Scottsdale Art Auction – Annual Online Auction
August 23, 2025
480-945-0225 scottsdaleartauction.com
7176 Main Street Scottsdale, Arizona 85251

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. — The Scottsdale Art Auction’s August 23 online auction of Western, wildlife and sporting art is the firm’s largest auction to date, boasting nearly 430 lots of fresh to the market paintings and sculptures from many of the most desirable Western artists from the last 150 years.

Highlights of this year’s auction include several fine examples of paintings from members of the Taos Founders, a rare and highly sought after Frank McCarthy, one of the largest Ed Mell landscapes to ever come to auction and a group of paintings from early Western artist De Cost Smith. Additional highlights include original works from Logan Maxwell Hagege, Martin Grelle, Kenneth Riley, Roy Anderson, Richard Schmid and an early sculpture from John Coleman.

De Cost Smith was an early figure in American art who was compelled to paint scenes of Native American life he came across near his home in upstate New York. Born in 1848, his childhood home was located near the Reservation of the Onondaga Tribe. Like early members of the Taos Society of Artists, Smith studied art in New York City before traveling to the Academie Julian in Paris, where his scenes of Native life were shown in the school’s salons. At this early moment in his career, he was also inspired by the Native paintings of George De Forest Brush.

In 1884, he took his first trip to the Dakota Territory to complete more paintings of Native life. Here he traveled extensively among the many tribes of the plains and even learned to speak several dialects. He illustrated many articles for Outing Magazine along with fellow artist Edwin Willard Deming. His archives can be found at Cornell University and several of his works can be found in the National Museum of the American Indian in New York City. Smith lots in this sale include “Indian Encampment” ($25/45,000) and “Horse Stealing” ($25/45,000).

Glenna Goodacre’s monumental bronze “He Is They Are” is one of her most important works and only fifteen were ever produced. Cast number one of this sculpture will be offered in this sale, and it is estimated at $75/125,000.

Three significant paintings by Martin Grelle will also cross the auction block in the August 23 sale. Grelle began drawing and painting when he was very young, and was fortunate to have James Boren & Melvin Warren, two members of the prestigious Cowboy Artists of America, move close to him while he was still in high school and this has had a lasting impact on his direction and career. Grelle was mentored by Boren and had his first one-man show at a local gallery within a year of graduating from high school in 1973. Since then, he has produced some 30 one-man exhibitions and has won regional and national awards at shows around the country.

Grelle’s “Hunter’s Morning” ($50/75,000) is a winter scene depicting a brave wearing a Hudson River Jacket on horseback in front of a tipi in a snowy, mountainous landscape. The majestic peak of the mountain range can be seen partly shadowed by clouds off in the distance. “Blackfoot Rest Stop” ($50/70,000) depicts a native family on horseback with two young children in tow; the family’s faithful dog guards the family during this moment of their journey.

Another highlight is an untitled landscape by Arizona favorite Ed Mell. No other artist is embedded in the mythos and culture of Arizona as deeply as Mell, who was born in Arizona and, except for a period in New York City when he worked for a top advertising agency, he lived his entire life in the Grand Canyon State. His work has appeared on the cover of Arizona Highways and Western Art Collector magazines and was featured on Arizona’s Centennial stamp in 2012.

Our 2025 online auction includes an untitled classic Mell landscape which represents his more realist approach to paintings. “Orange Range” is one of the largest paintings by Mell ever to come to auction and depicts the mesas and vistas of northern Arizona ($50/75,000).

Other important paintings include Logan Maxwell Hagege’s “Storm Clears” ($50/75,000); Eanger Irving Couse’s “Song of the Blue Aspens” ($60/90,000); Joseph Henry Sharp’s “Before the Hunt, Glorieta Forest” ($65/95,000); and Frank McCarthy’s “The Chase ($50/75,000).

Scottsdale Art Auction is at 7176 Main Street. For information, 480-945-0225 or www.scottsdaleartauction.com.

Richard Schmid 24″ x 36″ Oil Estimate: $25,000 – 35,000
E Scholder 18″ x 14″ Ac. Estimate: $8,000 – 12,000
Logan Hagege 30″ x 40″ Oil Estimate: $50,000 – 75,000
E.I. Couse 29″ x 24″ Oil Estimate: $60,000 – 90,000
Frank McCarthy 24″ x 40″ Oil Estimate: $50,000 – 75,000
Joseph Sharp 20″ x 16″ Oil Estimate: $65,000 – 95,000
Ed Mell 12″ x 18″ Oil Estimate: $10,000 – 15,000
De Cost Smith 24″ x 32″ Oil Estimate: $25,000 – 45,000
N. Fechin 17″ x 11″ Pencil Est.: $6,000 – 9,000
Auctioning Over 400 Works of Important American, Western, Wildlife and Sporting Art
Still Only 17% Buyer’s Premium!
View the auction and bid online at ScottsdaleArtAuction.com
For more information please call (480) 945-0225 or visit www.scottsdaleartauction.com
SCOTTSDALE ART AUCTION
7176 MAIN STREET • SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA 85251 * 480-945-0225 • www.scottsdaleartauction.com