“Song of the Blue Aspens” by Eanger Irving Couse exceeded expectations and brought the highest price of the day: $117,000 ($60/90,000).

Review by Madelia Hickman Ring

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. — Doing the numbers on Scottsdale Art Auctions’ August 22 live online sale, the firm saw 426 lots, 97 percent of lots gaveled down successfully, four new artist’s world-records were set (another three artists had the highest-ever per-inch prices realized) and a total achieved of $ 2,552,648.

“Our Third Annual Online Auction was our best yet — achieving over $2.5 million in sales with an extraordinary 97 percent of lots sold,” company co-founder and partner Brad Richardson told Antiques and The Arts Weekly. “We are thrilled by the enthusiasm of collectors nationwide and internationally. We are grateful to our consignors and bidders for making this sale a remarkable success.”

Commenting on the state of the Western art market, Richardson additionally noted “In the Western Art market, buyers tend to be optimistic about the financial side of their collecting. The recent auction results are a reflection of that steady confidence.”

Eanger Irving Couse’s (American, 1866-1936) “Song of the Blue Aspens” achieved top-lot honors, going from a $60/90,000 estimate to $117,000. Executed in oil on canvas, on a stretcher measuring 29 by 24 inches, the painting came to auction from a Montana private collection.

According to the catalog note, Eanger Irving Couse painted the subject of turkey hunters repeatedly during his career. This example, worked in oil on a 12-by-16-inch canvas, had been in a Delaware private collection and traded hands for $70,200 ($20/30,000).

The sale featured another work by Couse — “Turkey Hunter” — that also exceeded expectations and flew to $70,200 from a $20/30,000 estimate; it was consigned by a private collector in Delaware. The catalog noted that the subject of a sole Native male figure hunting turkeys was one the artist repeatedly painted during his career.

“Before the Hunt, Glorieta Forest” by Joseph Henry Sharp (American, 1859-1953) was one of four lots by the artist but the only oil on canvas painting and the work that brought the artist’s highest price in this sale: $111,150. The other three lots were group lots of his prints that were offered consecutively and finished at $1,521, $936 and $351, respectively.

Three paintings by contemporary artist Logan Maxwell Hagege (American, b 1980) crossed the block and were led at $99,450 by “The Storm Clears,” a 2012 work in oil on linen mounted to board. It had the benefit of having been included in the 2012 show “Masters of the American West” at the Autry Museum. Interest was high and it finished third-in-show overall. The auction’s two other paintings by the artist also exceeded expectations, with “Light Geometry” from 2013 more than doubling the low estimate to finish at $22,230 and “Ghost Ranch Shadow Variations” achieving $21,060, nearly double its high estimate.

Logan Maxwell Hagege’s “The Storm Clears,” 30 by 40 inches, had provenance to an Arizona private collection and a 2012 Autry Museum exhibition. Interest was high and it rode to a $99,450 finish ($50/75,000).

Two lots by Norman Rockwell (American, 1894-1978) were featured, with an oil on illustration board study for “A Walk in the Country” walking to $87,750. Though the catalog did not mention where the original painting is now, a letter from the artist to a Mr Kline, dated June 24, 1975, was included in the lot and read, in part, “The model for this painting was Fred Hildebrandt and it was done when I lived in New Rochelle.” It had been in a private collection in Arizona prior to selling in the auction. The second painting — a lithograph titled “Starstruck” — sold within estimate, for $1,287.

Martin Grelle’s (American, b 1954) “River Solitude,” painted in 1990 and coming from a Missouri private collection, was not the highest of Grelle’s four works on offer (that honor went to “Blackfoot Rest Stop”), but it was the one that outperformed expectations the most. It was followed at $49,725 by “Hunter’s Morning.”

The highest price for a drawing was $46,800, achieved by Nicolai Fechin’s (1881-1955) 17-by-11½-inch pencil drawing of a young girl. No information was provided as to when it was drawn or who the sitter was.

“The Rainmaker,” one of John Coleman’s favorite pieces, stood 63¾ inches tall and topped off at $38,025 ($25/35,000).

Three-dimensional works were plentiful, with nearly 90 lots or one-fifth of the sale, dedicated to the “sculptures & carvings” category. Glenna Goodacre’s (American, 1939-2020) 120-inch-tall bronze of a lone Native American man, titled “He Is They Are” came from a private New Mexico collection and led the category with a below-estimate result of $55,575. If one were looking for works that exceeded expectations, one could look to pieces by John Coleman (American, b 1949), Ed Mell (American, 1942-2024) and Robert Summers (American, b 1940). The 10 lots by Dave McGary (American, 1958-2013) also largely sold within estimate.

Coleman’s “The Rainmaker,” a 63¾-inch-tall bronze cast in an edition of 25 (this was number 6), was inspired, the catalog essay informed us, “by the journals and diaries of the noted American painter George Catlin (1796-1872). During his travels, Catlin observed a number of sacred Indian ceremonies that involved an appeal to the Great Spirit for the life giving source of water—rain. This ceremony was virtually the same among pre-historic tribes of native Americans from coast to coast.” The catalog also pointed out that the work was among the artist’s favorites; interest drove it past its high estimate, to $38,025.

A bronze of Addíh-Hiddísch, Hidatsa Chief, by Coleman, modeled after a lithograph of Addih-Hiddisch by Karl Bodmer (1809-1893) that accompanied the sculpture, had been included in “Past | Present | Future,” which took place at Scottsdale’s Museum of the West in 2017, and John Coleman’s The Art of John Coleman: Spirit Lives Legends (SF Design/Fresco Books, Albuquerque, N.M., 2024), brought $43,875.

The 34½-inch-tall bronze of Addíh-Hiddísch, Hidatsa Chief, by John Coleman, and the Karl Bodmer lithograph it was modeled after, were sold together and gaveled down for $43,875 ($18/28,000).

Mell’s “Upward,” a geometrically abstracted bronze of a bucking bronco, more than doubled its low estimate, jumping to $26,325.

The catalog noted that Clark Hulings (1922-2011) was a Western artist whose style transcends the traditional boundaries of Western Art. “Feeding the Chickens” is a perfect example of what Hulings is best known for: genre scenes depicting everyday life on farms and small towns in rural America. Painted in 1982 and estimated at $18/24,000, the 22 by 32-inch lush composition did much better, closing for $35,100.

Hyperrealist artist Kyle Polzin (b 1974) had two works in the sale. “Iron and Indigo” overachieved at $32,175 while “Projection of the Past” filmed a within-expectation result of $23, 400.

Western photographer Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952), dominated the photographs category with two works: “Chief Hector-Assiniboin” ($1,989) and “Spearing Salmon” ($1,053).

New world auction records were set for Linda Besse ($11,700), Alvin Gill-Tapia ($5,558), Raymond Gabby ($4,095) and George Rivera ($3,218); additionally, Blanch Chloe-Grant, George Hallmark and Gregory Sumida saw the highest prices yet paid per square inch for their work.

Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house.

Scottsdale Art Auctions’ next sale is scheduled for April 10-11. For information, 480-945-0225 or www.scottsdaleartauction.com.