts scenes telling the story of Texas, highlighting early settlers and cowhands, set amidst Texas ﬂora, fauna and more.

Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

Artwork conceived by William Matthews, with sculpture by Buckeye Blake, appears on the southern façade of the Dickies Arena.

RON CRAIG

First Snowfall, Acrylic on Canvas, 20" x 30"

RON CRAIG FINE ART WWW.RONCRAIGART.COM

2 SHOWS

1 LOCATION

FEBRUARY 21-23, 2020 FORT MASON CENTER | SAN FRANCISCO, CA

“Ceremonial Flies n’ Frogs” | acrylic on canvas | 30x30 Courtesy of Mark Sublette’s Medicine Man Gallery

Paintbrush Ranch Studio SEDONA, ARIZONA www.paintbr ushranch.com

VISUAL FEAST

THOMAS MORAN: The Grand Canyon of the Colorado

Thomas Moran first visited the Grand Canyon in 1873. The trip would have a profound and intense effect on him. His daughter, Ruth, would later recall: “To him it was all grandeur, beauty, color and light—nothing of man at all but nature, virgin, unspoiled and lovely.” Though Moran would return to the Arizona landmark, and paint it hundreds more times, The Grand Canyon of the Colorado would remain one of his most significant of all his Western works. The piece sold at a Christie’s auction in 2014. It would fetch nearly $12.5 million.

Thomas Moran (1837-1926), The Grand Canyon of the Colorado, 1904, oil on canvas, 29½ x 60”

Western Art Trail Calendar

Our guide to special events, sales & auctions from coast to coast DECEMBER December 19 PARSONS GALLERY OF THE WEST

Parsons Gallery of the West’s Small Works Holiday Celebration Taos, NM – (800) 613-5091 www.parsonsart.com/home/parsonswest

Through December 20 HALEY MEMORIAL LIBRARY AND J. EVETTS HALEY HISTORY CENTER

Paso por Aqui: George Hallmark’s Return Midland, TX – (432) 682-5785 www.haleylibrary.com

Through December 23 INSIGHT GALLERY

Kyle Ma - Viewpoints Fredericksburg, TX – (830) 997-9920 www.insightgallery.com

December 26-January 1 MOUNTAIN TRAILS GALLERY

Troy Collins Park City, UT – (435) 615-8748 www.mountaintrailsgalleries.com

Through December 31

Frederic Remington (1861-1909), Fight for the Waterhole, 1903, oil on canvas, 38½ x 51½”. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston: The Hogg Brothers Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg/Bridgeman Images.

January 8: Western American Art Symposium Denver Art Museum | Denver, CO | (303) 291-2567 | www.denverartmuseum.org

LEGACY GALLERY

Holiday Small Works Show Scottsdale, AZ – (480) 945-1113 www.legacygallery.com

Through December 31 MANITOU GALLERIES

Through January 4

January 10-May 31

ED MELL GALLERY

TUCSON DESERT ART MUSEUM

MUSEUM OF WISCONSIN ART

Nature: Animal, Vegetable and Mineral

Art is the Seed: Contemporary Native American Female Art

Tom Uttech: Into the Woods

Phoenix, AZ – (602) 359-7333 www.edmellgallery.com

Small Works Group Exhibition Santa Fe, NM – (505) 986-0440 www.manitougalleries.com

Through December 31 MOUNTAIN TRAILS GALLERY

Through January 5

West Bend, WI – (262) 334-9638 www.wisconsinart.org

January 13-March 24

NATIONAL COWBOY & WESTERN HERITAGE MUSEUM

January 11-26

HAYDEN RD. & LOOP 101

Traditional Cowboy Arts Exhibition & Sale

NATIONAL WESTERN STOCK SHOW

Celebration of Fine Art

Oklahoma City, OK – (405) 478-2250 www.nationalcowboymuseum.org

Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale

Scottsdale, AZ – (480) 443-7695 www.celebrateart.com

Holiday Gems & Treasures Sedona, AZ – (928) 282-3225 www.mountaintrailssedona.com

Through January 10

JANUARY

Denver, CO – (303) 291-2567 www.coorswesternart.com

January 17-February 7

MARK SUBLETTE MEDICINE MAN GALLERY

January 11-May 10

MARK SUBLETTE MEDICINE MAN GALLERY

Francis Livingston - Sun Lands

PHOENIX ART MUSEUM

Tucson, AZ – (800) 422-9382 www.medicinemangallery.com

Ansel Adams: Performing the Print

Stephen C. Datz - Canyons, Buttes, & Beyond

MOUNTAIN TRAILS GALLERY

January 10-March 22

January 16-February 20

Made in Arizona

Arizona Fine Art EXPO

FAUST GALLERY

Scottsdale, AZ – (480) 837-7163 www.arizonaﬁneartexpo.com

Andrea Vargas: New Works

JANUARY 3-31

336 SR 179, Suite A201 Sedona, AZ – (928) 282-3225 www.mountaintrailssedona.com

Tucson, AZ – (520) 202-3888 www.tucsondart.org

Through January 12

Phoenix, AZ – (602) 257-1880, www.phxart.org

Scottsdale, AZ – (480) 200-4290, faustgallery.com

Tucson, AZ – (800) 422-9382 www.medicinemangallery.com

January 18-20

February 21-March 13

DOWNTOWN CAREFREE

MARK SUBLETTE MEDICINE MAN GALLERY

27th Annual Carefree Fine Art & Wine Festival

Ed Mell - New Works

Carefree, AZ – (480) 837-5637 www.thunderbirdartists.com

Tucson, AZ – (800) 422-9382 www.medicinemangallery.com

February 22-23

TOP WESTERN EVENTS AND AUCTIONS AT A GLANCE January 8 Western American Art Symposium Denver, CO – (303) 291-2567

January 18

FORT MASON CENTER FOR ARTS & CULTURE

DESERT CABALLEROS WESTERN MUSEUM

heART of the West Gala

American Indian Art Show | San Francisco

January 11-26 Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale

Wickenburg, AZ – (928) 684-2272 www.westernmuseum.org

San Francisco, CA – (949) 280-6551 www.marinshow.com

Denver, CO – (303) 291-2567

May 1 Heritage Auctions’ American Art Auction Dallas, TX – (877) 437-4824

May 2020 (Date TBA) Christie’s American Art Auction New York, NY – (212) 636-2000

January 23

Through February 23

SKINNER INC.

PHIPPEN MUSEUM

January 25-26 Brian Lebel’s Mesa Old West Show & Auction

American & European Works of Art

Walk on the Wild Side

Mesa, AZ – (480) 779-9378

New York, NY – (212) 606-7000

Boston, MA – (617) 350-5400 www.skinnerinc.com

Prescott, AZ – (928) 778-1385 www.phippenartmuseum.org

January 25-26

MARCH

February 8-March 22 Masters of the American West

May 2020 (Date TBA) Bonhams’ American Art Auction

Los Angeles, CA – (323) 667-2000

New York, NY – (212) 710-1307

February 14-16 Southeastern Wildlife Exposition

June 12-13 Prix de West

Charleston, SC – (843) 723-1748

Oklahoma City, OK – (405) 478-2250

March 7-8 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market

July 25 Coeur d’Alene Art Auction

MESA CONVENTION CENTER

Brian Lebel’s Mesa Old West Show & Auction

MARCH 7-8

Mesa, AZ – (480) 779-9378 www.oldwestevents.com

Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market

Through January 26

Phoenix, AZ – (602) 252-8840 www.heard.org

TAOS ART MUSEUM AT FECHIN HOUSE

It’s Just a Quick Lope and a Cigarette Taos, NM – (575) 758-2690 www.taosartmuseum.org

January 26-May 17 CROCKER ART MUSEUM

HEARD MUSEUM

March 18-22 HERITAGE INN

Out West Art Show & Sale Great Falls, MT – (406) 899-2958 www.outwestartshow.net

Granville Redmond: The Eloquent Palette

March 19-21

Sacramento, CA – (916) 808-7000 www.crockerart.org

The Russell: An Exhibition and Sale to Beneﬁt the C.M. Russell Museum

FEBRUARY

Great Falls, MT – (406) 727-8787 www.cmrussell.org

February 8-March 22

March 19-21

AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST

GREAT FALLS ELKS LODGE

Masters of the American West

March in Montana

Los Angeles, CA – (323) 667-2000 www.theautry.org

Great Falls, MT – (307) 635-0019 www.marchinmontana.com

C.M. RUSSELL MUSEUM

May 2020 (Date TBA) Sotheby’s American Art Auction

Reno, NV – (208) 772-9009

Phoenix, AZ – (602) 252-8840

March 18-22 Out West Art Show & Sale

June 27-28 Brian Lebel’s Cody Old West Show & Auction

Great Falls, MT – (406) 899-2958

Santa Fe, NM – (480) 779-9378

March 19-21 March in Montana

August 15-16 SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market

Great Falls, MT – (307) 635-0019

Santa Fe, NM – (505) 983-5220

March 19-21 The Russell: An Exhibition and Sale to Beneﬁt the C.M. Russell Museum

August 2020 (Date TBA) Altermann Galleries & Auctioneers August Sale

Great Falls, MT – (406) 727-8787

Santa Fe, NM – (307) 75303316

March 27-May 3 Briscoe Museum’s Night of Artists Sale

Sept. 2020 (Date TBA) Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival Jackson, WY – (307) 733-3316

San Antonio, TX – (210) 299-4499

February 9-20

March 27-May 3

MARK SUBLETTE MEDICINE MAN GALLERY

BRISCOE WESTERN ART MUSEUM

Dennis Ziemienski Cowboys & Cowgirls

Briscoe Museum’s Night of Artists Sale

Tucson, AZ – (800) 422-9382 www.medicinemangallery.com

San Antonio, TX – (210) 299-4499 www.briscoemuseum.org

Wickenburg, AZ – (928) 684-2272

April 3-5 Cattlemen’s Western Art Show and Sale

February 14-16

Southeastern Wildlife Exposition Charleston, SC – (843) 723-1748 www.sewe.com

March 27-May 10 Cowgirl Up! Art from the Other Half of the West

In every issue of Western Art Collector, we will publish the only reliable guide to all major upcoming sales, events and auctions nationwide. Contact Alyssa Tidwell at atidwell@westernartcollector.com to discuss how your event can be included in this calendar.

Sept. 2020 (Date TBA) Quest for the West Indianapolis, IN – (317) 636-8119

Sept. 2020 (Date TBA) Western Visions Show & Sale Jackson, WY – (800) 313-9553

Paso Robles, CA – (805) 472-9100

April 4 Scottsdale Art Auction Scottsdale, AZ – (480) 945-0225

WESTERN MAKERS Spotlights on artists and artisans who specialize in silver, leather, stone, wood and beyond.

Jane Chavez Basket maker Jane Chavez spent part of her childhood in Argentina and she remembers a small horse-drawn cart coming into town. “It was loaded with baskets and it would arrive every Saturday evening. I always loved that horse,” she says. “I still have the first basket I ever bought from the cart, and ever since I’ve been connected to baskets.” Chavez now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and makes magnificent horsehair baskets. They are made using a coiling technique, “very much like a potter throwing some clay on a wheel to make a pot,” Chavez says. “I control the shape as the basket goes up, increasing or decreasing the coil as needed.” The process begins with an ingenious piece of design, one the artist has had legally trademarked. Each

pot starts with a sterling silver plate, which she can decorate with hand-stamped designs. The plate has holes punched into the edges that allow her to attach the bundles of horsehair. The plate, which can also be made with other precious metals, also allows a nice decorative element when looking down into her baskets. She gets her horsehair from a trading post in Washington, which acquires the material from Mongolia, the largest producer of horsehair in the world. “They have lots of small horses there with long hair. It’s their renewable resource,” Chavez says. “I use mostly the hair from the tail. The mane tends to have shorter and thinner hair. For me, the tail hair is perfect.” Chavez uses colored sinew to bind the horsehair coils and will often weave or decorate objects into

the design—from bird feathers and rooster hackle to beads and wood handles. The basket maker works and sells from her home studio, and also shows work at Sage Creek Gallery in Santa Fe. She also does commissions, which are popular with horse owners who like the materials Chavez uses. “I love horses,” she says, adding that she owns a little mustang herself. “And I love having that link to horses in the baskets.”

For more information about Jane Chavez, visit her website at www.janechavez.com. She can also be reached at (505) 660-9963 and (505) 983-3248. Sage Creek Gallery’s website is www.sagecreekgallery.com.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Painting the Old West is my passion, especially illustrating the tales of adventures of my pioneering family in Texas and Arizona.â&#x20AC;?

Saddlin' Up

13th Year in Cowgirl Up! Show

Cowgirl Up! Art from the Other Half 'HVHUW &DEDOOHURV 0XVHXP

20 x 24

0DUFK Â˛ 0D\

IG: sheila.cottrell

)% #Ă&#x20AC;QHDUWE\VKHLOD

sheilacottrell@aol.com

Curating the West

Each Month We Ask Leading Museum Curators About What’s Going On In Their World. Dr. Tricia Loscher Assistant Museum Director – Collections, Exhibitions & Research Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West Scottsdale, AZ (480) 686-9539 www.scottsdalemuseumwest.org

What event (gallery show, museum exhibit, etc.) in the next few months are you looking forward to, and why? I’m looking forward to the LA Art Show in February of 2020. It is the event’s silver jubilee, and there will be exciting and thought-provoking international exhibits, programs, performance art and installations. What are you reading? Currently I’ve been looking at recent publications for children’s books. These provide an opportunity for young readers to explore diverse stories about artists through original art illustrations and engaging stories. The array of life stories helps to open doors for children to see into other worlds, exposing them to artists who may be lesser known. In particular, Julie Leung’s Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist tells Wong’s story by introducing 9-year-old Wong Geng Yeo (Tyrus Wong) who emigrated with his father from China to San Francisco. Wong worked for Warner Brothers as well as Disney animation studios, and his paintings that were inspired by Chinese Song Dynasty watercolor paintings served as the background models in the movie Bambi. These books serve also as another means to explore how to effectively create interactive exhibitions for children that tell compelling stories.

Interesting exhibit, gallery opening or work of art you’ve seen recently. Interesting artwork I’ve seen recently is that of Scottsdale artist Robert McCall (1919-2010). I’m fascinated not only by his sci-ﬁ paintings where he combines desert landscapes that include regions such as Monument Valley with futuristic spacecrafts, but also by his career as a production illustrator for Star Trek. He is credited with concept art for Star Trek: The Motion Picture where he created V’Ger. McCall worked with NASA where he created the Apollo Mission patches. He also did promotional artwork for 2001: A Space Odyssey. What are you researching at the moment? Currently, with our exciting Museum Square development moving forward, I am looking into ways to further bring SMoW into the community and researching how we can be more responsible and involved, allowing for effective dialogue with communities throughout our exhibitions. This is all the more timely given that our expanded facility will include a Western Region Institute to be dedicated to speciﬁc regional themes with corresponding Best of the American West permanent collections and supportive research information. SMoW will be the site for hosting regional, national and international

Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West in Scottsdale, Arizona. conferences with attendees to be lodged in the new hotels within our Museum Square neighborhood. What is your dream exhibit to curate? Or see someone else curate? As we work a lot with historic and contemporary art and artists who create objects in clay that range from Hopi pottery to bronzes, I’m fascinated by the malleable adaptability of clay and its many uses from functional to ﬁne art. This has led to my interest in the history of the car designer profession. I’d like to curate an exhibition on the lost art of clay car sculpting and pose fascinating questions such as “how does the designer know when to stop?” regardless of whether the ﬁnal product is a car, vessel or sculpture. My thesis would be based on the history of Harley Earl who was recruited from his Hollywood customizing shop in 1927 to

form the General Motors Art and Color section, the auto industry’s ﬁrst full-time styling studio. His portfolio included a car with a saddle on its roof, designed for the Western movie star Tom Mix, along with his idea that the best way to design a car was to sculpt it in clay. It is reported that in 1927 when Earl formed the General Motors Art and Color section, the auto industry’s ﬁrst full-time styling studio, form stopped following function for automotive designers. Although car designers today have computers and view their designs in 3D and virtual reality, they still create meticulously accurate clay models of full-size vehicles before putting a new design into production. This legacy began with Earl and his cars for the Hollywood movie stars. Along with the clay car models I’d integrate the movie posters that feature cars curated from our renowned Dr. Rennard Strickland Golden West Poster Collection.

art@sherryblanchardstuart.com www.sherryblanchardstuart.com

SHERRY BLANCHARD STUART

ART SHOWS: 50th Annual Contemporary Western Mountain Oyster Show | Tucson November 24 – January 11, 2020 American Women Artists Exhibition | RS Hanna Gallery October 21 – December 7, 2019

O͖̳͖͋̊ F̳͖̊ AΆΛ AΣ˼Λ̳͖͠ I̊˟ΛΣΆ̳͖̥ y˟Λ̳͖͠˟͋͋ς A˼˼͋˟̳͔̊̃ AΆΛ̳ΎΛΎ

March 20-25

2020 Bosque Arts Center in Clifton, Texas

Steve Atkinson ❒ Wayne Baize ❒ Teal Blake Dan Bodelson ❒ Nancy Boren ❒ Tyler Crow Mikel Donahue ❒ Loren Entz ❒ Tony Eubanks Deborah Fellows ❒ Bruce Greene Martin Grelle ❒ Terry Cooke Hall Whitney Hall ❒ Sherry Harrington George Hill ❒ Harold Holden ❒ Oreland Joe Greg Kelsey ❒ TD Kelsey ❒ Mehl Lawson Krystii Melaine ❒ Brenda Murphy Bill Nebeker ❒ Jim Norton ❒ Dustin Payne Bruce Peil ❒ Clark Kelly Price ❒ Paul Puckett Grant Redden ❒ Jason Rich ❒ R.S. Riddick Aaron Schuerr ❒ Jason Scull Donna Howell Sickles ❒ Kathy Tate Joshua Tobey ❒ Ezra Tucker ❒ Nelson Tucker Don Weller ❒ Xiang Zhang

• S΃͖͠Ύ͠Ά̊̃ ˻ς AΛ͔͠Ύ E͖̊Ά̥ς ۞ I͐ͳ̧ Σθ !ͽͳͳͽ͐ΫΫ̧πΣ ͔˟̥˟ό̳͖̊ • Pieces on display March 20-29 at the Bosque Arts Center | Details at BosqueArtsCenter.org | 254.675.3724

Water Rights, 24x36, oil on linen

Gallery

Recently Acquired

Norton Museum of Art: Rockwell Kent

Rockwell Kent (1882-1971), Holsteinberg, Greenland, 1933, oil on canvas, 27½ x 33½”. Gift of Priscilla and John Richman, 2019.20. Rights courtesy of Plattsburgh State Art Museum, State University of New York, USA, Rockwell Kent Collection. Bequest of Sally Kent Gorton. All rights reserved.

he Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida, has recently acquired six new works, gifts from long-time museum supporters Priscilla and John Richman. The works are by six different artists, four of whom spent a great deal of time painting the West or Western themes. The four artists are Thomas Hart Benton, Robert Henri, John Sloan and Rockwell Kent. Two additional works are by prominent impressionists Abbott Fuller Graves and Frederick Carl Frieseke. “The six new paintings from the Richmans, when added to the five pictures they gave to the Norton in 2014, constitute one of the most

significant gifts of American art ever made to the museum. The donation includes the institution’s first paintings by such major artists as Thomas Hart Benton, Frederick Frieseke, and Rockwell Kent, as well as important works by Robert Henri and John Sloan,” says curator Ellen Roberts. “Thanks to the Richmans’ generosity, the Norton will be able to present a more thorough history of American art for generations to come.” The Kent piece, Holsteinberg, Greenland, was painted in 1933 and shows the artist’s vibrant and also dramatic style of landscape painting. The work shows a rocky landscape

with a flat area in the middle where a town has been started. His sparse scenes and vivid compositions, as well as his grand land features, have made him a favorite for Western collectors. The new works are now on view in the exhibition The Priscilla and John Richman Gift of American Impressionism and Realism, which continues through March 15, 2019. For more information visit www.norton.org. Calling all Western Art museums! Have a recently acquired painting or sculpture? Email the details to editor@westernartcollector.com.

Exceptional wood carving and clay casting in bronze.

GALLERY REPRESENTATION Mountain Spirit Gallery Prescott, AZ

UPCOMING SHOW Phippen Western Art Show and Sale — May 20 Prescott, AZ

rlparkerstudios.com rlparker@cableone.net “Yellow Hand and Stalking Elk” 22” H x 5” W x 4.5” D. Carving in Cottonwood Bark

T OF I R I SP E H T THE

Montana collectors embrace history and color as they fill their home with Western art and Native American artifacts. By John Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Hern Photography by Francis Smith

At the entrance to Spiker Communications is a Larry Pirnie cutout, Pow. The shirt is a family heirloom, a Salish buckskin and beaded man’s shirt, sash and beaded and abalone necklace, circa 1910.

es and Chris Spiker moved to Montana with their two young children in 1981 and later established their marketing and advertising company, Spiker Communications. Fresh from a high-pressure “big-agency life” on the West Coast, they “left the rat race and set up shop in Missoula, Montana, trading our suits for hiking and wading boots.” The walls of their offices and their home are hung primarily with the work of Montana

artists and others who embody the spirit of the West. “We bought a site and began designing a home,” Wes explains. “My goal was to have each room in the house represent some aspect of people’s perception of the West—the different views that other creative people saw. I’m from Ohio and my ideas of the West came from John Wayne movies, Quick Draw McGraw and Yogi Bear. The design became too expensive to build so there went my goal. Now there’s a mix of

art throughout the house and in our offices. We have a creative business and we want to show creativity there.” He continues, “When we first moved here we had our ideas for the collection. We went to an auction and saw a buffalo robe painted by a survivor of the Little Big Horn, depicting the battle. We were all gaga about it. We decided we could pay $50,000. The bidding started at $50,000 and the robe sold for over $1 million. We realized, ‘OK. We’re

In the company’s conference room is Larry Pirnie’s acrylic on canvas, Journey in Paradise. The headdress is from Prairie Edge in Rapid City, South Dakota, which specializes in contemporary hand-crafted Native American ceremonial items.

not big shots.’ We’re going to do the best we can with what we have.” One piece on display in the company’s entrance is an original Native American piece, however. “It’s a family heirloom,” Wes explains. “Chris’ uncles are part Salish and members of the tribe. Their father made the buckskin and beaded man’s shirt, sash and beaded and abalone necklace, around 1910. The family wanted it to be seen and have loaned it to us.” The focus is also on Montana’s history. “Lewis and Clark came through here in 1805,” he explains. “We saw the photographs of Edward Curtis in Seattle and I fell in love with his work. Being in Montana, I have more interest in his photos of the Plains Indians, which is some of his best work. He was here in 1900.” Curtis (1868-1952) was born in Wisconsin and moved with his family to the Seattle area when he was in his late teens and became a studio portrait photographer. He became interested in the Indigenous people of the area and between 1900 and 1930 produced the

Red Sky, a teepee painting by Montana painter R. Tom Gilleon, hangs in the dining room. On the adjacent wall is Barbara Van Cleve’s When Everything is Almost Perfect.

