The sale high price of $2,015,000 was earned by “Open Range” by Maynard Dixon (1875-1946), 1942, oil on canvas laid on board, 45 by 49 inches framed; it was also the second-highest price ever for a work by the artist ($800,000-$1,200,000).
Review by Kiersten Busch
RENO, NEV. — Coeur d’Alene Art Auction (CDAA) had the “Best in the West” in its July 26 Fine Western & American Art auction, which featured 354 lots of Western and American art from historical and contemporary artists. With a sell-through rate of 96 percent — and a few new world auction records — the sale totaled at $22 million, “our highest result in 10 years!” president Mike Overby shared.
“We enjoyed an extremely successful sale,” he continued. “There were many new buyers this year, especially at the higher end. Seventy percent of lots sold to the crowd, with 30 percent sold online.” Overby also reported that all of the highest earning lots sold to North American collectors.
The top price of the sale went to “Open Range,” a 1942 oil on canvas laid on board by Maynard Dixon. Painted while Dixon was living in Tucson, Ariz., the work explored the artist’s newfound passion for capturing the activities on local dude ranches. The painting was selected to be the cover of The Oxford History of the American West (Oxford University Press) when it was published in 1994. According to Overby, the work now holds “the second-highest price ever for the artist, only surpassed by the ‘Pony Boy’ painting we sold in 2013 for $2,130,000. CDAA now holds the top three prices for Dixon.” “Open Range” came in just under the world auction record at $2,015,000. Three other works by Dixon found new homes, including “Mountain to Mountain Top” ($108,900), “The Liar” ($39,325) and “Mexican Man and Woman” ($32,670).
A new world auction record was set for Paul Pletka (b 1946) with his acrylic on canvas “General Custer,” 60 by 48 inches unframed, signed lower left, which finished at $72,600 ($30/50,000).
Two new world auction records were set in the sale. “General Custer,” an acrylic on canvas by Paul Pletka (b 1946), far surpassed its $30/50,000 estimate to achieve $72,600, after 21 bids back and forth. Also a record-high for artist Marjorie Reed (1915-1996) was “Changing the Team at Vallecito,” an oil on canvas done circa 1982, which was featured in Greg Fillmore’s book All Aboard: The Life and Work of Marjorie Reed (Schiffer Publishing, 2009) and earned $30,250 ($6/9,000).
“Montana’s favorite son,” Charles M. Russell, referred to as such in CDAA’s post-sale press release, was represented by 14 lots in the sale which totaled more than $4.5 million. Highlights included “Roping a Wolf,” which earned “the second highest price in 10 years for a watercolor by Russell,” according to Overby. Included in the artist’s catalogue raisonné, the painting had labels from the C.M. Russell Museum (Great Falls, Mont.), Kennedy Galleries (New York City) and the Pensacola Museum of Art (Pensacola, Fla.) on its reverse and had extensive provenance, exhibition and publication history.
Overby was particularly pleased with the result for Russell’s “The Chase,” a watercolor on paper which “shattered its estimate, selling for $173,000 over its high estimate of $150/250,000.” The work, previously exhibited at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, ran to $423,500. “Meat for Wild Men,” alternatively titled “Buffalo Hunt #35,” went home for $363,000.
The second of three works in the sale to total over $1 million, Charles M. Russell’s (1864-1926) “Roping a Wolf,” circa 1918, gouache and watercolor on paper, 30 by 37 inches framed, had provenance to collections and galleries in six different states and was secured for $1,325,000 ($500/750,000).
Four sculptures by Russell were also offered, led by the bronze “Where the Best Riders Quit,” which was bid to $484,000, “the highest price in 10 years for a sculpture by the artist,” said Overby.
Bringing in over $1.2 million over just four lots was the work of CDAA mainstay Howard Terpning. His oil on canvas “Chased by the Devil” was the highest earning of the four at $726,000. Auction catalog notes from Terpning biographer Elmer Kelton described the painting: “Three Apaches race to stay ahead of a dust devil, the desert hot-weather whirlwind which picks up dust and debris and spins them around.” The other three works by Terpning — “Posing for Posterity” ($272,250), “The Challenger” ($169,400) and “Comanche Matriarch” ($48,400) — all went to new homes.
Joseph Henry Sharp, a member of the Taos School Artists, was well represented by seven paintings, five of which depicted the Native Americans who inhabited the banks of the Little Big Horn River, where “Sharp habitually kept himself in October in order to capture traditional [Native American] life,” according to Western art scholar Peter H. Hassrick. The oil on canvas “Tales of the Warbonnet” made the most — $423,500 — followed by additional highlights “Old War Chief and Son ($121,000) and “Pipe Ceremony” ($96,800).
Finishing well above its $150/250,000 estimate, “An Interrupted Duel” by Philip R. Goodwin (1881-1935), oil on canvas, 30 by 39 inches, was raised to $363,000.
Selling for $363,000, “An Interrupted Duel” by Philip R. Goodwin “went well over its $150/250,000 estimate,” said Overby. The oil on canvas depicted two men on a canoe witnessing a fight between two moose. Goodwin’s other work in the sale, “A Call to Action,” was raised to $266,200.
Earning nearly $2 million in combined total sales were the 16 lots of paintings by Bob Kuhn, consigned from the collection of the late Texas rancher, philanthropist and businessman Fausto Yturria, Jr. The works ranged in price from $19,360 for the bronze statue “River Crossing,” to $272,250 for “Rhino and Cattle Egrets.”
Overby also mentioned Rockwell Kent’s “Blackhead, Monhegan Island, Maine” and Oscar Howe’s “Dancer” as two additional standout works in the sale. The former, done by the well-known landscape artist, sold far above its $20/30,000 estimate at $102,850. The latter, a casein on paper work, earned $229,900 against a $100/150,000 estimate. Howe, an Indigenous artist, was one of several with works of art that “garnered considerable attention, reflecting a growing interest in Indigenous perspectives in Western art.”
Coeur d’Alene’s next sale will take place on November 8. Prices quoted include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 208-772-9009 or www.cdaartauction.com.
