DALLAS — G. (Jerald Harvey Jones) Harvey’s “When Cowboys Don’t Change,” 1993, sold for $516,500 to claim top-lot honors in Heritage Auctions’ American art auction on November 8. This was also a record price for a work by the artist — the previous record of $409,500 was set in 2015. The painting is an example of the artist’s ability to capture the reality of the cowboy lifestyle as well as any artist. The artist, who was born in San Antonio, grew up in the Texas Hill Country, listening to his father and grandfather (a one-time trail boss who drove cattle across the Red River) tell stories about ranch life and frontier days in Texas — tales that became the foundation of his artwork. Painted on a grand scale and measuring five feet across, “When Cowboys Don’t Change” is one of his most iconic and powerful representations of the traditional American West — so much so that reproductions of the present work are in high demand and are some of the most popular cowboy posters found online today.

A full review of the auction will appear in a future issue.