Larry Pirnie’s Buffalo was commissioned by the collectors—the first bison he had painted. Montana sculptor Charles Ringer’s kinetic sculpture Buffalo Hunt sits on the table. The beaded breastplate and moccasins are Salish.

In the entryway to the collectors’ home are three cutouts by Larry Pirnie: Jukebox, on the left, and next to it Women and Children Under the Wagons. Beneath them is Lookin’ for Trouble. The painting on the right is Evening Workout, their first piece by Pirnie.

The five photos are from The North American Indian, circa 1907, by Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952). They are, left to right, Kó-pi (“Buffalo Mountain”)—San Juan, An Acoma Man, Kutenai Type, Suqitlaa – profile and A Sarsi Woman. On the right is a ledger drawing by Black Pinto Horse (Arikara/Hidasta), also known as Monte Yellowbird.

20-volume work The North American Indian. In his foreword to the volumes, Theodore Roosevelt wrote, “He has not only seen their vigorous outward existence, but has caught glimpses, such as few white men ever catch, into that strange spiritual and mental life of theirs; from whose innermost recesses all white men are forever barred.” Speaking of R. Tom Gilleon’s Red Sky, a painting of a teepee at sunset, Wes remarks, “I’ve always been taken by teepees and love looking at images of an encampment of them with the horses nearby.” Ironically it was a view of a Montana valley spread with over a thousand teepees that inspired Curtis to begin his monumental project. Hanging next to the Gillion in the couple’s dining room is a photograph by Barbara Van Cleve, When Everything is Almost Perfect. He says, “It was taken on her family ranch, which was founded in 1880 on the slopes of the Crazy Mountains here in Montana. I took a photography workshop with her. I like color and she is 100 percent the opposite, working in black and white. We’ve bought three or four of her pieces.” Color entered the collection in the first painting they bought, Evening Workout, by Larry Pirnie. Pirnie also left behind a career in advertising and moved with his family to Montana in 1978. “We have a lot in common with Larry,” Wes comments. “I met him when

Raven Blanket, a photograph by Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952), is on the left and Larry Pirnie’s cutout Hang Yer Irons Here is on the right.

Behind the pool table is Brush Poppers by Larry Pirnie of Missoula, Montana. The shade on the light fixture is a parfleche design in stained glass by Peter Fillerup of Colorado.

Montanan Barbara Van Cleve’s photograph Brewing Storm hangs above the easy chair.

On the left in the master bedroom is Cowgirl Lasso by Walter Piehl. On the right are four calendars by Winold Reiss (1886-1953) commissioned by the Great Northern Railway to entice Easterners to come to Glacier National Park in the ’50s and ’60s.

we were on the Garden City Ballet board. We bought Evening Workout in a gallery. Any time he has a show we walk out with something. He donates paintings to charity auctions. If I think the bid isn’t high enough, I bid it up and sometimes end up buying the piece.” Billy Schenck is another artist of the West known for his vibrant color. The couple commissioned him to paint a family portrait when they were in Santa Fe. Although Chris had her own hat, Schenck sent the family to a shop he knew to buy hats to wear when he photographed them. “We’re self-made,” Wes comments. “The only consistent thing about me is that I’m inconsistent. If I like a piece I will try to get it. It’s one thing to think, ‘I wish, I wish.’ You have to get up out of your chair and buy it. Just do it! Art makes life worthwhile. We’re not here for a long time. We’re here for a good time. “The art in our home and our offices is all about the creativity of the artists and how it makes people feel. Maya Angelou said, ‘I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’” Hanging above the original mica and copper lamp is Mosa, Mohave Girl, 1903, by Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952).

As Howard Terpning approaches 600 completed paintings, Western Art Collector gets an exclusive interview in his Tucson studio.

By Michael Clawson

oward Terpning has long said that as long as his eyes can see and his hands can hold a brush he would keep painting. The 92-year-old painter is definitely a man of his word. When Western Art Collector stopped by his home in Tucson, Arizona, we found him between paintings— one had recently left his studio and another was slowly starting to materialize—but painting was on his mind and his studio was prepped for the new work, which now comes at a leisurely pace since he retired from museum and gallery shows, and their incessant deadlines. Not only is Terpning one of the great standardbearers of Western art—whose works are treasured around the globe and have been known to sell at seven figures—he’s also one of the last painters still working today to be so thoroughly shaped by the

Golden Age of Illustration. Early in his career he apprenticed under Haddon Sundblom, who cemented Santa Claus firmly into American pop culture by way of Coca-Cola, and was later initiated into a thriving world of illustration himself, from consumer products to movie posters. He discussed all this and much more, including his work as a civilian combat artist during the Vietnam War, when we visited him and his studio, which is decorated from top to bottom with Native American artifacts. These days his works sell privately or enter the family collection, but Terpning still keeps his fingers on the pulse of the art world and watches from afar as the genre continues to excite collectors, many of whom were brought to Western art by Terpning’s legendary presence throughout a magnificent 45-year career.

Mystery of the Crow Medicine Horse Masks, 2019, oil, 31 x 35”

When starting your fine art career, how did come to decide on Arizona, specifically Tucson? In 1975 [Settlers West Galleries owner] Stuart Johnson came to New York and I met him in the city. We met on a street corner, I don’t even remember which one, but we agreed to meet on a street corner and then go to the Heye Foundation. Like me, he had this great interest in [Native American] artifacts, so we met up and took a cab over there and the damn thing was closed because it was on a Monday. We decided to sit somewhere and we visited and we hit it off. He, of course, had a gallery out here in Tucson and after that we would communicate over the phone and I would send him pictures. He would have shows and I would send work and come out, and then subsequent shows as well. I just loved it our here. [My wife] Marlies missed the pine trees, but she liked it too. My career

was just starting to get going and we thought let’s make the move. We knew with the way things were going we could live anywhere we wanted. We did look at Santa Fe, but [our son] Steve had some allergies to the dust and we walked past a car on the street and you could see inside on the dash was covered in dust. We also looked in Scottsdale, but then came to Tucson. This house was empty at the time, so it was quite fortuitous I guess. But we’ve been here ever since. Do you remember your first piece that was in a museum collection? The Gilcrease had on loan Chief Joseph’s Ride to Surrender for a long time, so long that they assumed it was theirs until the collector eventually took it back. But my first one was probably Offerings to the Little People at the Phoenix Art Museum.

Pursuit Across the Yellowstone, 2018, oil, 32 x 42”

Artists seem to feel a great sense of honor when their works are in museums. It means the work will be remembered and publicly seen for a long time. We all want to think that our works are going to survive and stand the test of time, and only time will tell if that’s the case. There are almost 600 pictures of mine out there in the

world, and I don’t know where most of them are except for the big paintings, and I have one friend who has more than 50 paintings. The Basha Collection also has a number of my works. If some of them end up in museums that’s always nice for me, because they are seen.

Has the process of deciding what you want to paint or gathering your reference material changed at all in recent years? It’s certainly harder to gather all the material and get everything together. You have to go out and get horses and for models I’ll take any live body for a model…It’s a lot of physical effort, but I’ve got endless stuff. If I get an idea it can

The artist in his library, which plays an important role when gathering information for new works.

gets to be more of a challenge and I can’t face that any more if it’s too difficult. How do you step into a painting? Do you get ideas from books or history, or from nature? My process is the same as it’s always been. I keep my challenges a little more modest these days. It starts from an idea, which can come from anywhere—it can be reading or just looking at something, and it makes me think of a scene. From there I can do some little sketches, see if it’s workable. But it all starts with the idea. If it’s exciting, I’m off and running. If it’s just going to make a nice little picture, so what? There’s a million nice little pictures out there in the world. All of the reference that’s available, it’s available to everybody, so sometimes it depends on how much you’re willing to dig and willing to spend on the research and going to whatever efforts are required to get what you need to do the right picture. Books, libraries, artifacts…it all helps. I can find anything I need in my own library, and sometimes I’ll just being going through it endlessly to find the right thing.

be something very specific. I usually have the artifacts and even if it’s not the right tribe it can still provide a semblance of an article I can alter. Years and years ago, it was easy because horses were all over the place, and I had my own horse for a long time. Now if I want a certain horse in a certain way with certain lighting, you can’t fake it—you just have to have the right facts. It just

But I can imagine that books only go so far. Young painters sometimes think that the key to painting is an accumulation of knowledge, but I imagine an accumulation of experiences is just as important. The experiences do matter. I once went on a buffalo hunt in the winter in Montana on snowmobiles. It was sort of a once-in-a-lifetime thing. And then I think of all the rendezvous, the Custer reenactments, the Indian ceremonies with

the Blackfeet…these experiences accumulate over time, and they provide a rich background of memories that take years and years to create. I used to be offered the chance to go to ceremonies in the summer—the Kiowa wanted me to come once and other tribes as well. Every summer I would always be working on the [Cowboy Artists of America] show and then Stuart Johnson would want a piece for his fall show, so I would be doing six to eight paintings every summer and I turned down a lot of things and that was a big mistake. I should have said to hell with it and left the studio to go out and see more. I certainly did have a lot of opportunities that I did take advantage of and I’m glad I did. I’ve found that it’s difficult to talk with many veteran artists about their technique because so much of what they do is intuition. So when you ask why did you put this color there, or something like that, they often don’t have the answer as to why. They just knew it belonged there. That’s right. A lot of it is intuition. It’s an intuitive process because you have to make a decision every time you put a brush on the canvas— the value, the color, how that stroke interacts with the other strokes—all day, every day, or for however long you work. It’s a reflective thing, a personal thing, a very emotional thing. And then amid the intuition, sometimes we all get happy accidents. Sometimes you have to recognize the accident and leave it the hell alone before you go fiddling with it and ruin it. There are a lot of accidents that are disastrous,

Howard Terpning holds up a preliminary sketch for a 2018 piece, New Branch on the Family Tree. Opposite page: New Branch on the Family Tree, 2018, oil, 24 x 18”

and you have to fix those, but every painting is a learning exercise. And when you get the painting finished it’s a good painting, but next time it can get better. That’s the carrot in front of the donkey’s nose. You said you are working on a new piece. Do you have a title yet? I do. It’s called Plenty Wagon Come. It’s a trail with these wagon tracks going off over this hill. There is a lot of sage and it’s all overgrown and hasn’t been used in a long time, and an Indian is laying across this thing with his ear to the ground. There are two horses, one with an Indian sitting on it and another that belongs to the fella on the ground. I’ve wanted to do this for so many years, and I never could figure the damn thing out. I was trying it as a horizontal and I would put the figure in the foreground, then in the background, horse in front, horse behind…every now and again I would take the sketches out and screw around with them, but I could never figure them out. And just recently, on a Sunday morning, I had a eureka moment and I decided it was going to be a vertical instead of a horizontal. Now, I haven’t painted it yet, so it still might not work, but we’ll see.

This is very encouraging to other artists. If Howard Terpning still struggles with his paintings, then there is hope for everyone else when they struggle. All painting is one damn problem after another. That’s exactly what it is. I mean, hell, if it were just painting by numbers—“do this color here, do this color there”—then everyone and their brother would be painting pictures. There’s a million artists out there as it is. What was the Western art world like when you came onto the scene in 1976 and 1977? I remember it very well. The market was booming. These rich Texas oil men would come up to Scottsdale and they would just buy things off the wall, some of them without even looking at them. I heard this from Troy Murray who represented me—it was Troy and Marilyn. Galleries were all over the place. The market was remarkable. You start thinking, “I guess it’s always going to be this way.” I started out with a gallery here in town, a nice fellow owned it. He had some of my works, three paintings— probably the first three I did, which I had done in the summer of 1974. Anyway he couldn’t sell them. Stuart Johnson has told me this story many

times. He was driving down Campbell Avenue [in Tucson], and he was stopped in traffic and he looked to his right and there were my paintings in this gallery. So he pursued them and found out who I was and that’s how we got connected. But this fellow couldn’t sell the paintings, so he sent them up to Troy Murray and the idea was if Troy could sell them they would split the commission. Troy sold them right away and then Troy contacted me and asked if I wanted to be represented by him and I did. So I sent Troy some paintings, and I was represented by Schreiber Gallery in Taos. My thinking was that Troy was open in the winter, Taos was open in the summer. And then Stuey stepped in there as well. Very quickly there was a lot of demand for my work so I wasn’t able to fulfill all of my obligations so I just focused with being with Stuart. The market was incredible then. There was Fowlers Gallery on Main Street, Steve Rose and many others. [John] Clymer and [Tom] Lovell were the big guys then, and Brownell McGrew. And then all the CA members, like Bill Owen and [Joe] Beeler and those guys. Bob Scriver and I became good friends and he was a big help to me. He was, in many ways, more Blackfeet than many of the Blackfeet. He

Your paintings of Native Americans have always been praised for your sensitive portrayal of the Plains People and what they went through, including what happened to them as the West expanded and they encountered white people. Did your experience in Vietnam help inform your perspective on Native Americans and what they went through? I think it did affect my work in that way. There were so many similarities to the Vietnamese people with what was going on over there and what happened to the people of the Great Plains and the hardships they had. Just look at the buffalo. As the buffalo disappeared, they were being hunted for their hides, and even the Plains Indians started slaughtering the buffalo so they could trade goods. It was corrupting their whole culture, and then the buffalo were gone and they didn’t even realize it. It’s unbelievable how they had to live and survive. They not only had to fight the white man, but they had to fight each other. Like Vietnam, I couldn’t help but be moved by these people and what they had gone through to survive. Before you started painting Native Americans and the Plains People, you began your career in illustration. It’s always fun to run across those images. Just yesterday I saw one for Orange Crush in 1960 that was attributed to you. It’s nice to know people enjoy those works. I don’t recall the image you’re talking about; there was a lot of them then. I guess I’m better known for my movie work, but I did do ads for everything, including whiskey, cigars, Pendleton woolen wear. I did Pendleton for four years and they wanted me for a fifth year but I said no because I was transitioning into my art career.

Three Trophies, 2016, oil, 26 x 19”

had this place in Browning, [Montana], and he was born and raised there. His dad had a trading post there, a mercantile or something like that, and he was the owner of the Thunder Pipe Bundle, which was a great honor. He was so helpful to me, especially when it came to helping me learn about the Blackfeet people. Bob was a character, an absolute character. It’s fun to think back on these people who I haven’t thought about in a long time. I’ve had a hell of a lot of experiences, incredible experiences, including in Vietnam. Every one of them has influenced my work. How did your experience in Vietnam influence your work? The big one was material things. When you’re in the middle of some pretty bad situations and

you reflect on it, material things don’t make a damn bit of difference. It’s what you have inside you that helps you survive. Seeing the disaster over there, and seeing the way the local people—the peasants and especially the children—to see how they lived was heartbreaking. All the fathers and brothers, they were either dead or in the war. These little kids were growing up as little packs in the village, and when you walked through they would just cling to you and it’s hard not to be affected by that. You have to be hard hearted to just blow it off. I never knew anyone who could and I certainly couldn’t. It influences your life in many ways, and it certainly helped me to appreciate my own life, the security and safety we have. It just changes you somehow.

Some artists look down on their illustration work, but illustration is often the first place people experience art, whether it’s through a billboard or a poster or a magazine ad. Illustrators fill the world with art. When you think about it, that’s all there was back then—it was paintings or nothing. I have a book on Haddon Sundblom that Morgan Weistling sent me. I apprenticed with Sunny for a year and a half. I was just fascinated at what he did. Gil Elvgren, he did the best pinups, he lived right around the corner from Sundblom and would come over to visit. We were all in awe of Elvgren and Sundblom and everybody else that was doing the big-time stuff. I just had the occasion to write a little bit about Sundblom. His Santa Claus paintings are classics. Funny thing is he ended up using himself as the model. He was a Swede, and as he got

Howard Terpning stands next to Cold Makers Bridge in his Tucson home.

older he looked the part, from his cheeks and his eyebrows to the little glint in his eye. His studio was a big studio and they had a photo room with a full-time photographer and they had the whole deal. It was great if you needed model shots you could call up the ad agency or the modeling agency and tell them what you needed and they would send them over. They’d come into the photo room and the pictures would be taken and then printed out and you had your references. It was great. I used to model for him sometimes. It was fun. I was only in my early 20s. It was usually with some young girls. I’d do these casual embraces. One time I was a lifeguard. Another time I was a delivery guy with a cap and big grin on my face. It was great and was a learning experience.

Flipping through old sketches in a library and workshop area off his studio, the artist finds an early figure drawing for Chief Joseph’s Ride to Surrender, one of his most famous pieces.

You mentioned you have almost 600 paintings done. Do you keep a tally of finished works? I do keep track. Back when I started I would jot each one down in a notebook—what the piece was, a title, where it was going, that sort of information. Right now I have 596 works completed and I’m working on sketches for 597. I need to get to 600. It would be a good number to hit, don’t you think?

ONCE FUTURE and

Excitement builds as a planned expansion comes together at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

By James D. Balestrieri

he art world, especially the Western Art world, is riddled with stories. Tall tales, windies, rumors, apocrypha—call them what you will. When you work for an old gallery, like J.N Bartfield in New York, every drawer, every bin, every letter, yellowed and faded with time, is fairly saturated with the dust of story. And so, when I recently traveled to Tulsa, to spend some time with Laura Fry, senior curator at the Gilcrease Museum, to hear about the impressive expansion that is about to begin there—and to gather impressions for this article—I went with a story of my own. As the murmurs of amazement from school groups on field trips echoed against the high ceilings in Helmerich Hall, I stood with Fry at the top of a flight of steps and told the story of how, in 1944, Jack Bartfield had been in the running with Thomas Gilcrease and others to purchase the collection of Dr. Philip G. Cole, a prominent collector of Western art who had known both Remington, Russell and many of the Taos artists and owned some of their greatest works. As the

story goes, bidding was to close at a certain hour on a Friday. Bartfield’s bid was higher than Gilcrease’s, but Bartfield’s lawyers had arrived minutes after the deadline, so Gilcrease won out. Bartfield was understandably upset, but said he’d rather lose out to a museum than another dealer. Fry added her layer to the tale, saying that Gilcrease was said to have opened one box, seen that it was filled with paintings by Joseph Henry Sharp and placed his bid, saying, “I’ll take all of it.” It was 636 works of art, plus manuscript and archival material. Bartfield’s has a copy of Cole’s list. I’ve seen it. Now that’s how you build a museum. Cole resided in Tarrytown, New York. His house can’t be more than 10 minutes’ walk from my home. Do I dream of stumbling across some masterwork of his that somehow slipped away from the Cole estate and Gilcrease? What do you think? The $83.6 million expansion at the Gilcrease will be designed by Tulsa’s 1Architecture—who will oversee construction locally—and SmithGroup—which was responsible for the striking National Museum of African

Ernest L. Blumenschein (1874-1960), Superstition, 1921, oil on canvas, 46 x 44¾”. GM 0137.531. Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), Carson’s Men, 1913, oil on canvas, 24 x 36”. GM 01.2245. Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. When it is finished, there will be: a new facade, a 5,000-square-foot changing gallery for traveling exhibitions, three changing galleries designed primarily for the Gilcrease Collection, three new core thematic galleries, open storage space to display more of the collection, education space, a new grand entry and great hall, and more. Much of the existing exhibition space will also be renovated. Considering that fewer than 5 percent of the museum’s objects— which number nearly half a million—are available to the public at any one time, the work is vital, necessary, and exciting. To see where the museum is headed, it’s worth taking a look back at its origins. Born in 1890, Thomas Gilcrease was an enrolled member of the Creek Nation, one of the five so-called “civilized” nations—tribes seen as having sufficiently adapted to white European ways—that had been “removed” from the American Southeast to lands west of the Mississippi early in the 19th century. “Civilized.” “Removed.” George Orwell would have had much to say about this rhetoric of colonization. Like other Native Americans, Gilcrease received an allotment of 160 acres—that turned out to be saturated with oil. Because of the status of the Creek, Gilcrease managed to keep

control of his land and the oil extracted there. By contrast, the Osage, a local Indigenous nation, were found to be “incompetent,” and were subject to guardianships by whites who exploited and even murdered them for their wealth. The recent book, Killers of the Flower Moon, documents these crimes and the partial and insufficient restitution the Osage received. But Gilcrease flourished. He studied. Then he traveled to Europe and North Africa. There he took keen interest in history and the arts. On his return, he began to collect paintings, sculptures, books and manuscripts and to bring his dream—an American museum in Tulsa— into being. And he was voracious, purchasing entire collections—like Cole’s—as well as significant individual works. My journey took me to the archives, where head librarian and archivist Renee Harvey guided me through the museum’s extensive holdings: a letter from Columbus’ son in Hispaniola to the King of Spain, an unmatched collection of documents related to Spanish colonization, Benjamin Franklin’s personal copy of the Declaration of Independence, a myriad of journals related to Canadian and Arctic exploration, and a veritable treasure trove of narratives of conflict, captivity, enslavement, escape and freedom, dating back to the earliest European arrivals.

Thomas Gilcrease, photograph. GM 4327.9154. Gilcrease Museum Archives, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Walter Ufer (1876-1936), Hunger, 1919, oil on canvas, 49½ x 49½”. GM 0137.2196. Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

In the massive storage areas below ground, Fry walked over to one of many rolling racks and pulled one out. Dozens of portraits of Native Americans by Sharp stared back at me. The effect was overwhelming. In an adjoining room, there were drawers of watercolors—from simple color studies to full sheets—and pristine etchings, all by Thomas Moran and his wife, Mary Nimmo Moran. Near the rack of Sharps, I had seen several oils of Mexico by Moran and had not known he did so much work there. The Gilcrease has some 300 Sharps; Morans number over 1,000. Fry led me down a long hallway,

flanked on one side by George Catlin’s vivid and stylized paintings of the West as he saw it in the 1830s, and, on the other, the contents of W.R. Leigh’s 57th Street studio. We then entered the museum’s galleries of Native American objects and I saw drawer after drawer filled with row after row of what were certainly some of the finest Clovis projectile points ever collected. It was right about then that the scope of Gilcrease’s project began to coalesce in my mind. Gilcrease wasn’t simply interested in an American museum. What he was was pursuing went beyond even the continental. His vision

was hemispheric, a museum of the Americas, representing pre-history and history, the arts, and material culture from the high Arctic to Tierra del Fuego. Contact and pre-Contact cultures. Indigenous cultures and empires, as well as those that preceded the modern nation states in North, Central, and South America, as well as the Caribbean Islands, a museum that would grow and change as the hemisphere changed. As borders and boundaries fall, as cultures collide and adapt to one another at the speed of light, Gilcrease’s idea is both ahead of its time and right on time.

Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902), Sierra Nevada Morning, 1870, oil on canvas, 53 x 831⁄8". GM 0126.2305. Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

I asked Fry how the new space and renovation will add to Gilcrease’s original vision for the museum and what it will it bring that, perhaps, Gilcrease himself could not have dreamt of? Fry replied: “When the Gilcrease Museum first opened in Tulsa in 1949, Thomas Gilcrease envisioned blending an art gallery, museum and library to preserve and share the many histories and diverse cultures of North and South America. By creating a new interpretive plan to guide museum exhibitions in the future, we seek to expand on Thomas Gilcrease’s original multicultural approach and broaden the perspectives presented at the museum. Mr. Gilcrease would have been amazed at the expanded communication tools

and information sharing available for museums and researchers today. Using both low-tech and high-tech methods, we hope to bring the Gilcrease collections to life through innovative storytelling and interpretation, making new connections between the past and the present.” Tulsa is a place of great energy right now— not just fossil fuel energy—and the Gilcrease seems poised, not only to be the beneficiary of that energy, but to create and release energies of its own. Some of these are energies long stored up, waiting to be released; others are cutting edge energies, arising out of new contexts and new ideas. The Tulsa I saw felt like a crux, a crossroads of cultures at a crossroads. History has been made here many times. History

here has also been suppressed. Killers of the Flower Moon makes a move toward excavation and reconciliation. The massacre of African Americans in Tulsa in 1921 (recreated in the opening sequence of HBO’s adaptation of the graphic novel The Watchmen), only recently taught in schools, commemorated and, in some small measure, atoned for, makes another. Perhaps a place in the throes of confronting its past is precisely the sort of place where truths, even hard truths, can and should be presented. Americans All, one of the exhibitions currently on view at the Gilcrease, exemplifies not only the future of the Gilcrease, but the future of Tulsa and, perhaps, all the Americas. Paintings by Audubon, Bierstadt, Leutze and others in the pantheon of

Alfred Jacob Miller (1810-1874), Stewart Meeting Indian Chief, mid-19th century, oil on canvas, 327⁄8 x 421⁄8". GM 01.738. Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Henry Farny (1847-1916), The Sorcerer, 1903, oil on canvas, 221⁄8 x 401⁄8”. GM 01.1225. Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

American art hang beside fascinating works by artists such as Mazen Abufadil, Jave Yoshimoto, and Carmen Castorena, who have made Tulsa their home—and identity their subject. In this context, we remember that almost all of us find our origins elsewhere, that we are all immigrants. It was hard to know where to look as I made my own way back through the galleries. One work that had stopped me in my tracks on my tour—a work I returned to on my own that afternoon—was Ernest Blumenschein’s 1949 canvas Enchanted Forest, a Taos painting I had only ever seen reproduced in catalogs and online. As is true of most paintings and sculptures, especially a major work, there

is no substitute for standing in front of the thing, appraising its textures and true hues and the qualities of light in it as well as how external and ambient light plays over it. Seeing Enchanted Forest for myself for the first time, the painting became a tapestry: a dense throng of singing, dancing figures in the foreground woven into a palisade of tightly packed tall trees surmounted by a densely forested hillside of pines that rises and recedes in brocaded layers. As evidenced by the ceremonial dress of dancers ringing the central figures as well as the figure at far left bearing the carcass of a buck this appears to be the artist’s impression of a Taos Deer Dance. But the rhythm has to

be felt in person to be appreciated. It is as if the vibrations of the music have caused the world to quiver into place, to find a provisional order and harmony. Writers have noted that the sunlit break in the trees above the path gives the overall effect a vulvar quality found in Georgia O’Keeffe’s flowers, but if Blumenschein intends to reference birth, it is the birth of light borne out of the ritual, a ritual of retelling. Standing there, taking Enchanted Forest in up-close and from a distance, drinking it in, brought me back to this idea of story, of the tremendous story that the Gilcrease, and Tulsa, have to tell, and the hope that this story will be told and retold and added to, layer upon layer, time and again.

A BANNER YEAR The Cowboy Artists of America at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.

ake no mistake about it, art does not sell itself. Gone are the days of oil tycoons coming into a Western show and buying cowboy artwork sight unseen. The dealers, the museums, the artists, the auction houses…everyone has to be savvier to sell art in the 21st century. I mention this because it was a risky maneuver for the members of the Cowboy Artists of America to blaze their own trail after many years at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma. The group shared a show, Cowboy Crossings, with the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association, but in 2018 the CAA announced they were going to leave the museum and hold their own show, one

The Cowboy Artists of America ¢amb¼e ¢oiÃ¢ oė oÃ their owÃʈ AÃ the ¢amb¼e Õai oėʈ

i¢ timeʈ By Michael Clawson

not affiliated with another group or museum. The members would have to not only create artwork for the exhibition, but also organize the event, from the catering and ticketing to the parking and the lighting on the paintings. It would be difficult work, and would stretch the organization in ways it hadn’t been before. But with great risk comes great reward: On November 1 and 2, the group held the 54th annual Cowboys Artists of America Sale & Exhibition at the Amon G. Carter Jr. Exhibit Hall in Fort Worth, Texas, and any fears, hesitations

or misgivings about striking out on their own quickly dissipated as the group presented one of its best shows in years. Not only did art sales surpass $934,000, but more than 76 percent of the artwork was sold. “I think it’s going fantastic. The energy here in the crowd, the numbers we have here…Fort Worth has given us a wonderful reception,” Jason Rich said during the two-day event. “We’re excited about the numbers we’re seeing, and we’re looking forward to building on what we’ve started here.” Rich, who was at that time president of the CAA, added: “Moving out of the museum space, we realized how much they’ve done for us in the past. We’ve enjoyed this independence, but with independence comes more work—and it has been work, I won’t deny that. But we’re seeing the payoff here tonight.” Many of the features that were present in Oklahoma were still fixtures of this year’s show, including an opening night reception, an autograph party and the fixed-price, by-draw sale. But many aspects of the show also skewed in new exciting directions. The art demonstrations, for instance, were held on-site—Martin Grelle and Bruce Greene set up impromptu studios side by side in the exhibit hall’s concourse area—but other artists were posted at nearby museums such as the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame and the Sid Richardson Museum. Other museums nearby, including the Amon Carter

Bruce Greene with his best-of-show winner, While Ridin’ the Canyon Rim.

Museum of American Art and the Kimbell Art Museum, were within walking distance for visitors to enjoy between events. Another unique little addition was the friends and family of the artists who were stationed at the bid boxes during the sale. At a museum show these tasks—helping guests make bids, answering questions, pulling bids from the box during the draw and collecting information from buyers—would usually be done by volunteers or docents. But without a museum, these jobs landed within the CAA itself, which resulted in a more personal experience. Bidders were working directly with Valerie Dudash, wife of painter C. Michael Dudash; Joyce Grelle, wife of painter Martin Grelle; jeweler Bo Joe, son of sculptor and painter Oreland Joe; and many others. Even Kari Rich, Jason Rich’s wife, who was hired to

organize the entire event from the ground up, was checking in collectors at the ticketing table. Top sellers at this year show included Grelle, who sold all five of his submitted paintings; Phil Epp, who sold five of seven, all of them large paintings; Tyler Crow, who sold all seven of his submitted drawings and paintings; and Chad Poppleton, Clark Kelley Price and Teal Blake, who all sold well and had significant interest from bidders. But if you had to pick a star of the night, it would most certainly go to Mikel Donahue, who not only sold all seven of his works, but also was awarded gold medals in the mixed media and drawing categories, as well as a silver medal in the water soluble category. Other gold medal winners were Epp in the water soluble catagory, Bruce Greene in sculpture and Grant Redden in oil painting. The Ray Swanson Memorial Award went to Harold Holden, while the award for the

Phil Epp, Hilltop View, acrylic on board, 30 x 40”

best body of work went to Price. The best of show went to Greene for his 38-inch-tall bronze While Ridin’ the Canyon Rim. One other highlight from exhibition was the sale itself. Not only were pieces selling, but they were selling at each phase of the draw, offering consistent action from the first bell to the last. When collectors weren’t drawn on the first round, they meandered through the gallery to put their names down on something else. In several instances, second- and third-drawn bidders eagerly waited for the sale to proceed before they could claim their works. It created an exciting mood from within the exhibition. Dan Corazzi, Western art collector and prominent voice within the Western art community, called the show a success for the CAA. “I think it bodes very well for the

future. It’s definitely a positive for them and for all of Western art when we see the final numbers—over 70 percent sell-through and more than $900,000 in sales—that they had,” says Corazzi, who’s the chair of the Prix de West committee at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. “Also, beyond the actual artwork, putting on a show like that is much more complex than anyone can imagine. In the past, the museums would put on the shows for them; but at their new venue, they had to manage the entire show. As a result, they were responsible for all the behind-the-scenes aspects—from marketing, managing the show’s website, planning for the schedule of events, hanging the show and then handling the actual sale on the night of the show. And finally, when it all ended, they had to oversee taking down,

crating and shipping out all of the artwork. So, all in all, what they accomplished this year was quite impressive.” The show was such as success it has already been decided that it will get a sequel later this year in Fort Worth, and Blake will lead the group to that point as the new CAA president. “Honestly, I was quite nervous going into the show. I was familiar with Fort Worth, but Fort Worth wasn’t familiar with the CA. It was my biggest concern, but even after the first night I knew we came to the right place,” the Texas painter says. “It was a banner year for us and a big step forward. And it had one of the largest percentages of young and new collectors we’ve ever seen. It’s the next generation of collector who wants to get involved, and that’s giving us a ton of momentum as we move into the future.”

1. Martin Grelle paints with a live audience. 2. The 54th annual Cowboy Artists of America show. 3. Harold Holden, left, and Grant Redden during the by-draw sale. 4. Bill Nebeker, second from right, and Merry Nebeker, far left, with guests. 5. Bruce Greene accepts the award for best of show near Red Steagall. 6. Painter Tom Browning flanked by InSight Gallery owners Stephen and Elizabeth Harris. 7. Briscoe Western Art Museum president and CEO Michael Duchemin with artist Donna Howell-Sickles. 8. Reagan Stephens, winner of the youth Cowboy Art Contest. 9. Joyce Hopkins and John Coleman. 10. Bids fill a box for a John Coleman painting. 11. Paul Moore, left, Dustin Payne and Bill Nebeker. 12. Martin Grelle, left, and Mike Fox, director and CEO at Western Spirit: Scottsdale's Museum of the West. 13. Oreland Joe, right, with his son Bo Joe.

E. Martin Hennings (18861956), The Taos Twins, ca. 1924, oil on canvas, 45 x 50” Sold at Bonhams. Estimate: $500/700,000 SOLD: $1,032,500

Hammer Time With high sales and numerous world records throughout 2019, auction houses are looking forward to an exciting 2020. By Michael Clawson

uctions are a convergence of stories. The artwork. The consigner. The bidders. Even the audience in the room. Everyone comes to art in their own unique way, and it all comes together for one brief moment before the hammer comes down and the dealer proclaims “sold.” And then new stories start from there, each one adding to and enriching the history of a work of art. Auctions had a tremendous year in 2019. Major artworks were sold, new bidders dipped their toes in and tested the waters, world records were set and the energy level was high. And all signs are pointing up for 2020. Bonhams had an especially good 2019, with single-owner sales opening the year and closing out the year. The first was February’s Los Angeles sale of the L.D. “Brink” Brinkman Collection, which realized more than $8.4 million and

achieved a 89 percent sell-through rate. The collection contained some marvelous works, including pieces by Frank Tenney Johnson, G. Harvey, Gerard Curtis Delano, John Clymer and a Howard Terpning that sold for more than $1.3 million. Nine months later, Bonhams would repeat the feat with another successful auction, this one featuring a selection of works from the Eddie Basha Collection. Pieces by Tom Lovell, Terpning, James Reynolds, Martin Grelle and many others sold, achieving a 79 percent sellthrough rate and a sales total of $3.8 million. Reflecting back on the sales, Scot Levitt, Bonhams’ director of fine arts, said something that has become the mantra for many auction houses: “Quality is key.” “…From what I can see across all auction houses and dealers in 2019, the good material continues to be in high demand. The lesser works

Victor Higgins (1884-1949), Taos in Winter, oil on canvas, 24 x 30”. Sold at Coeur d’Alene Art Auction. Estimate: $400/600,000 SOLD: $833,000

are more volatile, but to me that shows sophistication in the collecting base. I consider that a good thing for long term stability in this market,” he says. “With two single-owner Western sales under our belt for 2019, we hope to take advantage of our momentum and procure more collections in the year ahead. Our plan is to build this department and increase our presence in the Western market, as we see strong potential going forward.” Scottsdale Art Auction, held every April in Arizona, quickly followed up the Bonhams sale with a massive $13.2 million sale that sold 95 percent of its lots. The sale, which featured a first session filled with no-reserve lots, recorded some huge hits, including a Thomas Moran Green River landscape that sold for $2.7 million, a Frank Tenney Johnson that sold for $672,750 and a Melvin Warren that achieved a world record for the artist when it sold for $497,250. Two

Bob Kuhn (1920-2007), The Look Before the Leap, acrylic on Masonite, 20 x 35½”. Sold at Jackson Hole Art Auction. Estimate: $100/200,000 SOLD: $180,000

other artist world records of note: Mark Maggiori had a work sell for $99,450 and Logan Maxwell Hagege realized a price of $234,000. Excitement has been building for these young artists, and it showed by the bidding. “It was a great year for us,” says Scottsdale Art Auction partner Michael

Frost. “The more affordable works did great, but where we did really well was the top-quality lots. Those pieces do excellent, and we get some of the best.” Jack Morris, another partner at the Scottsdale-based auction, feels confident in the coming year and what it may bring. “The Western art market has kept pace

N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945), “Mr. Cassidy…Saw a crimson rider sweep down upon him…Heralded by a blazing .41”, Bar-20 Range Yards, Part VII – Cassidy at Cactus, The Outing Magazine interior illustration, December 1906, oil on canvas, 38 x 25”. Sold at Heritage Auctions. Estimate: $700/1,000,000 SOLD: $555,000

with increased consumer confidence in the economy. I believe we will continue to see an active market through October 2020 and that the election will have some bearing on the market leading into 2021,” he says. He added that 2020 will add a new bid platform for buyers—a smartphone app— though he still encouraged buyers to attend in person when possible. “New online bid platforms provide technology that should appeal to younger collectors, but the entertaining and educational experience of attending auctions is an important service that Scottsdale Art Auction offers veteran collectors and aspiring collectors alike.” The action next moved to Reno, Nevada, in July for the Coeur d’Alene Art Auction, which brought in $17 million. Notable lots included Frederic Remington’s Casuals on the Range, painted the year he died, that sold for $981,750, and Joseph Henry Sharp’s Crow Encampment, Montana that sold for $892,500. Other major lots included pieces by Rosa Bonheur, Charles M. Russell, Clymer, Mian Situ and a Taos work from Victor Higgins that sold for $833,000. “Our 2019 Coeur d’Alene Art Auction enjoyed extremely strong results with over $17 million in sales and a 92 percent sellthrough rate. The market for quality works with attractive estimates is as strong as we’ve seen since 2008. We’re very excited about the new collectors who participated in our 2019 auction. Over 20 percent was sold to first-time clients, which bodes well for the future. We’re really seeing strong demand for top historical works coming to market. An example would be the success of the Taos Founders works we sold in July which included a new world record for Victor Higgins,” says Coeur d’Alene Art Auction partner Mike Overby. Like Morris, he encouraged new and old bidders to explore the various platforms offered by the sale but suggested visiting the sale in person for the experience. “Online bidding has become an integral part of the auction business but by no means has supplanted the in-house experience. We have many clients whose initial participation occurred online but now attend in person. You just can’t replicate the excitement of being in the room with 500 to 600 other collectors and viewing the paintings in person.” The market was on fire heading into September for the Jackson Hole Art Auction in Wyoming. The annual sale hit $5.6

Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953), Crow Encampment, Montana, oil on canvas, 30 x 36”. Sold at Coeur d’Alene Art Auction. Estimate: $300/500,000 SOLD: $892,500

Martin Grelle, Offerings on the Wind, oil on linen, 48 x 60”. Sold at Scottsdale Art Auction. Estimate: $125/175,000 SOLD: $438,750

million with an 84 percent sell-through rate, with major works from Hagege, Bob Kuhn, William R. Leigh, Russell and Carl Rungius, who had the top lot at $642,500. The auction had rolled out an app for its 2019 sale and immediately saw results with new collectors and younger bidders. “In 2019 we introduced the Jackson Hole Art Auction mobile app to further facilitate online bidding. Very user friendly, the app was so well received that it helped propel our online bids to surpass live bids placed on the telephone for the first time. Online bidding is definitely a trend that I believe will continue to grow and attract younger, technology-driven collectors,” says partner Roxanne Hofmann Mowery. “It is also noteworthy that our 2019 auction audience was a mix of 50 percent repeat customers and 50 percent new customers. These bidders hailed from 35 states, as well as 11 international bidders. This not only indicates satisfaction among our repeat customers, but also points to growing collector interest in the wildlife, sporting and Western art markets.” And all these sales, they’re just scratching the surface. Many others have contributed to the strength of the market: Brian Lebel’s Old West Events had shows in January in Mesa, Arizona, and June in Santa Fe, New Mexico, that did a combined total of $2.2 million; The Russell Live achieved $4.7 million in March in Great Falls, Montana; March in Montana, also in Great Falls, sold $1.9 million; May sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s in New York had huge numbers, with significant Western works mixed in with the other American lots; Hindman’s Arts of the American West sale brought in $870,000 in May; Heritage Auction’s held three annual Western sales, including one in May that realized $7.2 million; the Santa Fe Art Auction realized $1.8 million in November; and Altermann held successful live and online sales throughout the year. Month after month, it was electric. And the auction houses are already building toward an equally thrilling 2020, with an assortment of starting points— from no-reserve sessions with $500 opening bids to major works from blue-chip artists selling at seven or eight figures—and in a variety of destinations, from Los Angeles and Scottsdale to Denver and Dallas to Santa Fe and New York. Western art is here. And it’s not going away.

Frank McCarthy (1924-2002), The Greeting, oil on linen, 24 x 40” SOLD: $23,400

Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953), Jerry Taos with Lover’s Flute, oil on canvas, 20 x 16” SOLD: $51,600

ALTERMANN GALLERIES & AUCTIONEERS 345 Camino Del Monte Sol, Santa Fe, NM 87501 • (855) 945-0448 • www.altermann.com

ltermann Galleries auction in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on November 8 was well received with $1.4 million in sales. Taos Society of Artists members Joseph Henry Sharp and E. Martin Hennings performed well with Sharp’s Jerry Taos with Lover’s Flute selling at $51,600 and the Hennings’ Indian Hunters selling at $45,600. Cowboy Artists of America member Joe Beeler brought $36,000 for The Hostile’s Revenge while Frank McCarthy’s The Greeting realized $23,400. Ray Swanson’s The Old Navajo sold above its estimate bringing $36,000 and John Moyers painting of a lone burro titled Abandoned brought $18,750, well above the estimated value. Other paintings that

Joe Beeler (1931-2006), The Hostile’s Revenge, oil on panel, 30 x 48” SOLD: $36,000

performed well include: William Ahrendt’s Jim Bridger Mountain Man bringing $23,400, and John Demott’s Many Snows Ago depicting a Plains Indian selling for $19,800. Fritz Scholder and Dan

Namingha both sold well above their estimated prices. Scholder’s Horse #2 brought $18,000 and Namingha’s Passage and Cardinal Directions #12 realized $12,000. In the sculpture category, Dave McGary’s When Lighting

Strikes was a standout bringing $19,200 with three more McGary bronzes selling well within their estimates.

Upcoming auctions: Online Only Auction February 21, 2020

Louis Akin (1868-1913), On the Santa Fe (Navahoes at Race, Arizona), vintage photograph, 133/8 x 19½" Estimate: $3,5/4,500

Olaf Wieghorst (1899-1988), Pintos, oil on canvas, 28 x 38” Estimate: $15/20,000

BRIAN LEBEL’S OLD WEST EVENTS 3201 Zafarano Drive, Suite C585, Santa Fe, NM 87507 • (480) 779-9378 contactus@oldwestevents.com • www.oldwestevents.com

rian Lebel’s Old West Events is home to Brian Lebel’s Old West Shows and Old West Auctions, held every January in Mesa, Arizona, and every June in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Each annual event consists of a weekend vendor sale with hundreds of dealers, along with an exciting, live Saturday night auction. Both the events feature the best authentic Western art, antiques and artifacts available for public sale. The Old West Auction is best known for the 2011 sale of the only authenticated photograph of Billy the Kid (the “Upham tintype”) for $2.3 million. The company prides itself on its reputation for honesty, quality and authenticity.

The Old West Auctions feature the ﬁnest Western artists and craftsmen, and hold a number of auction records for artist Edward Borein. Frequent artists available include Will James, Maynard Dixon, Charles M. Russell, Olaf Wieghorst, Nick Eggenhofer, John and Terri Kelly Moyers, Michael Coleman, Eric Michaels, William Moyers, Joe Beeler, Edward Curtis, Marjorie Reed and many, many others.

Upcoming auctions: 30th Annual Mesa Old West Auction January 25, 2020 Mesa, AZ

31st Annual Cody Old West Auction June 27, 2020 Santa Fe, NM

Eric Michaels, Wind Riders, oil on linen, mounted on board, 30 x 24” Estimate: $3/4,000

The live auction at last year’s Night of Artists Exhibition and Sale.

BRISCOE MUSEUM 210 W. Market Street, San Antonio, TX 78205 • (210) 299-4499 • www.briscoemuseum.org

he Night of Artists Exhibition and Sale at the Briscoe Western Art Museum showcases 280 works by more than 80 of the country’s top Western artists. The Briscoe, located along the iconic San Antonio River Walk, draws artists, collectors and art enthusiasts for a weekend of festivities with the chance to view and purchase nearly 300 works of painting, sculpture and mixed media. From scenic landscapes, scenes of Native Americans

and classic cowboys to stunning wildlife and detailed portraiture, there is something for every attendee and art enthusiast to enjoy. Some of the featured artists include Martin Grelle, Don Oelze, George Hallmark, Z.S. Liang, Mark Maggiori, Jan Mapes, Billy Schenck and Xiang Zhang. Friday evening is the exhibition preview and live auction. Guests will enjoy cocktails in the galleries with a preview of the works for sale followed by an elegant seated

Jose Velazquez, Bound For San Antonio, oil, 10½ x 25"

dinner. With the lively talent of Troy Black and Associates Auctioneers, 30 works by featured artists from the show will be up for grabs. The Collectors Summit continues on Saturday morning with a panel of experts in the Western art ﬁeld. Saturday night, March 28, will mark the Night of Artists’ signature event—the Grand Exhibition Opening, Art Sale & Reception. This memorable evening begins with the “Luck of the Draw” sale where all artwork is available

for purchase. The fun continues with delicious food stations, libations and live music under the stars. Following the opening weekend, the exhibit will be on display through May 3, 2020, with all unsold art available for purchase.

Upcoming auctions: Night of Artists March 27-28, 2020 San Antonio, TX

Michael Ome Untied, Study; Rangers on the Guadalupe, oil on linen, 16 x 20"

Guests bid on Approach of White Men by Charles M. Russell at the 2019 The Russell exhibition and sale. Courtesy C.M. Russell Museum.

C.M. RUSSELL MUSEUM 400 13th Street North, Great Falls, MT 59401 • (406) 727-8787, ext. 333 • www.cmrussell.org

he Russell is the premier fundraising event for the C.M. Russell Museum, attracting artists, collectors and patrons from around the country to Great Falls, Montana, every March. The 2020 event kicks oﬀ on Charlie Russell’s birthday, March 19, with the Art Preview Party where patrons can preview the art to be sold during The Russell events and

mingle with artists. Friday’s Art in Action is a perennial crowd favorite. An exciting variation of a traditional “quick draw,” Art in Action features nationally known artists working in a variety of media while interacting with attendees, ﬁnishing with a live auction of the completed works. The First Strike auction, held Friday night, focuses solely on new

work by contemporary artists. Both experienced collectors and burgeoning bidders alike have the opportunity to compete in a lively, casual atmosphere. The three-day schedule of events culminates in Saturday night’s live auction, which raises the stakes by layering in historically signiﬁcant pieces by Russell and other masters. Highlights for the 2020 live auction include Joseph Henry

Sharp’s oil Call of the War Chief. All of the art to be sold during The Russell will be on display at the museum as part of The Russell exhibition which opens February 20. Proudly sponsored by Triple Creek Ranch, The Russell is recognized as one of the most prestigious Western art events in the country and provides critical funding through commissions and premiums that directly support the C.M. Russell Museum’s educational programs and cultural outreach to ensure the legacy of Russell lives on for future generations.

Upcoming auctions: The Russell: An Exhibition and Sale to Beneﬁt the C.M. Russell Museum March 19-21, 2020 Great Falls, MT

Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953), Call of the War Chief, oil on canvas, 30 x 36”

Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), Following the Buffalo Run, ca. 1894, oil, 231/8 x 35”

Bidders at a recent Coeur d’Alene Art Auction.

COEUR D’ALENE ART AUCTION 11944 N. Tracey Road, Hayden, ID 83835 • (208) 772-9009 • www.cdaartauction.com

or more than 30 years the Coeur d’Alene Art Auction has specialized in the ﬁnest classical Western and American art representing past masters and outstanding contemporary artists. The auction principals have more than 100 years of combined experience in selling ﬁne art

and have netted their clients more than $325 million in the last 15 years alone. The auction has been hailed as “The Biggest and Most Successful Auction of Western Art” by the Wall Street Journal and was named “The Most Important Annual Event for Collectors of Western Art” by the New

Frederic Remington (1861-1909), Casuals on the Range, 1909, oil on canvas, 18 x 26” SOLD: $981,750

York Times. Specializing in artwork by Charles M. Russell, Frederic Remington, William R. Leigh, Thomas Moran, Howard Terpning and other ﬁne Western artists, this year’s 35th Coeur d’Alene Art Auction—to be held at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada, on July 25, 2020—is certain to be the

high point of the Western auction world. For more information visit the website at www.cdaartauction.com.

Upcoming auctions: Coeur d’Alene Art Auction July 25 Reno, NV

Olaf C. Seltzer (1877-1957), Cooling Off, oil on canvas, 20 x 30” Estimate: $60/90,000

Frederic Remington (1861-1909), The Bronco Buster, bronze, 327/8” SOLD: $615,000

Heritage Auctions’ headquarters in Dallas.

HERITAGE AUCTIONS 3500 Maple Avenue, 17th Floor, Dallas, TX 75219 • (877) 437-4824 • bid@ha.com • www.ha.com

s one of the fastestgrowing auctioneers in the world, Heritage Auctions provides its clients access to more than 40 collecting categories via its website. The ﬁrm’s Western and California art department has seen sales more than triple in recent years thanks to private collections and fresh-to-market ﬁnds. Several auctions featuring giants in the genre of Western and California art are scheduled for 2020. Three of the most anticipated sales occur in the

spring of 2020. This includes: the April 24 Illustration Art Auction and the May 1 American Art Auction, which includes a strong selection of Western and California art. On May 2, Heritage will present its spring Texas Art Auction. Recent highlights and top sales span paintings, bronze and works on paper, such as The Bronco Buster, by Frederic Remington, which sold well above estimate November 1, 2019, for $615,000. Western artworks by Milton Avery and G. Harvey, such as When

the Cowboys Come to Town— Houston 1900, 1983, routinely bring six ﬁgures or more at Heritage Auctions. Experiencing rapid growth, Heritage Auctions now has 1.25 million bidder-members and records more than $800 million in annual sales. Increasing access to Western art collectors worldwide, online sales surged to $438 million, representing more than 60 percent of the ﬁrm’s total sales. Visit Heritage online to learn how the auction house matches consignors and

bidders online and from its global network of spanning oﬃces in Dallas, New York, Beverly Hills, Palm Beach, San Francisco, Chicago, London, Paris, Geneva, Amsterdam and Hong Kong.

Upcoming auctions: Illustration Art Auction April 24, 2020 American Art Auction May 1, 2020 Texas Art Auction May 2, 2020

Bob Kuhn (1920-2007), High Plains Lothario, oil on board, 18 x 34” SOLD: $68,750

HINDMAN 2737 Larimer Street, Denver, CO 80205 • (303) 825-1855 • maron@hindmanauctions.com • www.hindmanauctions.com

he Western regional location of Hindman operates as an office and saleroom in downtown Denver. Appraisal appointments are available through Hindman’s Denver office across all collecting categories, and property is sent to Chicago to be included in Hindman’s globally recognized auctions. The auction house conducts two annual Arts of the American West auctions which feature historic and contemporary Western paintings and sculpture, American Indian art and artifacts, beadwork, basketry, Navajo textiles, Pueblo pottery and Southwestern jewelry. Additional departments include but are not limited to jewelry and timepieces, Asian works of art, postwar and contemporary art, fine prints and photography, American Allan Houser (1914-1994), He Will Be Home Soon, ed. 4 of 6, 1983, bronze, 59 x 17 x 15” SOLD: $57,500

and European art, books and manuscripts, historic ﬁrearms and militaria, period furniture, decorative arts and silver, modern design, luxury accessories and couture, numismatics and stamps. In addition to Hindman’s Arts of the American West auctions,

Frederic Remington (1861-1909), The Rattlesnake, #69, bronze, 24” SOLD: $225,000

additional auctions of various property are conducted in the Denver saleroom.

Upcoming auctions: Arts of the American West May 8, 2020 Denver, CO

Bidding at the 2019 Jackson Hole Art Auction.

JACKSON HOLE ART AUCTION 130 E. Broadway Avenue, P.O. Box 1568, Jackson, WY 83001 • (866) 549-9278 coordinator@jacksonholeartauction.com • www.jacksonholeartauction.com

railside Galleries and the Gerald Peters Gallery are pleased to announce the 14th annual Jackson Hole Art Auction, scheduled for September 18 and 19, 2020, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Since 2007, the Jackson Hole Art Auction has been recognized as one of the premier wildlife and Western art events in the country, deﬁned by the high standard of work oﬀered by both contemporary artists and deceased masters. A signature event of the annual Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival, the JHAA attracts collectors from across the country as well as abroad. JHAA’s 2019 auction established 17 new auction records, bringing its

total to 171, as a result of its consistently exceptional results at auction. JHAA currently holds world auction records for the following artists: John Clymer, Arnold Friberg, Martin Grelle, Clark Hulings, Kenneth Riley, Richard Schmid, Tucker

Smith, Olaf Wieghorst and many more! Early highlights of the 2020 sale include works by Robert Bateman, Oscar E. Berninghaus, Clymer, Bob Kuhn and Carl Rungius. JHAA is currently seeking quality

Carl Rungius (1869-1959), Olympian Elk, oil on canvas, 30 x 46¼”, Estimate: $150/250,000

consignments for the 2020 auction.

Upcoming auctions: Jackson Hole Art Auction September 18-19, 2020 Jackson Hole, WY

Oscar E. Berninghaus (1874-1952), The Lookout, oil on canvas, 24 x 30”, Estimate: $125/175,000

A crowded auction room at the 2019 March in Montana.

MARCH IN MONTANA 213 E. Sherman Avenue, Coeur d’ Alene, ID 83814 • (208) 664-2091 info@marchinmontana.com • www.marchinmontana.com

or its 2020 sale March in Montana will have a fantastic representation of some of the best historic works to come out of Montana in the last several years. One of the gems is a large William Standing buﬀalo hunt scene, The Last Chase. It was painted in 1925 and hung in a bar in eastern Montana for more than 50 years. Also included in the auction are distinctive works by Philip R. Goodwin and Edgar

Paxson, including a large piece that was commissioned by Montana copper baron, Marcus Daly. March in Montana will also be oﬀering a collection of works by Charles M. Russell’s protege, Joe De Yong. March in Montana is also looking forward to having some notable works by Andy Thomas, Charles Fritz, Randy Van Beek and others who have made the week in Great Falls a major part of their successful careers.

The sale is a great opportunity for collectors looking for rare bronzes by Montana’s greats, with works by Bob Scriver that rarely hit the market being especially unique this year. One of the things that sets the sale apart is the unique items it comes across, and this year is no diﬀerent. The sale will be oﬀering a wonderful drawing by Edward Borein and will also have a bison table with artwork by Lone Wolf that

was commissioned by the vice president of the United States in the 1930s. Along with antique ﬁrearms, a large selection of weavings and some unique Native American beadwork, there should be something for everyone in the March in Montana 33rd annual sale.

Upcoming auctions: March in Montana March 19-21, 2020 Great Falls, MT Far left: William Standing (19041951), The Last Chase, 1925, oil on canvas, 69 x 38” Estimate: $25/35,000 Left: Charles Fritz, Harvest in the Bitterroot, oil on canvas, 25 x 45” Estimate: $12/18,000

An outdoor view of the Museum of the Big Bend. Photo by Wilson Photographs.

MUSEUM OF THE BIG BEND 400 N. Harrison Street, Alpine, TX 79832 • (432) 837-8143 • www.museumofthebigbend.com

elebrating 34 years of honoring the art of the cowboy, Trappings of Texas at the Museum of the Big Bend in Alpine, Texas, is the go-to destination for the collector and patron of Western art. Trappings features emerging artists alongside well-established artists from the United States, Canada and Argentina. This show

Brian Asher, Looking Back, pencil, 11 x 14”

and sale features custom cowboy gear: mecates, bosals, quirts, saddles, bits and spurs alongside sculpture, etchings, watercolors, pastels and oils. The 2020 Trappings of Texas premier artist is Brian Asher of Snyder, Texas. Artists who have work for sale in the 34th annual Trappings of Texas include Wayne Baize, Teal Blake, Phil Bob Borman, Loren Entz, Phil Epp, Billy Hassell and Donna Howell-Sickles. Gearmakers include Brooks Atwood, Rex Crawford, Shawn Didyoung, Wayne Franklin, Buddy Knight, Loyd McConnell and John Nord. The opening weekend of events is April 16 to 18. Events include a Thursday evening preview and After Preview Party, a Friday afternoon Meet the Artists Luncheon and Fashion Show featuring rodeo students from

From left to right, artists Tim Oliver, Valerie Coe and Kathryn Leitner at last year’s Trappings of Texas. Photo by Bobby Greason.

Sul Ross State University, and a Friday evening Grand Opening, Reception and Sale. Saturday kicks oﬀ with a chuck wagon breakfast at Big Bend Saddlery, presentations and demonstrations by Trappings of Texas artists at the museum, and an evening Ranch RoundUp Party at a privately owned

area ranch rounds out the weekend. The show remains on display until May 17.

Upcoming auctions: 34th Annual Trappings of Texas April 16-18, 2020 Alpine, TX

Mark Maggiorri, Arizona Wonder, oil, 32 x 34” Estimate: $25/35,000

Maynard Dixon (1875-1946), Arizona Desert, oil, 25 x 30” Estimate: $100/150,000

SCOTTSDALE ART AUCTION 7178 E. Main Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 • (480) 945-0225 • www.scottsdaleartauction.com

ounded in 2005 by three of the most respected names in the field—Michael Frost of New York City’s J. N. Bartfield Galleries, Jack Morris of Morris Whiteside Galleries in Hilton Head, South Carolina, and Brad Richardson of the Legacy Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona— the Scottsdale Art Auction has enjoyed rapid growth and a phenomenal increase in popularity since its inception. Mark your calendar and join the standing-room only crowd at the next action-packed Scottsdale Art Auction, April 4, 2020. More than 350 lots of the finest in Western, wildlife

and sporting paintings and sculptures will be on oﬀer in the Legacy Gallery’s state-ofthe-art facility in the heart of Old Town Scottsdale. American masters like Maynard Dixon, Charles M. Russell, Frank Tenney Johnson, Joseph Henry Sharp and Bob Kuhn will be joined by some of the ﬁnest names in contemporary Western and American art: Martin Grelle, Logan Maxwell Hagege, Bill Anton, Mark Maggiori, Kyle Polzin, Morgan Weistling and many more.

Upcoming auctions: April 4, 2020 Scottsdale, AZ

Frank Tenney Johnson (1874-1939), Tejon - My Palomino, oil, 20 x 16” Estimate: $80/120,000

Bob Wade, Pancho Villa, 1988, print color photograph, 26½ x 42½” SOLD: $38,025

SANTA FE ART AUCTION 932 Railfan Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505 • (505) 954-5858 • www.santafeartauction.com

anta Fe Art Auction was delighted to open the new doors to its massively expanded permanent facility at the Baca Railyard to a packed house on November 9, with well over 200 registered bidders in attendance and more than 1,100 registered online across 20 countries. While the auction house launched a new website with its own proprietary online bidding platform this year, allowing

Fritz Scholder (1937-2005), Untitled (Buffalo Spirit), acrylic on canvas, 80 x 70" SOLD: $146,250

www.santafeartauction.com internet bidders the same preferential buyer’s premium as ﬂoor bidders, it continues to be available on major online platforms including Invaluable, LiveAuctioneers and Bidsquare, and saw remarkable internet sales of some 60 percent of gross sales of $1.8 million and a sell-through rate including post-auction sales of 90 percent. Nevertheless, no matter the venue, live or

online, every artwork sold by Santa Fe Art Auction is exhibited and available for inspection, and this year’s signature live auction was no exception, with 378 lots displayed throughout the impressive new premises. This year’s auction featured a number of special collections, including important highlights from the Patricia Janis Broder Collection that achieved auction records for distinguished American Indian

artists including Oscar Howe and Pop Chalee, as well as a substantial group of Western American women artists, for which the auction record was achieved for early New Mexico abstract expressionist Janet Lippincott.

Upcoming auctions: Santa Fe Art Auction Fall 2020 Santa Fe, NM

Alyce Frank, Realm of Arroyo Hondo, oil on canvas, 41 x 93 x 1½” SOLD: $21,060

MISSING AN ISSUE? VISIT WESTERNARTCOLLECTOR.COM/PASTISSUES OR CALL 1 877 9470792 TO PURCHASE PAST ISSUES

Auction crowds at an event at the Bosque Arts Center.

Martin Grelle, Feather Fan, acrylic and oil on linen, 40 x 40"

BOSQUE ARTS CENTER

215 S. College Hill Drive, Clifton, TX 76634 (254) 675-3724 • www.bosqueartscenter.org

he Bosque Arts Center will host its second annual online auction of original ﬁne art March 20 to 25, 2020. The auction will once again feature a wide range of nationally recognized artists, including Teal Blake, Bruce Greene, Nancy Boren, Martin Grelle, Oreland Joe, Grant Redden, Jason Rich, Donna Howell-Sickles, Don Weller and many others. Additionally, the Bosque Arts Center is hosting a wine reception on March 21, from 5 to 7 p.m. Reservations can be made by calling the center. The artwork will be on display at the Bosque Arts Center in Clifton, Texas, from March 20 to 29. The Bosque Arts Center is a 501(c)3 nonproﬁt that is home to all facets of the visual and performing arts. For more than 30 years, the center has played host to a representational art exhibition and sale, the Bosque Art Classic, that attracts entries from artists across the nation.

Upcoming auctions: Bosque Arts Center Online Fine Art Auction March 20-25, 2020 www.bosqueartscenter.org

Create a library of fine Western art in your home by purchasing past issues of Western Art Collector. Enjoy timeless works of art, follow artists’ careers, and explore gallery and museum exhibitions and coast-to-coast art destinations that continue to define the nation’s Western art market. Collectors of Western art rely upon Western Art Collector to stay informed on the latest works from the country’s top contemporary Western artists as well as artwork from historic Western masters. Our magazine allows collectors to get a real sense of Western art that is coming available for sale—and opportunity to buy it right off our pages. Stay informed on the latest exhibits across the country, subscribe today online at

WWW.WESTERNARTCOLLECTOR.COM

SAT I S F Y YO U R

Palette

See how our other titles are covering your diverse tastes in art.

American Art, 1750-1950 | Historic & Contemporary Native Art | Historic & Contemporary Western Art | Contemporary Realism from Top Artists Across the Country

AmericanFineArtMagazine.com • NativeAmericanArtMagazine.com • WesternArtCollector.com • AmericanArtCollector.com

A d v e r t i s i n g ( 8 6 6 ) 6 1 9 - 0 8 4 1 • S u b s c r i p t i o n s ( 8 7 7 ) 9 4 7- 07 9 2

State of the Art:

ARIZONA

Dave McGary’s Bear Tracks bronze sculpture in front of Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West in Scottsdale, Arizona. Photo by Alyssa M. Tidwell.

rizona has a thriving art scene from the southernmost areas of the state all the way to its northern border. We’re talking the Phoenix Valley and Scottsdale, Wickenburg, Prescott, Flagstaff, Tucson, the Southern Arizona area and more. Every one of these cities and metropolitan areas has something signiﬁcant to offer in the world of art and culture. When in Arizona, you really can’t go wrong. Located in the Valley, Scottsdale’s Old Town district is teeming with Western art and the Western way of life. Ed Mell’s iconic bronco sculpture Jack Knife sets the tone for numerous galleries that focus on cowboy culture and Western art. Check out Main Street for a stroll through galleries such as Legacy Gallery, Alta Mira Fine Art, the recently relocated King Galleries and more. Close by, on Marshall Way, is Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum

of the West, one of the great new Western destinations in the country. And be sure to stop in for the annual January event, the Celebration of Fine Art held in the big white tents in north Scottsdale, in which a number of Western paintings and bronzes are on view in addition to a wide range of contemporary art. Traveling northwest, you’ll ﬁnd Wickenburg, where prospector Henry Wickenburg originally settled in the mid-1800s in search of gold. This is a town that feels truly Western with wide-open spaces and guest ranches. The Desert Caballeros Western Museum is a gem for Western art lovers, holding many prominent shows annually, including the heART of the West Gala and Cowgirl Up! Art from the Other Half of the West Exhibition and Sale. Running through March 8 is Ed Mell’s Southwest: Five Decades, celebrating Mell’s visionary art across the past 50 years.

The Phippen Museum in Prescott is known for its vast collection of 19th- to early 21st-century paintings, etchings, drawings, bronze sculptures, photography and Native American artifacts. The museum holds major annual Western shows and events like the Western Art Show & Sale and Hold Your Horses! Exhibition & Sale. Nearing the northern portion of the Grand Canyon State is Flagstaff, where visitors will ﬁnd not only an energetic atmosphere for arts and culture, but great breweries and gastropubs. Explore venues like West of the Moon Gallery, as well as the Museum of Northern Arizona, which houses a collection of 1,900 works by important Native American and Anglo-American artists, many of whom lived and worked on the Colorado Plateau. And ﬁnally, there’s the southern city of Tucson, awash in the distinct culture of the Southwest. The Tucson Museum of

Plan Your Year Arizona Fine Art EXPO, Scottsdale January 10-March 22 www. arizonaﬁneartexpo.com www.thunderbirdartists.com

27th Annual Carefree Fine Art & Wine Festival, Carefree January 17-19 www.thunderbirdartists.com

La Encantada Fine Art Festival, Tucson January 18-19 www.saaca.org

Celebration of Fine Art, Scottsdale January 18-March 29 www.celebrateart.com

Brian Lebel’s Old West Show & Auction, Mesa January 24-27 www.oldwestevents.com

Gold Palette ArtWalks, Western Week, Scottsdale February 6 www.scottsdalegalleries.com

Gold Palette ArtWalks, Native Spirit, Scottsdale March 5 www.scottsdalegalleries.com

Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Phoenix Top: The entrance to Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West in Old Town Scottsdale. Photo by Alyssa M. Tidwell; Middle: The historic Yavapai County Courthouse in Prescott, Arizona; Bottom: The Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, Arizona.

Art contains an art of the American West collection, ﬁlled with historic works that tell the stories of the American West. Artists whose works can be found in the collection include Maynard Dixon, Howard Post, Charles M. Russell, Fritz Scholder, Joseph Henry Sharp, Olaf Wieghorst and others. In addition, collectors can browse artwork in Tucson at places like Settlers West Galleries and Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery. Arizonans and visitors alike can explore dozens of other outstanding art venues, artists and Western events across the state, some of which include the anticipated yearly exhibition and sale Brian Lebel’s Mesa Old West Show & Auction, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Alexandria Winslow, Bill Nebeker, Madaras Gallery, Lisa Danielle, Mountain Trails Gallery,

March 7-8 www.heard.org

Cowgirl Up! Art from the Other Half of the West Exhibition and Sale, Wickenburg March 27-May 10 www.westernmuseum.org

Spring Festival of the Arts, Oro Valley PRESCOTT

SEDONA

WICKENBURG

PHOENIX

SCOTTSDALE MESA

TUCSON

March 28-29 www.saaca.org

Scottsdale Art Auction, Scottsdale April 4 www.scottsdaleartauction.com

12th Annual Grand Canyon Celebration of Art, Grand Canyon September 2020 www.grandcanyon.org

Randy Galloway, Risa Waldt, Bischoff’s Gallery, Sheila Cottrell, Russell Parker, Sherry Blanchard Stuart, Bruce Aiken, Susan Kliewer, Thunderbird Artists Gallery and more.

7th Annual Hold Your Horses! Exhibition & Sale, Prescott Dates TBD www.phippenartmuseum.org 95

State of the Art: ARIZONA

Legacy Gallery 7178 E. Main Street Scottsdale, AZ 85251 (480) 945-1113 www.legacygallery.com The Legacy Gallery has been a staple in art world for the past 31 years. Their showroom in Scottsdale is on the corner of Main Street and Scottsdale Road, right in the heart of the art district. They represent the top Western artists including Martin Grelle, Kyle Polzin, John Coleman, Bill Anton and Glenn Dean to name a few. Legacy Gallery will be hosting two artists’ focuses during the winter—Daniel Keys from January 30 to February 9, which will feature 20 new works encompassing still lifes, landscapes and portrait subject matters. Oreland Joe’s works will be on display during the Heard Museum’s Indian Fair and Market from February 27 to March 8. Tales of the Painted West Show and Sale will be C. Michael Dudash’s ﬁrst major show in a long while, on display from March 7 to 15 with an artist reception and sale on March 7.

Legacy Gallery, Pathﬁnders of the North, oil, 52 x 46”, by C. Michael Dudash.

The interior of Legacy Gallery on Main Street in Old Town Scottsdale.

Legacy Gallery, Harmony in Yellow & Green, oil, 19 x 31”, by Daniel Keys.

State of the Art: ARIZONA

Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, Wild and Scenic, oil, 30 x 60”, by Stephen C. Datz.

The “Rug Room” at Medicine Man Gallery in Tucson, Arizona.

Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery 6872 E. Sunrise Drive, Suite 130 Tucson, AZ 85750 (520) 722-7798, (800) 422-9382 office@medicinemangallery.com www.medicinemangallery.com Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery specializes in Native American antiques, with a large online inventory that includes Navajo rugs, Navajo blankets, Pueblo pottery, Native American basketry, Hopi and Zuni katsinas, beadwork and old pawn and contemporary Native American jewelry. Other specialties include the lifework of Maynard Dixon, and the Taos founders. Contemporary artists include Ed Mell, Howard Post, Billy Schenck, Josh Elliott, Francis Livingston, Ray Roberts, Dennis Ziemienski, Stephen C. Datz, John Moyers, Terri Kelly Moyers, Glenn Dean,

Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, Deep Canyon Forms, oil, 20 x 20”, by Ed Mell.

“Tucson has long been a haven for collectors of art of the American West. We are fortunate to be able to offer a large selection of material in our 7,000-square-foot gallery space and 30 years in business has given us access to amazing collections. There is something for everyone, and we are one of the few galleries that handle a wide genre of art so our collectors have access to one-stop shopping for quality Western, modern and Native art.” — Mark Sublette, owner, Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery Fred Fellows, Deborah Copenhaver Fellows, Susan Kliewer, Veryl Goodnight, Doug Hyde and many others. A number of shows are planned at the gallery for January and February: Stephen C. Datz, Canyons, Buttes,

& Beyond from January 17 to February 7; New Works by Ziemienski running February 9 to 20; and New Works by Mell from February 21 to March 13.

State of the Art: ARIZONA

Settlers West Galleries 6420 N. Campbell Avenue Tucson, AZ 85718 (520) 299-2607 www.settlerswest.com info@settlerswest.com Established in 1971, Settlers West Galleries is the premier destination for ﬁne Western paintings and sculpture, featuring works by Daniel Smith, R.S. Riddick, A.T. Cox, Robert Grifﬁng, Scott Tallman Powers and many other talented artists. The gallery’s next exhibition is its annual American Miniatures show on February 8, which features more than 350 small works by 200 artists. “We pioneered this concept in the Western art market, and while we’ve seen many galleries and museums duplicate our format, our show holds a special place in discriminating collectors’ hearts,” says the gallery. The show opens with a preview beginning at 9 a.m. on February 8, followed by a reception at 5:30 p.m., and concludes with a purchase draw at 7 p.m. All works from the sale will be featured on the gallery website beginning January 24. Settlers West will also host the 50th Anniversary National Exhibition for Women Artists of the West. March 27 is the opening reception, where collectors will be able to choose from more than 120 works by 120 women. This exhibit will hang in the gallery through April 17. On May 2 the annual Summer Show closes out the season. This show features familiar favorites as well as rising stars in the art world and will include 90 works by 51 talented artists.

Settlers West Galleries, Bright Eyes, oil, 6 x 6", by Mark McKenna.

“The current art market in Tucson has surged over the past few years, and we are also seeing an increase in clients from the Scottsdale area as the real estate market continues to improve. Higher-end quality works are finding homes quickly, and local collectors seem very interested in seeking out talented emerging artists while their prices remain attractive.” - Mike Salkowski, gallery manager, Settlers West Galleries

The exterior of Settlers West Galleries in Tucson.

Settlers West Galleries, Change is Coming to His Way of Life, oil, 12 x 9", by Z.S. Liang.

State of the Art: ARIZONA

King Galleries 7077 E. Main Street Scottsdale, AZ 85251, (480) 481-0187, www.kinggalleries.com King Galleries is one of the premier galleries for Native pottery. The gallery features clay art from 1920 to the present representing contemporary work by Nathan Youngblood, Al Qöyawayma, Virgil Ortiz, Susan Folwell, Tammy Garcia and historic work by Tony Da, Maria Martinez and Margaret Tafoya. The gallery also features paintings by young Native artists including Mateo Romero, Kwani Povi Winder, Derek No-Sun Brown, George Alexander and Patrick Hubbell. Upcoming events at the gallery include a show featuring landscape paintings by Romero in January; Jennifer Tafoya and Chris Youngblood: New Works in Clay in February; and in March King Galleries hosts its annual Heard Indian Market Show, which will feature more than eight gallery artists and is one of the gallery’s bestattended events in Scottsdale each year.

An outdoor view of King Galleries’ new location on Main Street in Scottsdale, Arizona.

King Galleries, Abique, oil on canvas, by Mateo Romero.

“The Scottsdale art scene has a focus on great contemporary art. The Phoenix area midcentury modernism style is a strong backdrop for creative and innovative contemporary artists.” - Charles King, owner, King Galleries King Galleries, Hopi Sun, oil on board, 20 x 15", by Kwani Povi Winder.

State of the Art: ARIZONA

Clockwise from left: Bischoff’s Gallery, Ancestor’s Voices, oil on board, 20 x 24", by G. Russell Case. Bischoff’s Gallery, Watching Sheep, oil on board, 12 x 16", by G. Russell Case. Bischoff’s Gallery, Autumn Cliffs, oil on board, 12 x 16", by G. Russell Case.

Bischoff’s Gallery 3925 N. Brown Avenue, Scottsdale, AZ (480) 946-6155 sales@bischoffsouthwestart.com www.bischoffsouthwestart.com For anyone who knows the Southwest, G. Russell Case paints what you actually see. Somehow he captures on a two-dimensional canvas the three-dimensional vistas of some

100

of nature’s most magniﬁcent formations and landscapes. The light and color he paints is true and unique to the moment. The artwork of Case, along with many Western artists, is showcased at Bischoff’s Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona. The artist’s work also has an aura of realism that makes viewers feel as though they were standing next to him as he makes his brush strokes. In his own words he says, “What I love about painting our natural world

are those moments of the day that seem to transcend and make you stop breathing so there is no distraction.” Bischoff’s Gallery invites art lovers and collectors to visit its collection of Case’s extraordinary work. The gallery also features a wide array of different collections including Native American pottery and jewelry, Navajo rugs, Southwest jewelry, Hopi katsina dolls, baskets and more.

State of the Art: ARIZONA

Mountain Trails Gallery, Close Friends, oil, 48 x 48”, by Gregory Stocks.

Mountain Trails Gallery, Rain Showers, oil, 12 x 12”, by Linda Glover Gooch.

Mountain Trails Gallery 336 SR 179, Suite A201, Sedona, AZ 86336, (928) 282-3225 www.mountaintrailssedona.com Mountain Trails Gallery in Sedona has been a destination for American Western fine art for more than 30 years. From traditional subjects and styles to more contemporary interpretations of the West, Mountain Trails Gallery continues to offer a large and varied selection of paintings, sculpture and mixed media fine art from more than 50 awardwinning artists. New to Mountain Trails Gallery is Western cowboy artist Don Weller, whose oil paintings capture the proud traditions of ranching life. The gallery’s fresh face of Western contemporary is Utah landscape painter Michelle Condrat who is captivated by the grandeur as well as all the intricate configurations of the Grand Canyon. The gallery is also honored to exhibit the works of Linda Glover Gooch, Bill Cramer, Dustin Payne, Susan Kliewer, Vic Payne, Deborah Copenhaver Fellows, Curt Mattson, Raymond Gibby, Bryce Pettit, Mark Edward Adams, Kristii Melaine, Marcia Molnar, George Molnar, Sandra Passmore Byland and many others. Upcoming shows at Mountain Trails Gallery include Ancient Lands: Grand Canyon and Beyond, which opens with a reception on March 6; Traditions in Western Sculpture: Figurative, Wildlife, and the Stories They Tell, opening with a reception on July 3; and Colors of the West, opening with a reception on October 2.

“Arizona continues to be not only be a top travel destination, but a beautiful place to live…For over 30 years, Mountain Trails Gallery continues to represent award-winning artists whose work captures the majesty of this great state. As with previous years, new home buyers, collectors and visitors continue to add timeless art from Arizona to their collections.” —Julie Williams, gallery director, Mountain Trails Gallery

An interior view of Mountain Trails Gallery in Sedona, Arizona.

101

State of the Art: ARIZONA Madaras Gallery, Sea of Prickly Pear, acrylic, 36 x 72”, by Diana Madaras.

The interior of Madaras Gallery.

Madaras Gallery 3035 N. Swan Road, Tucson, AZ 85712, (520) 615-3001, diana@madaras.com, www.madaras.com Madaras Gallery has been located in Tucson, Arizona, for more than 20 years and is known as the “Home of Southwest Art.” Diana Madaras’ iconic depictions of the Arizona landscape recently earned her Tucson’s Best Visual Artist a record nine times. Her colorful artwork celebrates the breathtaking beauty of the desert in a way that is both intense and dramatic. She paints in watercolor and acrylic, and her diverse portfolio also includes expressive animal portraits, rustic Western scenes and vibrant ﬂorals. Madaras Gallery also features the work of 26 guest artists including John Nieto, Doug Oliver, Chauncey Homer, Nicholas Wilson,

102

Madaras Gallery, Quanah Parker, acrylic, 30 x 24”, by John Nieto (1936-2018).

“I have found that as the real estate market goes, the art market goes. With the strong real estate market in southern Arizona, the gallery has enjoyed several years of growth and prosperity.” — Diana Madaras, owner/artist, Madaras Gallery Jim Gruzalski, Al Glann and Rory Combs. When visiting the 2,800-square-foot location guests can ﬁnd original paintings, sculpture, canvas reproductions and a unique line of Southwest gifts. The gallery is a must-see for locals and travelers alike. On January 19, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Madaras Gallery will host a Bling in the New Year party, where Madaras will be on-site signing art and 2020 calendars. Whitney Wilkening will also be in the gallery

showcasing her original collection of royaltyinspired travel jewelry. On Thursday, March 5, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., Madaras Gallery will host First Thursday with special guest Glann. The gallery then hosts its annual All Artist Show, one of the biggest events of the year, on Sunday, March 8, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Madaras will unveil her new original paintings. The show will also feature small works from several Madaras Gallery guest artists.

State of the Art: ARIZONA

Bill Nebeker, Beats Any Job in Town, bronze, 20 x 12 x 9"

Bill Nebeker, High Noon, bronze, 32 x 15 x 16”

Bill Nebeker (928) 445-7170 bronzes@billnebeker.com www.billnebeker.com Bronze sculptor Bill Nebeker began sculpting in 1964 after attending an art show by the ﬁrst president of the Cowboy Artists of America, George Phippen. Nebeker then became a member of that same prestigious Western art organization in 1978. Nebeker strives to produce artwork that gives an honest and authentic portrayal of the historic American West or contemporary ranch life, with quiet tributes, subtle humor and wry observations making up the ﬁber of his work. Nebeker’s 20-inch-high bronze Beats Any Job in Town, depicting a cowboy with his rope and saddle, will be included in the Autry Museum of the American West’s annual Masters of the American West Exhibition and Sale from February 8 to March 22. “The American cowboy has always been an example of the independent, self-reliant, dependable man who always gives his boss a hard day’s work for an honest day’s pay,”

Bill Nebeker (center) along with Red Steagall, Steve Todd, Marshall Trimble and Mike Ingram at the Shemer Honors dinner gala where he was named Arizona Artist of 2019 by Shemer Art Center & Museum.

says the artist, reﬂecting on the piece. This past fall, Nebeker was named Arizona Artist of 2019 by the Shemer Art Center & Museum in Phoenix during its annual Shemer Honors

dinner gala. The award recognizes an Arizona artist who has achieved great success in his or her career and given back to the Arizona community.

103

State of the Art: ARIZONA

Brian Lebel’s Old West Events 3201 Zafarano Drive, Suite C585 Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507 (480) 779-9378 contactus@oldwestevents.com www.oldwestevents.com Famed for its wide variety of Western materials—from repeater riﬂes and cowboy hats to poker chips and silver spurs—Brian Lebel’s Mesa Old West Show & Auction is one of two major events organized by Brian Lebel’s Old West Events. Held every January in Mesa, Arizona, and every June in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Old West Events’ shows consist of a weekend vendor sale with hundreds of dealers, along with an exciting, live Saturday night auction. Both events feature the best authentic Western art, antiques and artifacts available for public sale. The auction portion of Lebel’s events feature the ﬁnest Western artists and craftsmen, and hold a number of auction records for artist Edward Borein. Frequent artists available include Will James, Maynard Dixon, Charles M. Russell, Olaf Wieghorst, Nick Eggenhofer, John and Terri Kelly Moyers, Michael Coleman, Eric Michaels, William Moyers, Joe Beeler, Edward S. Curtis, Marjorie Reed and many others. The 30th Annual Mesa Old West Show & Auction will be held January 25 in Mesa, and the 31st Annual Cody Old West Show & Auction will be held June 27 in Santa Fe.

Visitors browse Manitou Galleries’ booth at the 2019 Mesa Old West Show & Auction.

“2019 was a strong year in both the art and auction markets, with few ‘no-sales’ and high demand for good pieces…The anticipation and excitement we’re hearing about the upcoming Mesa Show and Auction lead me to believe that the market will continue to be strong, regardless of external factors.”

Brian Lebel’s Old West Events, Wind Riders, oil on linen mounted on board, 30 x 24”, by Eric Michaels. Estimate: $3/4,000

104

— Brian Lebel, owner, Brian Lebel’s Old West Events

Brian Lebel’s Old West Events, Shoshone beaded gauntlets Estimate: $4/6,000

State of the Art: ARIZONA

Sheila Cottrell, Cowboy Hitchin’ Up for a Dry Ride, oil, 20 x 30"

Sheila Cottrell, Catchin’ Up, oil, 18 x 24"

Sheila Cottrell (520) 245-8166 sheilacottrell@aol.com www.sheilacottrell.com A love of Old West history and the lives of her family in Texas in the 1800s inspire the artwork of oil painter Sheila Cottrell, as well as the stories of early Arizona. Represented by

The studio on the porch of Cottrell’s family’s ranch near Tombstone, Arizona, where she often works.

Settlers West Gallery in Tucson, Arizona, and Big Horn Gallery in Tubac, Arizona, and Cody, Wyoming, Cottrell’s paintings capture the sentiments of the West with scenes of cowboys on horseback, cattle, wagons, ranching and other quintessentially Western subject matter. While the artist studied at the University of Arizona and Scottsdale Artists School, she considers her real painting education to have

begun in 1983 with her tutorship under James Reynolds. Collectors can view Cottrell’s work at numerous upcoming or currently running shows, including Settlers West Gallery’s American Miniatures show beginning February 8 and the 50th Annual Mountain Oyster Club Contemporary Western Art Show & Sale running through January.

105

State of the Art: ARIZONA

Bruce Aiken 113 N. San Francisco Street, Suite 209 Flagstaff, AZ 86001 (928) 226-2882 www.bruceaiken.com Born and raised in New York City and classically trained at the School of Visual Arts, painter Bruce Aiken is one of the leading artists capturing scenes of the Grand Canyon and the American Southwest. Beginning around 1972, the artist spent 33 years living in Roaring Springs, about 5½ miles below the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. “I have spent probably three-quarters [of my art career] living and painting in the Grand Canyon,” says Aiken. “I really made an impact there.” He’s had numerous retrospective exhibitions over the years and his artwork can be found in private and corporate collections across the world. “I’ve sold virtually everything I’ve done... As a result of that, I’ve had great success and I’m thankful for that. I’m personal friends with all of the older career artist in Arizona,” he says, citing artists like Ed Mell and Curt Walters, with whom the artist has had numerous exhibitions. “I have to say, people mostly like my Grand Canyon work, and that’s what I’m mostly commissioned to do,” says Aiken. However, his sense of wanderlust extends across the globe as the artist embarks on worldly adventures, always ready for the next great scene to capture. Recently, he’s been focusing on painting other “magniﬁcent, huge” mountains including a trek that took him through the Himalayas. Most recently, he reached the summit of an 18,000-foot peak in the Himalayas just to get a glimpse of Mount Everest. “My career has expanded so many decades, it’s critical for artists to have growth, and that’s what I’m going through right now,” he says. While Aiken still works primarily in oil, he also does ﬁeld work in watercolor as well as pen and ink sketches. “I will not accept mediocrity,” says Aiken. “I must continue to follow my creative core and not be stuck doing one thing.”

Top: Bruce Aiken hiking through the Himalayas. Middle: Bruce Aiken, Ama-study, watercolor on Arches paper, 12 x 10” Right: Aiken works on a sketch amid magniﬁcent mountains.

106

State of the Art: ARIZONA

A bright and early view of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Art Institute.

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Northern Aplomado Falcon, oil on linen, 28½ x 22½”, by Larry Fanning.

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Ironwood Art Gallery 2021 N. Kinney Road, Tucson, AZ 85743 (520) 883-3024 arts@desertmuseum.org www.desertmuseum.org The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is a renowned combination of zoo, natural history museum, botanical garden and art gallery that reﬂects the diverse ﬂora and fauna of the Sonoran Desert. The ASDM Art Institute was founded more than 20 years ago with the goal of promoting conservation through art education. In the 1990s, Priscilla Baldwin studied botanical illustration and became an ardent conservationist. In 1998, the ArizonaSonora Desert Museum School of Natural History Art was founded by Priscilla Baldwin

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Aravaipa Canyon, oil, 18 x 24”, by Ken Stockton.

“Artists who take part in our shows enjoy a large audience—last year our museum hosted over 400,000 visitors and our gallery reflects strong sales numbers.” -Marie McGhee, program manager, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Art Institute

and her husband Michael. A few years later the name was changed to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Art Institute (AI). Today the Art Institute provides art classes, curates art exhibits and manages a growing art collection, all of which attract students and visitors from around the world. The museum hosts Artists for Conservation’s annual juried International Exhibit of Nature in Art, one of the top conservation-themed

art exhibits and sales in the world. The show provides a rare opportunity for art collectors to buy original artwork by internationally acclaimed artists and directly support conservation work. ASDM will also be hosting Vanishing Circles: Portraits of Disappearing Wildlife of the Sonoran Desert Region, including works of art that portray vulnerable, endangered and extirpated species indigenous to the Sonoran Desert regions.

107

State of the Art: ARIZONA Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Southern Arizona Longhorn, oil on linen, 18 x 24”, by Ed Mell.

Desert Caballeros Western Museum 21 N. Frontier Street, Wickenburg, AZ 85390 (928) 684-2272, www.westernmuseum.org Embark on a genuine adventure at Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, Arizona, where world-class art collections meet immersive historical exhibitions. DCWM’s galleries and audio tours tell the fascinating stories of explorers, cowboys, miners and others who lived and worked in the American West. At the core of the museum’s art collection are works by George Catlin, Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Remington, Charles M. Russell, the Cowboy Artists of America and the Taos Society of Artists. Recent additions to the museum’s collection include pieces by New Mexico artists Michael Naranjo and Kim Wiggins. Painter, sculptor and illustrator Ed Mell will become the seventh recipient of the Desert Caballeros Western Museum’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the Museum’s annual heART of the West Gala on Saturday, January 18, 2020. An accompanying exhibition,

108

Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Study for hard set of Riders of the Purple Sage, oil on linen board, 20 x 10”, by Ed Mell.

The Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, Arizona. Photo by Wayne Norton.

Ed Mell’s Southwest: Five Decades will be on view at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum from December 21 through March 8 and will cover the full breadth of his career. With an eye on the horizon, the museum hosts

its Cowgirl Up! Art from the Other Half of the West Invitational Exhibition and Sale each spring. Featuring the talents of more than 50 of the country’s best Western women artists, the event runs from March 27 through May 10.

Lisa Danielle, Keepers of the Corn, acrylic, 24 x 20"

Lisa Danielle, Storm Patterns, acrylic, 40 x 40"

Lisa Danielle Paintbrush Ranch Studio Sedona, AZ, (928) 821-0796 paintbrushranch@yahoo.com www.paintbrushranch.com Thirty-eight years in Arizona has given still life painter Lisa Danielle abundant inspiration. From her cottage studio in West Sedona, she envisions the connections between the artifacts she lives with or has access to from her vantage point near reservations, ranches and museums and how these things inter-relate and play off one another. All things made by hands of those for whom every day was a struggle for survival, yet prioritized surrounding themselves with beauty—these are irresistible subjects for this artist. Danielle’s artwork exudes dramatic lighting and bold design to draw the viewer across the room, then rewards with rich patina, nuance and detail upon closer examination. This is her goal and style. These primarily acrylic paintings are featured in divergent galleries like Mockingbird Gallery in Bend, Oregon, and Sorrel Sky in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as well as at Mountain Trails Gallery in Sedona, Mainview Gallery in Scottsdale and Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery in Tucson. The artist can be found in her studio

Lisa Danielle, Vestment of Valor, acrylic, 36 x 48"

nearly every day, preferring the continuity of creating to supply her galleries over the deadlines and travel of shows. The major exception has been participation in the Desert Caballeros Museum’s Cowgirl Up! show for 13 years. This year will also be her ﬁrst showing in Prescott at Phippen Museum’s Miniature Masterpiece sale,

through the month of May. Whether through her galleries or interacting with the public, Danielle is excited to share the aesthetic that connects across cultures and vast time spans and feels the ultimate connection in her life is someone so moved by her art that they make it part of their life.

109

State of the Art: ARIZONA

Susan Kliewer P.O. Box 897, Sedona, AZ 86339, (982) 282-4612, (928) 282-3225 www.mountaintrailssedona.com/susan-kliewer Susan Kliewer is a native of Southern California, but has made Arizona her home for 45 years. She spent ﬁve of those years at Marble Canyon Trading Post in a remote area of Northern Arizona, adjacent to the Navajo Reservation. A painter since the age of 10, Susan turned to sculpting in 1987, after working in an art casting foundry for 10 years. Among the numerous awards she has won, Kliewer is especially proud of the Governor’s Award at the Cowgirl Up! show in 2007 as well as in 2012, First Place for Sculpture in 2008, and the People’s Choice Award in 2012, also at Cowgirl Up! at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, Arizona. Susan is represented by Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery in Tucson, Arizona; Mountain Spirit Gallery in Prescott, Arizona; and by Cameron Trading Post in Cameron, Arizona. She is also represented by Mountain Trails Galleries in Sedona, Arizona; Jackson, Wyoming; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Park City, Utah. Kliewer focuses on ﬁgurative, expressive works using her Native American, as well as her ranching, friends and relatives as models to capture that special intimacy which is a hallmark of her work. She will be participating in a number of exhibitions at Mountain Trails Gallery Sedona in 2020 including Made in Arizona, which opens with a reception on Friday, January 3, from 5 to 8 p.m. The show features artists who are inspired by the beauty of place and the spirit of the history and cultures that make Arizona unique.

Susan Kliewer, Victory Dance, bronze, 21 x 7½ x 7”

110

Susan Kliewer in her studio working on her bronze Victory Dance.

Susan Kliewer, Crow Fair Shawl Dancer, bronze, 25 x 16 x 9”

State of the Art: ARIZONA

Randy Galloway, Stealing the Show, bronze, 16 x 9 x 8"

Randy Galloway, Serenity, oil on linen, 18 x 14"

Randy Galloway Twisted Fire Studio, 4774 E. Quailbrush Road, Cave Creek, AZ 85331, (480) 745-0451, dreamworx@q.com, www.randygallowayfineart.com Randy Galloway was born in Carlsbad, New Mexico, surrounded by adobe buildings, women in crushed velvet and squash blossom necklaces and Native American kids bused in from the reservation for school. Galloway says he knew he lived in a special place and loved the Southwest as a kid. “No one in our family had ever been an artist, so I was an anomaly,” says the artist. “I had something unique but no one to mentor me, so I had to grow with it slowly, making discoveries on my own.” Earning a BFA in graphic design from Arizona State University, Galloway worked in graphic design for 35 years. “Soon after my older brother died of melanoma, I decided I had better do my fine art before it was too late…Inspired by Howard Terpning, then Martin Grelle and John Coleman I fell in love with the Old West and the Native Americans of the 1800s. I started going to photoshoots and sold at various shows around the Southwest. A few years ago I decided to try sculpting and now spend my time split between painting, drawing and sculpting. I enjoy being versatile.” His current style is defined by realism, detailed but remains textural. He tends to focus on images that are like character portraits, mostly full figures in scenes of the Old West—sometimes a little whimsical, but always seeking to capture the beauty of the people. “I’m drawn to the Buffalo culture of the Plains tribes and the beautiful craft of the Pueblo tribes…I have a million ideas and projects to do, if only the clock would slow down. I’m so glad I got to express myself as an artist.” Galloway will be showing at the Celebration of Fine Art in Scottsdale January through March as well as the Phippen Western Art Show and Sale in May.

Randy Galloway, Lakota Honor, charcoal on toned handmade paper, 22 x 16"

111

State of the Art: ARIZONA

Museum of Northern Arizona 3101 N. Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 (928) 774-5213, www.musnaz.org Immerse yourself in Southwest Native arts and natural wonders at this nationally awarded museum. Colorful art installations by Dan Namingha and Melissa Cody greet visitors approaching the museum. Inside, nine exhibit galleries present paintings, sculpture, traditional Native arts and culture, jewelry, pottery, weaving and more. The Native Peoples of the Colorado Plateau Gallery portrays the arts and culture of 10 tribes of the Colorado Plateau: Zuni, Acoma, Southern Ute, Southern Paiute, Hopi, Havasupai, Hualapai, Yavapai and Dilzhe’e Apache and Diné (Navajo). Through more than 350 objects selected by 42 tribal consultants, this collection reﬂects tribal histories, values and cultures. Babbitt Gallery houses an impressive and beautiful ceramics and jewelry collection, including works by Nampeyo and a display on Hopi overlay jewelry. Current exhibitions include a playful and thought-provoking display of Native art inspired by the Star Wars series and large-scale watercolors of the Grand Canyon and Mount Everest. These modern exhibitions

Alexandria Winslow, Great American Southwest, acrylic on gallery wrap canvas, 36 x 48”

are housed in a historic building shaded by ponderosa pines with stunning views of the San Francisco peaks, conveniently located on the

road connecting Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon. Admission is free for children ages 9 and under, with lots of hands-on activities to engage them. Bring home genuine tribal art, jewelry and fun facts. Look online for the schedule of festivals and events. Upcoming exhibitions at the museum include Searching for a Bigger Subject: Tony Foster through February 16 and The Force is With Our People through May 25.

Alexandria Winslow (520) 272-9302, backporchstudio@q.com www.alexandriawinslowart.weebly.com Alexandria Winslow is full of creative energy that pushes her to new levels of expression, experimentation and immersion in the local and regional culture of the American Southwest. As a lover of nature, she hikes, camps and travels, particularly in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico, where she is rewarded with an abundance of resources for her paintings. Her work is a reﬂection of these journeys as well as a mindset of wonderment that translates onto the canvas. She works to express the universal feelings of connection, joy and passion for the natural world around us. The landscapes in her art are colorful, whimsical, joyful, imaginative and sometimes outside the box. Winslow’s art is representational with a twist of whimsy in a high-deﬁnition style. Growing up in the ’60s and ’70s she fell in love with illustration and poster art, which is evident in her technique and style today. The artist is represented by Jane Hamilton Fine Art in Tucson, Arizona. Museum of Northern Arizona, Inlaw/Outlaw, acrylic on canvas, 16 x 20”, by Ryan Singer.

112

State of the Art: ARIZONA

Sherry Blanchard Stuart, Free Trapper, oil on linen, 30 x 17"

Sherry Blanchard Stuart (602) 738-4941 art@sherryblanchardstuart.com www.sherryblanchardstuart.com Raised in Wichita, Kansas, and currently living in the Sonoran Desert of north Scottsdale, Arizona, Sherry Blanchard Stuart has been painting most of her life. She works in the traditional style, painting with a richness of color that illuminates the intensity of sunlight upon her varied subject matter. Her work is both traditional and representational in style, and she paints ﬁgurative as well as landscape and still life. The majority of her work, however, is Western and equine subjects. The history and tradition of the American West inspires much of her work. Stuart’s work is in the permanent collections of the Tucson Museum of Art, the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, Arizona, and the Phippen Museum in Prescott, Arizona, among others. Several of her many awards include the Award of Merit at the American Academy of Women Artists annual show in 2005, Best of Show at

Sherry Blanchard Stuart, The Guardian, oil on board, 12 x 9"

the American Plains Artists annual show in 2005 and 2007, and Best of Show at Cowgirl Up! at the Desert Caballeros Western Art Museum in 2008. Her work has been displayed in many juried and solo exhibitions nationwide and can be found in private and corporate collections worldwide. Stuart is constantly reﬁning and developing her unique style. She hopes to continuously grow and broaden her use of light, values and color, and push her work to the next level. Stuart’s work is on view at the 50th annual Contemporary Western Mountain Oyster Show in Tucson running through January 11.

Russell L. Parker 5824 Cinnamon Drive, Prescott, AZ 86305, (928) 308-2483, rlparker@cableone.net www.rlparkerstudios.com Russell L. Parker works both as

a wood carver and a sculptor of clay casting in bronze. He’s lived in the Southwest for nearly 50 years and ﬁnds inspiration in Native American history, especially trappers and Indian stories of the early to mid-1800s. “I love the character of the people and try to bring that into my work. I’m also inspired by other artists who do pieces from that era,” says Parker. Currently, the artist is working on a new carving that is approximately ﬁve feet long and will have somewhere between six and eight faces. “I intend to model the faces after wellknown Native American chiefs,” he says. Parker’s work will be showing at the Phippen Western Art Show & Sale in Prescott, Arizona, in May.

Russell Parker, Tall Hat, cottonwood bark, 12 x 4 x 2½"

113

State of the Art: ARIZONA Thunderbird Artists Gallery, A Grand Adventure, Lee’s Ferry, watercolor on panel, 20 x 24", by Raleigh Kinney

Thunderbird Artists Gallery, Sonoran Treasures, watercolor on panel, 30 x 30”, by Raleigh Kinney

Risa Waldt, July, oil, 13 x 32”

Risa Waldt

Thunderbird Artists Gallery

(520) 825-9601, www.risawaldtfineart.com

99 Easy Street, Carefree, AZ 85377 (480) 688-4960 www.thunderbirdartistsgallery.com Denise Colter, (480) 837-5637 denise@thunderbirdartists.com

“Western sunsets, light and color have been my inspiration since I was a child riding my horse by Rillito River [near Tucson, Arizona]. For 47 years now I have painted mostly plein air and I am always spiritually renewed, outside, engaged with what I love,” says Risa Waldt. The artist, who works primarily in oils and watercolors, says the Grand Canyon and Sedona are among some of her favorites locales to paint. Artwork by Waldt will be on view at Art on the Llano Estacado at the Museum of Texas Tech University from April 23 to 26. Waldt is a Women Artists of the West Signature Member; a Saguaro Fellow in the Southern Arizona Watercolor Guild in Tucson, Arizona; and winner of the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.

114

Thunderbird Artists Gallery is filled with a diverse range of subject matter including Western, contemporary, realism, abstract, impressionism and more. Award-winning, international and emerging artists are represented at the gallery: sculptor and painter Jacinthe Dugal-Lacroix of Canada is the latest rising star; Guilloume Perez of New Mexico is the master of contemporary circles and roundish forms that define the very essence of the human figure; Pueblo artist Virgil Ortiz’s timetraveling, innovative pottery brings crowds

into museums and Native history into the mainstream; and Donna Armstrong, prestigious gemologist, creates the finest gemstones and precious metals in gold and silver. Collectors can find a variety of mediums as well, such as oil, acrylic, watercolor and mixed media, as well as numerous bronzes, metal, stone, clay, wood, pottery, ceramic sculptures, fiber, glass, pottery, jewelry and more. In addition, collectors are invited to walk in during First Friday Art Walks, where the gallery will host guest artists like Ortiz, Perez and husband-and-wife team Jeanne and Tod Steele for January and February.

MISSING AN ISSUE? VISIT WESTERNARTCOLLECTOR.COM/PASTISSUES OR CALL 1 877 9470792 TO PURCHASE PAST ISSUES

Create a library of fine Western art in your home

informed on the latest works from the country’s top

by purchasing past issues of Western Art Collector.

contemporary Western artists as well as artwork from

Enjoy timeless works of art, follow artists’ careers,

historic Western masters.

and explore gallery and museum exhibitions and coast-to-coast art destinations that continue to

Our magazine allows collectors to get a real sense of

define the nation’s Western art market. Collectors

Western art that is coming available for sale—and

of Western art rely upon Western Art Collector to stay

opportunity to buy it right off our pages.

Stay informed on the latest exhibits across the country, subscribe today online at

WWW.WESTERNARTCOLLECTOR.COM

UPCOMING SHOW

S HOW LO C AT ION S COT T S DA L E , A Z

Up to 20 works Jan. 16-Feb 20, 2020 Faust Gallery 7100 E. Main Street Scottsdale, AZ 85251 (480) 200-4290 www.faustgallery.com

ANDREA VARGAS

Ode to the hummingbird

ndrea Vargas has an extensive exhibition history that has focused on the preservation of ecology and the natural world. Her relationship with the Ventura County Museum of Art and History facilitated her most ambitious visions and immersive art installations. Today, Vargas embraces the medium she has learned to take command of with a unique voice and handling—pastels.

In all of her drawings there is a constant element— balance. For Vargas, a successful composition encapsulates details with implications of movement, and spontaneous bursts of abstraction. Although she prefers producing life-size drawings, her recent series for her solo show at Faust Gallery in Scottsdale features hummingbirds in flight and the plumage of roosters. Although Vargas has an origin story rooted in California, her residence in Santa Fe, New

Andrea Vargas at Ghost Ranch. Opposite page: Ode to the Hummingbird, pastel, 22 x 30”

116

Mexico, has made her plein air excursion the impetuous for studies of ranches and the animals that inhabit them. For this current exhibition of drawings, the poems of Pablo Neruda are the most appropriate way to decode their meaning. Fo r a d i re c t l i n k to t he e x h i b it i n g g a l l e r y g o to w w w. we ste r n a r tc o l l e c to r. co m

UPCOMING SHOW

S HOW LO C AT ION T UC S ON, A Z

Up to 7 works Jan. 17-Feb. 7, 2020 Medicine Man Gallery 6872 E. Sunrise Drive, Suite 130 Tucson, AZ 85750 (520) 722-7798 www.medicinemangallery.com

STEPHEN C. DATZ

Above and beyond

Shadows in Light, Shadows in Time, oil, 36 x 72"

or Canyons, Buttes, & Beyond at Tucson’s Medicine Man Gallery, artist Stephen C. Datz decided to go far beyond and venture into uncharted territory—a series focused entirely on large-scale works. “For this particular show, I started a lot of canvases all at once. Normally I might have two or so going that I can switch back and forth from,” he says. “I decided to put all the ideas down and just see where they went.” Opposite from his usual process, this allowed Datz to learn early on which ideas stuck, while also giving him a better sense of how, ultimately, the works would all come together. “It was very different from my normal routine, which is a very mixed bag,” he shares. “It’s been a great learning experience because large paintings kind of have a life of their own. No matter what you set out to accomplish,

118

Wild and Scenic, oil on canvas board, 30 x 60"

there’s a dialogue going on and you have to trust that. It’s like the old saying ‘Sometimes you have to go slow to go fast,’ and that is

very much what I’ve been learning during this experience.” As a result, the large-scale works give

Each But Once in a Lifetime, oil on canvas board, 48 x 48"

nuance to the awe-inspiring landscapes they portray. While Datz found it difficult to scale down the works, he was able to do just that in a way that emphasizes the shapes and colors that make up each composition. “These paintings, kind of like the spectacles they portray, take a lot of time—it always surprises me how much time,” he says. “My learning curb with this particular show has been to let it be simple...let certain parts be simple. I hope collectors can see that there are big ideas here. There’s really been an effort to leave some space for the viewer’s imagination to fill some things in.” As for how Datz decided what, exactly, to

paint, he stayed true to his roots. “If I see something and I go ‘Oh my God, I have to paint that!’ I usually just do,” he says. “You just kind of wait for the ‘wow.’ And when you see the ‘wow,’ that’s what you paint.” It’s the “wow factor,” as Datz puts it, that happened when he was first inspired to paint Each But Once in a Lifetime (and every other work in the series). “We have some incredible skies out here in Western Colorado and this was one of those evenings when I looked out and thought ‘Holy crap, this is amazing,’” he explains. “The idea for the title came from something I read/heard many years ago, ‘We tend to take the sky for

granted as a constant.’ It’s always there, and we don’t always pay a lot of attention to it. But the fact is, the sky is so dynamic and always changing. You will never see the same sky twice in your life.” Canyons, Buttes, & Beyond will be on view from January 17 through February 7, with an opening reception with the artist on January 17 from 5 to 7 p.m. A handful of corresponding studies will be available for purchase in addition to the featured works. Fo r a d i re c t l i n k to t he ex h i b it i n g g a l l e r y g o to w w w. we ste r n a r tc o l l e c to r. c o m

119

UPCOMING SHOW

S HOW LO C AT ION S E D ONA , A Z

Up to 30 works January 3-31, 2020 Mountain Trails Gallery 336 SR 179, Suite A201 Sedona, AZ 86336 (928) 282-3225 www.mountaintrailssedona.com

Arizona origins

Gregory Stocks, Sedona in Snow, oil, 24 x 36"

elebrating the beauty of the Grand Canyon State is Mountain Trails Gallery’s annual Made in Arizona exhibition. The show features roughly 30 works either depicting the terrain of this diverse state or works created by artists who call Arizona home. “Representing artists who exemplify some of the best of the West, and the best of Arizona, has been an inspiration beyond measure,” says Julie R. Williams, director of Mountain Trails Gallery. “Collectors...express so much enthusiasm for their intrinsic value as

120

well as for their tremendous aesthetic reward.” Artists in the show include Lisa Danielle, Gregory Stocks, Sandra Byland, Bill Cramer, Deborah Copenhaver Fellows, Howard Carr, Marcia Molnar, Susan Kliewer, Percy Edwards and more. Betty Carr’s impressionistic piece Moving Through (Alcantara Winery) depicts the Alcantara Vineyards and Winery in Cottonwood, Arizona. “Vineyards in and around the Cottonwood and Page Springs, Arizona, area are a favorite subject all year long but especially in the fall. In the mixture

of paintings included for the Made in Arizona exhibition, I’ve put together a sampling of my very favorite spots,” says Carr, who cites places like Tlaquepaque and Oak Creek Canyon in Sedona. The artwork of Michelle Condrat is delightfully outside the box, portraying real life scenes, but executed in a style that dances with the abstract. All of her paintings in the Made in Arizona show illustrate the Grand Canyon. “The nice thing about being [at the Grand Canyon] in September is that the lighting is so great! You can feel the change in the season,

Betty Carr, Moving Through (Alcantara Winery), oil, 12 x 16"

Michelle Condrat, A Grand Morning, oil, 24 x 40"

and the sun is low enough in the sky that the lighting really radiates on the rocks and gives everything a nice rich and saturated color. Because of that, I’m able to really bring out the colors in the rocks, the trees and even the sky,” says Condrat. “I love to integrate functionality with sculpture when I can. Western Tales is a set of bookends that does exactly that. On one side you have a nice ranch gelding dozing in the shade of an old oak tree,” Cave Creek-based sculptor and painter Curt Mattson says of one of the pieces he will be bringing to this year’s show. “The other side of the bookend has a rough looking longhorn cow laying down in the shade of a palo verde tree and saguaro cactus,” he explains. Linda Glover Gooch brings three oils to the show, all representing Arizona landscapes. One of these is Warm Air Rising, paying homage to the wild seasonal shift in Arizona known as monsoon season, in which the state experiences intense thunderstorms and rain. “Monsoon season here in Arizona sets the stage for great scenes. Saguaros reaching up to the sky as the clouds hover create a great composition and bring the two objects together, doing what nature does…hypnotize the viewer by its beauty. This was a scene not too far from my house in the East Valley,” says Gooch. Made in Arizona will be on view from January 3 through the end of the month.

Fo r a d i re c t l i n k to t he ex h i b it i n g g a l l e r y g o to

Linda Glover Gooch, Warm Air Rising, oil, 14 x 11"

w w w. we ste r n a r tc o l l e c to r. c o m

121

ARTIST FOCUS

Odyssey of the Cloud People, oil on canvas, 36 x 48"

The cover of Wagner’s new book Journey to Spiritland.

John Philip Wagner

“P

ainting for me is a form of travel, with every picture a new adventure. Some are short trips near to home while others are distant or infinite. The mysterious ones interest me the most and often contain a lot of symbolism,” says artist John Philip Wagner. His journey often begins with a small idea or concept that won’t resolve itself without clarification. Preliminary drawings and pencil studies help the artist organize the more complex compositions. Wagner’s subject matter is influenced by many years of travel in the Southwest and the myths and legends of Indigenous peoples that have lived there for thousands of years. “I found in these stories a respect for the earth and all living things and the need for prayer showing gratitude for these gifts,” he says. Wagner continues, “When working on paintings with Native American themes I am reminded of my visits with Grandpa David in Hotevilla who was kind enough to put me up and share with me his deeper understandings of how it is and what we should do about it. I am reminded of him sitting in his living room gently rocking in his chair, chanting a

122

tune while creating the string, which would be used to tie the prayer feathers left in the most sacred of places. Every element of creation has a sacred aspect to its formation and with it, thanksgiving for the gifts it has given. In this I am grateful for every little bit of success I may have when painting.” Journey to Spiritland is the latest of the artist’s books, filled with Southwest artwork and paintings by Wagner including historic

portraiture of the Old West, Hopi katsinas and landscapes. For more information, including a book preview and purchase options, visit www.johnphilipwagner.com.

Want to See More? (970) 430-5416 | www.johnphilipwagner.com Represented by Jay Jacoby

Kokopelli and his katsina friends, oil on canvas, 24 x 48"

ARTIST FOCUS

Cliff Barnes

native Californian and graduate of ArtCenter College of Design, Cliff Barnes started his career as an architectural illustrator. A change occurred after he and his wife traveled in a VW camper for a year in Europe where he was able to paint the villages and people. They came home with his rolled canvases and sold his paintings directly to the public. Thus began his journey as a full-time artist. Barnes was fascinated by the West, traveling to the Indian reservations, rodeos and national parks. Throughout his travels, he created sketches or used his camera to capture special moments in the lives of people, wildlife or unique landscapes that he then developed into oil or watercolor paintings. Barnes is a Signature Artist of the American Plains Artists, the Oil Painters of America and is a “Master” watercolorist with Watercolor West. His work is in the permanent collection of the San Bernardino County Government Center with two 8-by-10-foot oil paintings. His paintings of Frederic G. Renner, Martin Grelle and the Wells Fargo Stage also hang in the San Dimas Festival of Art Collection at their Civic Center. Barnes is a member of the California Art Club (CAC) and exhibited at their 108th annual exhibition in 2019. His art can also be seen and purchased at the CAC Old Mill Gallery in San Marino, California. Barnes really enjoys being with other artists and will be exhibiting at the San Dimas Festival of Art from April 25 to 26, 2020.

Dancing With Spirit, watercolor, 28 x 20 "

Want to See More? www.old-mill.org | (626) 449-5458 www.cliffbarnesart.com Represented by California Art Club Gallery 1120 Old Mill Road | San Marino, CA 91108

/El-Molino-Viejo-The-Old-Mill-1459081124350256/

Happily Retired, watercolor, 13 x 20"

123

MUSEUM PREVIEW

Sharing a Drink, oil, 24 x 30”

Familiar Ground Texas painter George Hallmark returns to one of the venues that launched his art career.

hen Texas painter George Hallmark began showing his paintings professionally, one of the first venues for his artwork was the Haley Memorial Library and J. Evetts Haley History Center in Midland, Texas. As his career has soared and he’s become one of the iconic fixtures within Western art, Hallmark has retained a special place in his heart for the center and its role in the early part of his career.

124

Decades after his first showing at the center, Hallmark has returned to the Haley with a new retrospective, Paso por Aqui: George Hallmark’s Return. The exhibition, which is ongoing through December 20, 2019, will present work from throughout Hallmark’s impressive career. “I started my career painting primarily contemporary cowboy subject matter. During the late ’70s and early ’80s, it seemed as though anyone who could pick up a paintbrush was

painting the same thing. It was time to go in a different direction. My ‘real’ job had been as an architectural designer and delineator. I understood how to draw buildings and loved old architecture. Thus, began a 40-year career,” Hallmark says. “I remember participating in the Haley Library Memorial Show one year, soon after the new direction I had taken. Several people were gathered around my work anticipating whose name would be drawn and

MUSEUM PREVIEW

Solitude, oil, 16 x 12”

La Primavera, oil, 24 x 20”

that became the turning point. I continue today on the same path I chose those many years ago. Many thanks to the Haley and Midland.” Works in the retrospective will include many of the subjects that Hallmark is well known for: timeless views of ranch houses, nocturnes of adobe missions, Mexican street scenes and amazing examples of Spanish architecture that still stand north and south of the border. In Sharing a Drink, the artist paints another frequent subject—pack-laden burros. The painting shows Hallmark’s skill at capturing light, mood and the little details that bring street scenes to life. The artist, whose work will next be seen at the Prix de West in Oklahoma, is grateful for all his collectors, but holds dear some of his earliest supporters. “We have been blessed,” he says.

Paso por Aqui: George Hallmark’s Return Through December 20, 2019

Midland

Beans and Cornbread, oil, 12 x 16”

Haley Memorial Library and J. Evetts Haley History Center, 1805 W. Indiana Avenue, Midland, TX 79701 (432) 682-5785, www.haleylibrary.com

125

MUSEUM PREVIEW

Masterful Celebration National Museum of Wildlife Art’s second Living Legends exhibition pays tribute to Bob Kuhn for the 100th anniversary of his birth.

Bob Kuhn (1920-2007), Closing the Distance, acrylic on Masonite, 24 x 48”. On loan from Joffa and Bill Kerr, National Museum of Wildlife Art. © Estate of Robert F. Kuhn.

ince opening in 1987, the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, has recognized living artists in its collection alongside the works of past masters. Last year the museum mounted its first Living Legends exhibition featuring pieces by some of today’s artists that are in its permanent collection. The show has since evolved into a series of installations with its next edition running December 14 through May 12. “The idea for Living Legends arose after our last major reinstallation of the galleries. We wanted to honor the contributions of living artists who have contributed so much to the Museum,” says Adam Duncan Harris, Ph.D, the museum’s Joffa Kerr Chief Curator of Art. “Some artists have been working with us since the founding of the Museum in 1987, some are more recent. By rotating the artwork and artists

126

Kathryn Mapes Turner, Three Matriarchs, 2015, oil on canvas, 36 x 60”. National Museum of Wildlife Art. © Kathryn Mapes Turner.

James Morgan, Abandoned Orchard, 2009, oil on canvas, 30 x 20”. JKM Collection, National Museum of Wildlife Art. © James Morgan.

December 14-May 12, 2020 National Museum of Wildlife Art 2820 Rungius Road Jackson, WY 83001 (307) 733-5771, www.wildlifeart.org

Jackson Hole

Living Legends II: with a Special Tribute to Bob Kuhn

MUSEUM PREVIEW

Theodore Waddell, Gallatin Buffalo, oil on canvas, 54 x 60”. Gift of the 2014 Collectors Circle, National Museum of Wildlife Art. © Theodore Waddell.

each year, we can show our visitors a wider selection of what we have than if we just put out a static display of works.” Included in the exhibition is artwork from artists such a Robert Bateman, Ken Carlson, Sandy Scott, Kenn Bunn and Ron Kingswood, who represent just some of the styles and subjects that are found in the permanent collection. Among the works is Scott’s 1997 bronze Monarch of the Boreal and Kent Ullberg’s sea turtles sculpture Journey’s End from 1993. Paintings include James Morgan’s Abandoned Orchard; Kathryn Mapes Turner’s Three Matriarchs of does in a darkened forest; and Theodore Waddell’s Gallatin Buffalo in his signature contemporary style. This year’s show, titled Living Legends II: with a Special Tribute to Bob Kuhn, is also dedicated to honoring the 100th anniversary of the birth of wildlife master Bob Kuhn. “Bob Kuhn, who passed away in 2007, was a major force in the world of wildlife art. His work combines a keen sense of anatomy with a vibrant color sense and excellent ability to capture motion,” explains Harris of the artist who was also beloved by other artists because of his mentorship. “I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t hold him up as an exemplar in the field. Kuhn was born in 1920, so 2020 is the 100th anniversary of his birth.” Kuhn will be represented in the exhibition by three pieces that were loaned to the museum over the past year and haven’t been exhibited in the museum before. “[T]hey are some of the finest examples of his oeuvre,” says Harris of the work that includes the panoramic Closing the Distance and the kudo painting Numero Uno. “Rather than rotating them through the galleries, we wanted to highlight these amazing pieces in a special section of Living Legends.”

127

MUSEUM PREVIEW

Force of Nature The Petrie Institute’s annual symposium explores the commonalities of an unlikely pairing.

eturning January 8 to the Denver Art Museum is the Petrie Institute’s Western American Art Symposium. This year, the annual daylong event will delve into an unlikely pairing of works by Winslow Homer—known for his depictions of rocky Eastern coastlines—and Frederic Remington— famous for his vision of the American West— in anticipation of the museum’s upcoming exhibition, Natural Forces: Winslow Homer and Frederic Remington. “Because both Homer and Remington are bound to geographical regions—Homer to New England and Remington to the West—we don’t often think of their shared experiences and context,” says Thomas Brent Smith, director of the Petrie Institute. “Both matured from their early days as illustrators to create works that explored man’s relationship with nature. At a time when the definition of what it means to be American was hotly debated, these artists gave their audiences visions of what America could look like.” Co-organized by a team of four curators, the exhibition will feature more than 60 works, revealing common artistic themes and techniques used by the two acclaimed American artists. “The first exhibition of its kind, Natural Forces will present visitors with new aspects of the two artists’ oeuvres and stories that contributed to Homer and Remington’s legacies as distinguished figures in American art,” says Christoph Heinrich, the Frederick and Jan Mayer director of Denver Art Museum. “We look forward to showcasing an exhibition of Homer and Remington works connected by the time in which they lived, a time of rapid urbanization, industrialization and modernization across America.” Moderating the symposium is Patricia Limerick, the faculty director and chair of the board of the Center of the American West at the University of Colorado Boulder. Throughout the day, Limerick will be joined by speakers including Smith and Jennifer Henneman of the Denver Art Museum; Diana Greenwold

128

Frederic Remington (1861-1909), The Fall of the Cowboy, 1895, oil on canvas, 25 x 35⅛”. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, Amon G. Carter Collection, 1961.230.

Winslow Homer (1836-1910), Indian Boy with Canoe, ca. 1895, watercolor on paper, 16½ x 24”. Denver Art Museum: The T. Edward and Tullah Hanley Memorial Gift to the people of Denver and the area, 197.417.

of the Portland Museum of Art; Maggie Adler of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art;

and Mark Thistlethwaite of Texas Christian University.

Frederic Remington (1861-1909), The Cheyenne, modeled 1901 (cast 1903), bronze, 20⅞ x 24⅜ x 7½”. Denver Art Museum: Funds from William D. Hewit Charitable Annuity Trust, 1981.14A-B. Photography © Denver Art Museum

Winslow Homer (1836-1910), Pickerel Fishing, 1892, watercolor on wove paper, 11¼ x 20”. Portland Museum of Art, Maine: Bequest of Charles Shipman Payson, 1988.55.11. Image courtesy Portland Museum of Art.

Petrie Institute’s Western American Art Symposium January 8, 2020 • Check-in and late registration, 9 a.m. • Welcome speech from Thomas Brent Smith, 10 a.m. • Morning lectures begin, 10:15 a.m. • Lunch at History Colorado Center, noon • Lectures resume, 1:30 p.m. • Happy hour, 4 p.m. Denver Art Museum, 100 W. 14th Avenue Parkway, Denver, CO 80204 (720) 865-5000, www.denverartmuseum.org

Denver

Smith says that visitors can look forward to “...a diverse selection of of thoughts on the two artists that highlight their commonalities and argue for their continued relevance today.” The symposium will also include coffee and breakfast to start the day; a warm welcome and introduction from Smith; lunch at the History Colorado Center; and happy hour to conclude the evening. Tickets for this year’s Western American Art Symposium are available to the general public for $65, $55 for Denver Art Museum members, $45 for “Museum Friends” and $20 for students.

MUSEUM PREVIEW

Frederic Remington (1861-1909), The Buffalo Runners—Big Horn Basin, 1909, oil on canvas, 30⅛ x 51⅛ ”. Courtesy of the Sid Richardson Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, 1950.3.1.30.

EVENT PREVIEW

Energy and Expression The Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale features works from 60 artists during the National Western Stock Show in Denver.

olorado’s National Western Stock Show is a cornerstone of the state, a nearly monthlong series of rodeos, trade and livestock shows that celebrate the Western way of life. A monumental component of the Stock Show is the Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale, now in its 27th year. One of the nation’s most highly attended Western art exhibitions, the show raises funds for the National Western Scholarship Trust, which provides scholarships to students studying agriculture, rural medicine and veterinary science. The Red Carpet Gala Reception opens the Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale on Tuesday, January 7, running from 5:30 to 9 p.m. The show and sale then remains open to the public from January 11 to 26. “With the Coors Show...I tell artists, don’t paint what you think my audience wants...Just bring your best work and paint what you have to express,” says show curator Rose Fredrick. “It’s this supportive back and forth [between the organizers and the artists]. We’re like a team, like a community.” The 2020 featured artist is Sophy Brown,

Attendees mingle during the 2019 Red Carpet Gala Reception. Photo by Steve Peterson.

a classically trained artist and horsewoman. “We’re really excited about having her as the featured artist. She’s a strong female painter...and somebody who, at this point, is a midcareer artist,” says Fredrick. “Things have changed with her because of a lot of turmoil in her life...and now that she’s back to painting full time, it’s still her, but there’s a new passion

to it. A deeper level of emotion that comes with the work. I’m just thrilled to be presenting her work to our audience.” Brown’s massive acrylic Maelstrom is charged with energy—an anatomically precise horse, its muscles pulling and flexing, rears onto its hind legs as a cowboy attempts to hang on. “She’s really become quite fearless in putting herself into the work,” says Fredrick. “It is such an honor to be chosen as the featured artist in this coming Coors Western Art Show,” says Brown. “I have been lucky enough to participate in 10 previously, and each one of them has introduced me to many interesting people.” The works of 60 artists in total throughout North America and Europe will be part of the 2020 show, including Michael Blessing, William Haskell, Linda Lillegraven, Jivan Lee, Chris Maynard, Brad Overton, Jill Soukup, Tim Shinabarger and many more. Fredrick says that this year, she’s noticed an electrifying surge in the power of women artists. “It’s interesting because our women are coming with some of the strongest work out Show curator Rose Fredrick, left, chats with guests at the 2019 show. Photo by Steve Peterson.

130

EVENT PREVIEW

Jivan Lee, The Old Apple Tree, oil on linen, 48 x 72”

Linda Lillegraven, School Bus, oil on linen, 30 x 60”

Sophy Brown, Maelstrom, acrylic on board, 92 x 55”

there,” she says. “How they’re thinking things through, the chances they’re taking. It’s very strong, very confident work.” The curator cites artists like Lois Conner, Laura Wilson, Maeve Eichelberger, Dianne Massey Dunbar, Lillegraven and Stephanie Revennaugh, new to the show this year. “Our show is really different—it’s contemporary,” says Fredrick. “I’m so grateful that artists trust our venue as a place they can bring their work.”

Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale January 11-26, 2020 • Red Carpet Gala Reception, January 7, 5:30-9 p.m. National Western Complex 4655 Humboldt Street, Denver, CO 80216

Michael Blessing, 6+1, oil on canvas, 36 x 24”

Denver

(303) 291-2567, www.coorswesternart.com

131

MUSEUM PREVIEW

An Artist’s Journey Painter Richard Galusha is honored with a retrospective that looks back on his 35-year career painting the West.

ow open at the Steamboat Art Museum in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, is Richard Galusha Retrospective: An Artist’s Journey, a new exhibition to celebrate the 35-year career of Western painter Richard Galusha. The painter, who has lived in the Steamboat Springs area since 1986, is featuring 70 works from all corners of his long career in the exhibition, which is his first retrospective. The show will focus on his path as an artist, which largely began in Texas, where he lived on a ranch with a large family and many siblings. “Being in a large family, everyone had their niche and mine was art,” Galusha says, adding that he remembers artwork by Wayne Baize in his home growing up. “I remember having an art show in the fifth grade and all the other kids knew I liked to draw. I would even draw on the chalkboard. It all started early for me. And they

didn’t have art classes in elementary school back then. I had to do it on my own.” After high school, Galusha joined the Navy and was later stationed in Guam, where he would set up a makeshift studio in the barracks and do small drawings for his sailor friends. It was in Guam that everything finally came together in his head. “I was walking down a path on the island and it was nighttime and I remember suddenly knowing exactly what I needed to do,” he says. “When I got out I went to the University of Colorado, got a degree in fine arts, went out on my own and have been doing pretty good ever since.” While his art has steadily progressed, early on he supplemented his artist’s income through teaching—“Something had to pay for the house payment, car payments, insurance and art supplies,” he says—and he found it brought him immense joy as he

instructed students and helped them with their own work. As a testament to that period of his career, he will be showing several students’ works in the retrospective of his own paintings. In addition to artist and teacher, Galusha has also had firsthand experience with another aspect of the art world—gallery owner. He and his wife own and operate the Wildhorse Gallery in Steamboat Springs. “I’ve seen the art world from all sides,” he says, adding that choosing artwork for the exhibition was a difficult and time-consuming process. “Hell, I did a lot of painting. I still do a lot of painting. When picking the pieces for the show, some of them really show a lot of growth, which is rewarding to see. It’s fun to see all the places I’ve painted, including things right out of my door.”

Richard Galusha Retrospective: An Artist’s Journey

Through April 11, 2020 Steamboat Art Museum, 803 Lincoln Avenue, Steamboat Springs, CO 80488 (970) 870-1755, www.steamboatartmuseum.org Spring in Hans Peak Village, oil

132

MUSEUM PREVIEW

Choosing Horses, oil, 36 x 48”

Haybales in Summer, oil, 32 x 38”

Steamboat Springs

Four Bears, oil

133

EVENT REPORT

True Grit Kyle Polzin’s new one-man show sells out in dramatic fashion at the Legacy Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Manifest Destiny, oil, 38 x 38” SOLD: $105,000

he bid boxes are a mundane feature at most by-draw sales, a feature that usually only bidders take interest in. But at a Kyle Polzin show, the boxes can be downright thrilling. At Polzin’s new one-man show, Grace & Grit—which opened November 16 at the Legacy Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona—the bid boxes were not just full, they were practically bulging open. And not just one or two of the boxes, but 11 of them packed full of intentto-purchase slips from collectors who were vying to own one of Polzin’s famous Western still life paintings. The show was historic for Polzin: $842,000 in sales across 17 works, six of which were sold by auction, including Guardians of the Grasslands, a 40-inch-wide piece featuring a Native American headdress that fetched $200,000. The day began with a presentation by the Texas-based artist, who discussed with guests

134

Guardian of the Grassland, oil, 31 x 40” SOLD: $200,000

how he creates his stunningly detailed works. Polzin had his entire family in town—his wife, Leigh, and daughters, Kate and Taylor— as well as extended family members. It was the artist’s daughters who were tasked with pulling bid forms during the evening’s draw, which processioned around the room as anxious collectors waited for their names to be drawn. “It meant a lot to see so many people wanting one of these new pieces. The show was a long time in the making, and it’s kept me in the studio and busy for a long time, but it was worth it to see how many people were bidding for the paintings,” Polzin said at the opening. “It’s a humbling experience for an artist.” Highlights from the auction portion of the sale include Quick Draw, a painting of a gun in a leather holster, which realized $70,000; Tuesday Delivery, featuring an arrangement

of peonies, which sold for $85,000; and two saddle pieces that were sold separately, but as a bidder’s choice. Bidding for the saddle paintings concluded at $105,000, after which the winning bidder was given a choice of which painting they wanted to purchase, or to buy both for $210,000—they chose to buy both. “We’re feeling extra grateful and quite excited. For an artist still in his mid-40s to sell 17 paintings at $842,000, that’s pretty phenomenal,” Legacy Gallery owner Brad Richardson says. “These big shows come with a lot of pressure for the artists. Kyle had 17 pieces, and a normal show of his is between eight and 12, so it’s not that much bigger than an average show. But it’s more stressful because it’s a big event. There is more advertising, more articles…everything is ramped up. But Kyle pulled it all together in a really big way.”

EVENT REPORT

1. Kyle and Leigh Polzin, left, with Brad and Jinger Richardson at the Legacy Gallery. 2. Guests mingle at the gallery opening in Scottsdale. 3. Brad Richardson, owner of the Legacy Gallery, opens the show with Kyle and Leigh Polzin. 4. Kyle Polzinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daughters prepare to draw bid slips during the draw. 5. Kate and Taylor Polzin pull bid slips during the by-draw portion of the show. 6. Kyle Polzin and his family at the opening of his new solo show November 16, 2019.

Scottsdale

Defender of the Territory, oil, 38 x 38â&#x20AC;? SOLD: $105,000

135

AUCTION PREVIEW

Western Wonders The 30th annual Brian Lebel’s Old West Show & Auction brings some of the West’s best art and artifacts to Mesa, Arizona.

eaturing items from some of the finest Western artists and craftsmen, the 30th annual Brian Lebel’s Old West Show & Auction returns to Mesa, Arizona, this January 24 through 26. Not only will the auction, held on January 25 at 5 p.m., have plenty of Western art, but it will also offer up a slice of life in the great Old West with authentic Western artifacts. Past auctions have included everything from rifles, revolvers, saddles and chaps to Native American blankets, saloon bottles and poker chips. The 2020 rendition of the auction will include roughly 300 lots of Western art, antiques and artifacts. “What we offer at our shows isn’t just objects. It’s a Western way of life,” says show

and auction owner Brian Lebel. “And most of these collectors are buying it for themselves, and not just to show off to their friends. When you buy a Picasso or a Maserati your neighbors understand what those things are when they see them. But our top collectors are paying $100,000 for a set of spurs or $50,000 for a parade saddle. They’re not doing it to impress the neighbors. They’re collecting those things because it’s what they love and they believe in the Western way of life, whether it’s spurs or a saddle, or even a Pueblo pot or a Navajo weaving or a piece of turquoise jewelry.” Among the artists featured in the auction portion of the weekend event are Louis Akin, Roy Andersen, Bill Anton, Joe Beeler, Edward

Visitors browse the Manitou Galleries booth at last year’s event.

136

Borein, Gary Carter, Michael Coleman, Edward S. Curtis, Maynard Dixon, Mikel Donahue, Nick Eggenhofer, Veryl Goodnight, Bruce Greene, Paul Herzel, Will James, Dave McGary, Gerry Metz, Eric Michaels, Herb Mignery, Carl Moon, Gary Morton, Chris Navarro, Edgar S. Paxson, George Phippen, H.R. Poore, James Reynolds, Charles M. Russell, Harry Schaare, Olaf Wieghorst and William Zivic. Works to watch include Wieghorst’s oil on canvas Pintos (est. $15/20,000) and Reflections ($10/15,000); Reynolds’ Catalinas Roundup (est. $15/20,000); and Paxson’s watercolor Cheyenne Brave (est. $10/14,000). Artifacts and antique include a carved saddle from the Roy Anderson Collection by

AUCTION PREVIEW

A look at the 2019 Brian Lebelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Old West Show & Auction.

Engraved Colt 1860 Army Revolver (Cordy Rich Collection), ca. 1865 Estimate: $16/18,000

Arizona) (est. $3.5/4,500) are also expected to go for a pretty penny.Â In addition to the Saturday auction, a special auction of the Cordy Rich Collection will be held on Friday night at 6 p.m. The

January 24 auction will feature approximately 225 lots estimated at over half a million dollars. In the collection are a number of Deluxe Winchester rifles and an engraved Colt 1860 Army revolver, circa 1865, estimated

Mesa

Traditional Cowboy Arts Association member Chuck Stormes (est. $12/16,000); a Plains beaded pipe bag circa the 1890s (est. $7/9,000); and a vintage photograph by Akin titled On the Santa Fe (Navahoes at Race,

137

Native American textiles and jewelry on display at the Ranchfolks Navajo Rug Co. booth.

Olaf Wieghorst (1899-1988), Reflections, oil on canvas, 20 x 24” Estimate: $10/15,000

138

AUCTION PREVIEW James Reynolds, Catalinas Roundup, oil on canvas, 18 x 24” Estimate: $15/20,000

between $16,000 to $18,000. Brian Lebel’s Old West Show & Auction will also feature more than 180 vendors of authentic Western art, antiques, apparel, jewelry, collectibles, historical artifacts, cowboy gear, Native American arts, antique firearms, decor, books, boots and much more on both Saturday and Sunday.

Brian Lebel’s Old West Show & Auction January 25-27, 2020; • Cordy Rich Collection auction, January 24, 6 p.m. • Auction, January 25, 5 p.m. • Show, January 25, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., and January 26, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Mesa Convention Center, 263 N. Center Street, Mesa, AZ 85201 Olaf Wieghorst (1899-1988), Pintos, oil on canvas, 28 x 38” Estimate: $15/20,000

Mesa

(480) 779-9378, www.oldwestevents.com

139

AUCTION REPORT

Taos on Top Works by Taos Society of Artists founders bring in big numbers at Christie’s fall American Art sale in New York.

t was windy and cold on the streets of New York City on November 20, but inside Christie’s at Rockefeller Center images of the Southwest warmed up collectors. The American Art sale, which had a significant offering of Western lots, realized $21.8 million. The top Western lot was Eanger Irving Couse’s 1918 oil Flute Player at the Spring, which soared past it’s $350,000 high estimate

when it sold for $435,000. “With its impressive scale and vivid color palette, Flute Player at the Spring imbues the American Indian with the dignity and quiet spirituality that Couse appreciated in his subject—qualities that inform the best of his art throughout his career,” the catalog notes. “The characters in Flute Player at the Spring appear undisturbed as they go about their ritual with quiet intention,

reflecting the artist’s genuine attempt to depict his subjects in a direct and honest way.” Couse, one of the founders of the Taos Society of Artists, was joined by other founders within the top lots: Joseph Henry Sharp’s Jerry of Taos (est. $80/120,000) sold for $100,000 and Oscar E. Berninghaus’ In the High Aspens (est. $60/80,000) sold for $112,500. Coming in just behind the Couse work

Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953), Jerry of Taos, oil on canvas, 23¾ x 15¾” Estimate: $80/120,000 SOLD: $100,000

Eanger Irving Couse (1866-1936), Flute Player at the Spring, 1918, oil on canvas, 46 x 35” Estimate: $250/350,000 SOLD: $435,000

140

AUCTION REPORT

was Alfred Jacob Miller’s Trappers around a Campfire with the Wind River Mountains of the Rockies in the Background (est. $200/300,000), which sold for $423,000. The work, painted around 1839, is a very early example of the American West. “In 1837, Alfred Jacob Miller accompanied Scottish nobleman Sir William Drummond Stewart on an expedition to Fort Laramie, Wyoming,” the catalog notes. “As a result of this trip, his only one to the West, Miller gathered sufficient ideas to pursue a lifelong career painting images of American frontier life. The present work, painted for his patron shortly after their trip, features Stewart himself visible in the distance, holding a spyglass and wearing his usual buckskin outfit. Other members of the expedition, Antoine Clement, Bill Burrows and Pierre, prepare dinner around the campfire in the foreground.” Two iconic Frederic Remington bronzes sold during the American Art sale, and each exceeded estimates: a 1906 version of The Broncho Buster marked as cast No. 53 (est. $150/250,000) sold for $399,000, while a 1918 version of The Rattlesnake (est. $100/150,000) sold for $200,000. Elsewhere in the sale was Norman Rockwell’s Western-leaning Harvest Moon (Young Lovers on a Hay Rick) (est. $1/1.5 million) that sold for

Oscar E. Berninghaus (1874-1952), In the High Aspens, oil on canvas, 25¼ x 30” Estimate: $60/80,000 SOLD: $112,500

$975,000, and two Albert Bierstadt landscapes, Pass Into the Rockies (est. $70/100,000) that sold for $131,250 and Lander’s Peak (est. $80/120,000) that sold for $75,000.

Other noteworthy artists with works in the sale were N.C. Wyeth, Georgia O’Keeffe, Winslow Homer, Thomas Hart Benton and Thomas Hill.

Far left: Norman Rockwell (18941978), Harvest Moon (Young Lovers on a Hay Rick), ca. 1920s, oil on canvas, 34 x 21” Estimate: $1/1.5 million SOLD: $975,000

New York

Left: Frederic Remington (1861-1909), The Rattlesnake, modeled ca. 1908, cast after 1918, bronze with brown patina, 22½” Estimate: $100/150,000 SOLD: $200,000

141

AUCTION REPORT

Modern Momentum Heritage Auctions’ November 1 sale of American art saw solid results for its Western art offerings.

estern paintings and sculpture were among the major highlights of Heritage Auctions’ November 1 sale of American art in Dallas. Leading the segment, and the sale as a whole, was a rare 1½-scale version of one of Frederic Remington’s most iconic sculptures—Bronco Buster. The piece, created shortly before the artist died in 1909, was cast after his death in 1910 and only 19 editions from the larger-scale plaster model were made. Hailing from the collection of illustrator Mort Künstler, Bronco Buster sold squarely within its presale estimate of $500,000 to $700,000 at $615,000. Two Western paintings also landed in the top 10 lots of the sale: G. Harvey’s When the Cowboys Come to Town – Houston, 1900 (est. $120/180,000) at $162,500 and Howard Terpning’s Jicarilla Apache Riders at $125,000. The Harvey, as Heritage’s Western art director Alissa Ford explains, was “a Houston scene and it came out from a collection in Houston. It was a monumental work and it was similar to the large-scale pieces we’ve sold in the past.” One of the other highlights in the sale was a Harvey Caylor painting On the Ranch from 1989, which sold for $37,500. “This was just a rare piece that garnered the attention of not just American buyers, but local Texas buyers,” Ford explains. “We held the sale in conjunction with our Texas art auction, which really brought over some cross-market traffic.” Modernist Western paintings were among those with the most interest, including Eric Sloane’s October Moon Over Grand Canyon, which sold above its presale estimate at $18,750. The painting featured “strong geometric details and that strong color,” says Ford. “I think that’s what people are drawn to right now.” Several pieces by Ed Mell also soared above their estimates. Among them were Opening Skies (est. $25/35,000) at $42,500 and his painting Glowing Thunderhead (est. $15/25,000) at $40,000. “The demand for works by Ed Mell right now is extremely strong,” says Ford, who adds, “I think

142

G. Harvey (1933-2017), When the Cowboys Come to Town – Houston, 1900, 1983, oil on canvas, 40 x 60” Estimate: $120/180,000 SOLD: $162,500

Tucker Smith, Glacier Goats, 1991, oil on canvas, 30 x 36” Estimate: $30/50,000 SOLD: $55,000

AUCTION REPORT

Frederic Remington (1861-1909), Bronco Buster, conceived 1908, cast 1910, bronze with greenishbrown patina, 32⅞” Estimate: $500/700,000 SOLD: $615,000

Howard Terpning, Jicarilla Apache Riders, 1975, oil on canvas, 30 x 24” Estimate: $200/300,000 SOLD: $162,500

the reason why [he’s] garnering so much interest not just from the Western market, but from the American art market is because his style crosses the boundaries of what Western art really is. He has this fabulous modernist style that is easy for anyone to love and bid on.” Ford adds, “We see a lot of Western buyers turning their interest to modern painting as well, and adding that into their collection. It’s where they have this beautiful, cohesive crossover.” Ed Mell, Opening Skies, oil on canvas, 60 x 72” Estimate: $25/35,000 SOLD: $42,500

Top 10 Lots: Heritage Auctions, American Art, November 1 (including buyer’s premium) Title

Low /High Estimate

SOLD

Artist

Title

Low /High Estimate

SOLD

Bronco Buster The Night Before Christmas… Cold Spell En Promenade Ice Skaters

$500/700,000 $200/300,000 $200/300,000 $150/250,000 $80/100,000

$615,000 $250,000 $250,000 $225,000 $225,000

Thorton Utz Milton Avery G. Harvey Milton Avery Howard Terpning

Love’s Lost Child at the Information Booth Mexican Woman When the Cowboys Come to Town – Houston Agua Jicarilla Apache Riders

$30/50,000 $200/300,000 $120/180,000 $150/250,000 $200/300,000

$206,250 $200,000 $162,500 $137,500 $125,000

Dallas

Artist Frederic Remington Norman Rockwell Andrew Wyeth Frederick Carl Frieseke J.C. Leyendecker

143

AUCTION REPORT

Bob Kuhn (1920-2007), High Plains Lothario, oil on board, 18 x 24” Estimate: $70/90,000 SOLD: $68,750

Hitting Milestones Hindman’s recent Arts of the American West auction set a world record and several other milestones for the department.

indman hosted its fall Arts of the American West auction on November 7 to much fanfare, achieving more than $1.5 million in sales. Highlights ranged from Western paintings to historic and contemporary Native American artwork that included sculpture, jewelry, beadwork and more. “We are thrilled with the results of the sale,” says

Katherine Hlavin, the auction house’s Director of Business Development, West. “Active bidding in the room, over the phone and online drove strong results, setting a record sale total for the Arts of the American West department.” The top lot of the sale was the wildlife painting High Plains Lothario, by one of the masters of the genre, Bob Kuhn, which sold

Ed Mell, Cloud Progression, oil on canvas, 24 x 62” Estimate: $12/18,000 SOLD: $27,500

144

for $68,750. Coming in second was Vance Kirkland’s Explosions on 20 Billion Years Ago, which shattered expectations when it sold for $67,500 against a presale estimate of $7,000 to $9,000. The work became a new auction record for the artist. Other Western paintings that achieved solid results were Ed Mell’s Cloud Progression (est. $12/18,000) and Emil Bisttram’s

Emil Bisttram (1895-1976), Taos Mountain, 1960, oil on canvas, 32 x 36” Estimate: $18/24,000 SOLD: $27,500

AUCTION REPORT

Arthur Roy Mitchell (1889-1977), Morning Friskies, oil on canvas, 28 x 26” Estimate: $2/4,000 SOLD: $7,500

Taos Mountain (est. $18/24,000), which both bested their presale estimates at $27,500. A selection of works sold in partnership with The A.R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art in Trinidad, Colorado, showed strong results. Funds received through the sale went to support the museum to help serve its mission and local community. Highlights from the group were

the museum’s namesake artist A.R. Mitchell’s Morning Friskies (est. $2/4,000) at $7,500; Harold von Schmidt’s Bringing Home the Christmas Tree at $10,625 against an estimate of $6,000 to $8,000; and von Schmidt’s Rodeo at the Broadmoor, which brought in $8,125. “We were especially pleased to work with the A.R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art and

the previous owners of the Vance Kirkland pieces,” says Hlavin. “We managed to exceed their expectations and elevate the exposure for both iconic Colorado artists. It’s always exciting to break auction records and with the strength of the Western and Native American art markets, we look forward to another successful season.”

TOP 10 LOTS Hindman, Arts of the American West, November 7, 2019 (including buyer’s premium) Title

Low /High Estimate

SOLD

Artist

Title

Low /High Estimate

SOLD

Bob Kuhn Vance Kirkland Allan Houser Unknown Mrs. Sam (Gladys) Manuelito

High Plains Lothario Explosions on 20 Billion Years Ago He Will Be Home Soon Kiowa child’s beaded cradle Corn with Holy People, from the Nightway Chant

$70/90,000 $7/9,000 $30/50,000 $40/60,000 $15/25,000

$68,750 $67,500 $57,500 $56,250 $55,000

Unknown

Cheyenne River Sioux child’s beaded buﬀalo hide vest Sioux beaded hide dress Cloud Progression New Mexico #41 Taos Mountain

$20/30,000

$33,750

$10/12,000 $12/18,000 $12/18,000 $18/24,000

$30,000 $27,500 $27,500 $27,500

Unknown Ed Mell Fritz Scholder Emil Bisttram

Denver

Artist

145

AUCTION REPORT

Open Doors The Santa Fe Art Auction breaks in a new facility with a $1.8 million art auction.

ots of new features at this year’s Santa Fe Art Auction: new facility, new bidding platform and lots of new opportunities for collectors to own a part of the West during the winter sale in Santa Fe, New Mexico. “Santa Fe Art Auction was delighted to open the new doors to its massively expanded permanent facility at the Baca Railyard to a packed house on November 9, with well over 200 registered bidders in attendance and more than 1,100 registered online across 20 countries,” says Gillian Blitch, president at Santa Fe Art Auction. “While the auction house launched a new website with its own proprietary online bidding platform this year, allowing santafeartauction.com internet bidders the same preferential buyer’s premium as floor bidders, it continues to be available on major online platforms Invaluable, LiveAuctioneers and Bidsquare, and saw remarkable internet sales of some 60 percent of gross sales of $1.8 million and a sell-

Janet Lippincott (1918-2007), New Mexico Landscape, ca. 1969, oil on canvas, 48 x 48” Estimate: $15/25,000 SOLD: $35,100

146

Fritz Scholder (1937-2005), Untitled (Buffalo Spirit), acrylic on canvas, 80 x 70” Estimate: $80/120,000 SOLD: $146,250

Bob Wade, Pancho Villa, 1988, C-print color photograph, 26½ x 47¼” Estimate: $500/1,000 SOLD: $38,025

AUCTION REPORT

Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953), Untitled (New Mexico Portrait), oil on canvas, 16 x 20” Estimate: $50/80,000 SOLD: $40,950

through rate, including post-auction sales, of 90 percent.” Lots from this year’s sale came from an assortment of private collections as well as the Patricia Janis Broder Collection, which achieved auction records for distinguished American Indian artists including Pop Chalee and Oscar Howe, whose abstract work Medicine Man sold within estimates for $29,250. The sale

also featured a substantial group of Western American women artists, of which Janet Lippincott’s New Mexico Landscape broke an artist world record when it sold for $35,100, above a high estimate of $25,000. The top lot was Fritz Scholder’s Untitled (Buffalo Spirit), estimated at $80,000 to $120,000, that sold for $146,250. It is now the second-best selling piece for Scholder at auction.

Other top lots were Joseph Henry Sharp’s Untitled (New Mexico Portrait) (est. ($50/80,000) that sold for $40,950 and Bob Wade’s C-print color photograph Pancho Villa. The 1988 photograph was expected to sell between $500 and $1,000, but sold for $38,025. Other top-selling lots were by Susan Hertel, George Carlson and Russell Chatham.

Top 10 Lots: Santa Fe Art Auction, November 9, 2019 (with buyer’s premium) Title

Low /High Estimate

SOLD

Artist

Title

Low /High Estimate

SOLD

Untitled (Buﬀalo Spirit) Untitled (New Mexico Portrait) Pancho Villa New Mexico Landscape Untitled (Interior with Dogs)

$80/120,000 $50/80,000 $500/1,000 $15/25,000 $20/25,000

$146,250 $40,950 $38,025 $35,100 $33,345

Oscar Howe George Carlson Russell Chatham Joseph Henry Sharp Janet Lippincott

Medicine Man Stillness in Moonlight Evening Near Springdale Chizchile, Navajo, 1905 Summer

$25/35,000 $50/70,000 $8/12,000 $40/60,000 $8/12,000

$29,250 $29,250 $29,250 $26,325 $23,400

Santa Fe

Artist Fritz Scholder Joseph Henry Sharp Bob Wade Janet Lippincott Susan Hertel

147

AUCTION REPORT

Santa Fe Variety Altermann’s November 8 Santa Fe sale realized $1.4 million across multiple categories.

Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953), Jerry Taos with Lover’s Flute, oil on canvas, 20 x 16” Estimate: $50/90,000 SOLD: $51,600

aintings, bronzes, Pueblo pottery and historic Native American artifacts all crossed the auction block November 8 during Altermann Galleries & Auctioneers’ sale in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The auction racked up a total of $1.4 million with more than 64 percent of the lots finding new homes. The top lot was Howard Terpning’s No Place to Ford, estimated at $75,000 to $125,000, which sold for $54,000. The painting was created in 1972, when the artist was still an illustrator in New York. By 1976, he would leave illustration and move out West to explore the Plains Indians. Two Taos works followed the Terpning: Joseph Henry Sharp’s Jerry Taos with Lover’s

Martin Grelle, Sunday Sojourn, oil on linen, 36 x 48” Estimate: $20/25,000 SOLD: $36,000

148

E. Martin Hennings (1886-1956), Indian Hunters, oil on canvas board, 12 x 14” Estimate: $30/60,000 SOLD: $45,600

AUCTION REPORT Frank McCarthy (1924-2002), The Greeting, oil on linen, 24 x 40” Estimate: $25/45,000 SOLD: $23,400

Flute (est. $50/90,000) that sold for $51,600, and E. Martin Hennings’ Indian Hunters (est. $30/40,000) that sold for $45,600. Additionally, Oscar E. Berninghaus’ Indian on Horseback (est. $25/35,000) sold for $26,400. Taos works, especially those by Taos Society of Artists founders, have done well at auction for the last several years as interest in the region and the early 20th century grows among savvy collectors. Additional top lots came from Cowboy Artists of America members Joe Beeler, Ray Swanson and Martin Grelle, whose Sunday Sojourn, estimated at $20,000 to $25,000, sold for $36,000. The Swanson piece, The Old Navajo Cares, was especially nice with an elderly man wearing silver and turquoise jewelry as he tends to his churro sheep on a high plateau. Elsewhere in the sale, other artworks also performed strongly, including a Margaret Tafoya wedding vase, bronzes by Dave McGary and George Carlson, Navajo weavings, beaded moccasins and other historic Native American artifacts. McGary’s bronzes were of particular interest with collectors, who bought four works all within or above estimates, including When Lighting Strikes, which sold for $19,200.

Ray Swanson (1937-2004), The Old Navajo Cares, oil on panel, 40 x 30” Estimate: $25/35,000 SOLD: $36,000

TOP 10 LOTS Altermann Galleries & Auctioneers, Santa Fe Sale, November 8, 2019 (with buyer’s premiums) Title

Low /High Estimate

SOLD

Artist

Title

Low /High Estimate

SOLD

Howard Terpning Joseph Henry Sharp E. Martin Hennings Martin Grelle Ray Swanson

No Place to Ford Jerry Taos with Lover’s Flute Indian Hunters Sunday Sojourn The Old Navajo Cares

$75/125,000 $50/90,000 $30/60,000 $20/25,000 $25/35,000

$54,000 $51,600 $45,600 $36,000 $36,000

Joe Beeler Clyde Aspevig Oscar E.Berninghaus Frank McCarthy William Ahrendt

The Hostile’s Revenge Fall River Rocky Mountain Park Indian on Horseback The Greeting Jim Bridger, Mountain Man

$30/50,000 $35/45,000 $25/35,000 $25/45,000 $18/22,000

$36,000 $36,000 $26,400 $23,400 $23,400

Santa Fe

Artist

149

AUCTION REPORT

Classic Westerns Paintings by some of the most revered names in Western art help push Sotheby’s November 19 auction to more than $20 million in sales.

Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), Lewis and Clark Meeting the Mandans (Lewis and Clark Expedition), 1897, oil en grisaille on board, 18⅛ x 24¼” Estimate: $400/600,000 SOLD $500,000

rederic Remington, Charles M. Russell and Frank Tenney Johnson are three of the most exciting names in the Western art world. Their pieces frequently garner six figures at auction, and their work is soughtafter by collectors for its classic, romanticized imagery of the American West. During Sotheby’s November 19 American Art auction

150

paintings by all three artists—and many other notables associated with the genre—helped push the day’s total to more than $20 million. Leading the Western art segment was Remington’s The Round-up, a bucking bronco painting that first became known to scholars of the artist in 1997 when it arrived to auction. This being only the second time the work

has become available, it sold just shy of its $800,000 high presale estimate at $740,000. Two grisaille oils by Russell, both painted in 1897 at the height of the artist’s career, were of particular note in the sale. These monochromatic images not only highlighted Russell’s skill at painting, but some of the iconic imagery for which he became recognized. Lewis

Frederic Remington (1861-1909), The Round-up, ca. 1888, oil on canvas, 25⅞ x 20½” Estimate: $600/800,000 SOLD $740,000

AUCTION REPORT

Frank Tenney Johnson (1874-1939), Girl and Cowboy, oil on canvas, 36 x 24¼” Estimate: $70/100,000 SOLD $106,250

and Clark Meeting the Mandans (Lewis and Clark Expedition) sold for $500,000, while Before the White Man Came (Indian Game Hunt) brought $375,000. Both pieces had presale estimates of $400,000 to $600,000. A third work by Russell, The Stage Ahead of Us Had Been Attacked by Indians and Burned (Indian Attack) sold for $225,000, coming in a hair below its estimate of $250,000 to $350,000. Johnson is widely celebrated for his nocturnal scenes, with his painting in the sale, Girl and Cowboy (est. $70/100,000), being no different. In this nighttime image, with a blue glow, a woman stands alongside a cowboy on his horse at a train yard looking at him longingly. The painting achieved $106,250.

Charles M. Russell (18641926), Before the White Man Came (Indian Game Hunt), 1897, oil en grisaille on board, 18 x 24⅜” Estimate: $400/600,00 SOLD $375,000

Top 10 Lots: Sotheby’s, American Art, November 19, 2019 (including buyer’s premium) Title

Low /High Estimate

SOLD

Artist

Title

Low /High Estimate

SOLD

Mill Pond Cleopatra Homework South American Landscape Anthurium My Backyard

$600/800,000 $800/1,200,000 $1.5/2.5 million $1.5/2.5 million $1.5/2.5 million $400/600,000

$2,420,000 $2,300,000 $1,580,000 $1,580,000 $1,364,000 $1,340,000

Norman Rockwell

Boy Hiding Under Couch Sneezing (The Sneezing Spy) The Round-up Giant with Jack at His Feet (Poems of Childhood) Estes Park, Colorado

$600/800,000

$920,000

$600/800,000 $400/600,000

$740,000 $740,000

$500/700,000

$548,000

Fredric Remington Maxﬁeld Parrish Albert Bierstadt

New York

Artist Maxfield Parrish Maxfield Parrish Milton Avery Frederic Edwin Church Georgia O’Keeffe Georgia O’Keeffe

151

Artists in this issue Aiken, Bruce

106

Epp, Phil

Lillegraven, Linda

131

Seltzer, Olaf C.

Sharp, Joseph Henry

79, 80, 83, 140, 147, 148

Akin, Louis

Fanning, Larry

107

Lippincott, Janet

146

Asher, Brian

Farny, Henry

Madaras, Diane

102

Barnes, Cliﬀ

122

Frank, Alyce

Maggiori, Mark

Beeler, Joe Berninghaus, Oscar E.

80 87, 141

Bierstadt, Albert

Bisttram, Emil

144

Blake, Buckeye

Blessing, Michael

131

Blumenschein, Ernest L.

Brown, Sophy

131

Fritz, Charles

Galloway, Randy

111

Galusha, Richard

132

Gooch, Linda Glover

101, 121

Grelle, Martin

79, 92, 148

Hallmark, George

124

Harvey, G. Hennings, E. Martin

Carr, Betty

121

Higgins, Victor

Case, G. Russell

100

Homer, Winslow

Chavez, Jane

Houser, Allan

Colborne, Elizabeth

Johnson, Frank Tenney

Mell, Ed

97, 108, 143, 144

Michaels, Eric

81, 104

Mitchell, Arthur Roy

145

Morgan, James

127

Nebeker, Bill

128

Nieto, John

86 90, 150

Cottrell, Sheila

105

Keys, Daniel

Couse, Eanger Irving

140

Kinney, Raleigh

114

Danielle, Lisa

109

Kliewer, Susan

110

97, 118

Kuhn, Bob

77, 86, 126, 144

Lee, Jivan

131

Liang, Z.S.

McKenna, Mark

76, 148

80, 149

Kent, Rockwell

Elshin, Jacob

McCarthy, Frank

Moran, Thomas

121

Dudash, C. Michael

142

Condrat, Michelle

Datz, Stephen C.

Matthews, William

34, 103 102

Parker, Russell L.

113

Polzin, Kyle

134

Remington, Frederic

44, 84, 85, 86, 128, 141, 143, 150

Singer, Ryan

112

Smith, Tucker

142

Standing, William Stocks, Gregory Stockton, Ken

107

Stuart, Sherry Blanchard

113

Swanson, Ray Terpning, Howard

Vargas, Andrea

117

Velazquez, Jose

Waddell, Theodore Wade, Bob

Rockwell, Norman

141

Waldt, Risa

127 91, 146 123 114

Wieghorst, Olaf

Winder, Kwani Povi

Winslow, Alexandria

112

68, 83, 150

Scholder, Fritz

Untied, Michael Ome

Wagner, John Philip

Russell, Charles M.

126

Ufer, Walter

139

Rungius, Carl

149 59, 143

Turner, Kathryn Mapes

Reynolds, James Romero, Mateo

88 101, 120

91, 146

81, 138

Wyeth, N.C.

Advertisers in this issue Aiken, Bruce (Flagstaﬀ, AZ)

Mountain Trails Sedona (Sedona, AZ)

Altermann Galleries & Auctioneers (Santa Fe, NM) 17

Gerald Peters Gallery (Santa Fe, NM)

Museum of Northern Arizona (Flagstaﬀ, AZ)

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (Tucson, AZ)

Heritage Auctions (Dallas, TX)

Museum of the Big Bend (Alpine, TX)

Autry Museum of the American West (Los Angeles, CA)

Nebeker, Bill (Prescott, AZ)

Jackson Hole Art Auction (Jackson Hole, WY) Cover 3

Parker, Russell L. (Prescott, AZ)

Bischoﬀ’s Gallery (Scottsdale, AZ)

King Galleries (Scottsdale, AZ)

Ron Craig Fine Art (Vallejo, CA)

Bosque Arts Center (Clifton, TX)

Kliewer, Susan (Sedona, AZ)

Scottsdale Gallery Association (Scottsdale, AZ)

LA Art Show (Los Angeles, CA)

Southeastern Wildlife Exposition (Charleston, SC) 24

Brian Lebel’s Old West Show & Auction (Fort Worth, TX)

Galloway, Randy (Cave Creek, AZ)

J Watson Fine Art (Valencia, CA)

Briscoe Western Art Museum (San Antonio, TX)

C.M. Russell Museum (Great Falls, MT)

8-9

Legacy Gallery, The (Scottsdale, AZ)

Cover 2-1

Leslie Hindman Auctioneers (Denver, CO)

Lisa Danielle Paintbrush Ranch Studio (Sedona, AZ)

Couer d’Alene Galleries (Coeur d’Alene, ID) Cover 4

March in Montana (Cheyenne, WY)

Desert Caballeros Western Museum (Wickenburg, AZ)

Mark Sublette Medicine Man Galleries (Tucson, AZ)11

Cottrell, Sheila (Tucson, AZ)

Maxwell Alexander (Los Angeles, CA)

152

Southwest Art Appraisals (Santa Fe, NM)

Steamboat Art Museum (Steamboat Springs, CO) 6 Stuart, Sherry Blanchard (Scottsdale, AZ)

Thunderbird Artists (Carefree, AZ)

Waldt, Risa (Tucson, AZ)

Winslow, Alexandria (Cortaro, AZ)

SEEKING QUALITY CONSIGNMENTS FOR THE SEPTEMBER 2020 AUCTION CARL RUNGIUS (1869-1959) Alaskan Wilderness oil on canvas 40 1/4 x 50 1/4 inches SOLD: $642,500

COORDINATOR@JACKSONHOLEARTAUCTION.COM 866-549-9278 | JACKSONHOLEARTAUCTION.COM JACKSON HOLE | SCOTTSDALE | SANTA FE | NEW YORK PAST & PRESENT MASTERWORKS OF THE AMERICAN WEST