With previews of gallery exhibitions, museum shows and auctions, Western Art Collector is the premier monthly magazine for collectors searching for works by talented living and past artists who depict the West in paintings and sculptures.
We are hearing from gallery owners across the country that 2017 has been a good year! Sales are happening, shows are selling out again and collectors are returning to the galleries and purchasing as they did before. But there has been much talk out there about the future of galleries and how they operate in the virtual world. For collectors, it is of the utmost importance to support the gallery system now more than ever. Gallery owners do a lot more than just hang works on their walls. They seek out and find young talent, they introduce this talent to their collector base, they promote their work, they take the work to international art fairs and they call people like me to get editorial coverage for them. Collectors rarely find…
OWNER Mark Sublette Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery Tucson, AZ Selling art in the 21st century continues to evolve. It is an exciting space to be a part of this new “art gallery” experience, whether it is social, digital or content driven. Our clients want to learn as much as possible about the material before they purchase, and have a seamless experience both online and in the gallery once they decide to pull the trigger, or now, push the buy button. We have recently launched our updated www.medicinemangallery.com website—two years in the making—to help facilitate our client’s gallery visit. With a shopping cart, educational videos, improved search functionality and responsiveness for the computer, phone and tablet, buying has become a painless process. "Our gallery has positioned itself to handle vast…
The Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Springs, California, is now conserving William R. Leigh’s Thunder Mountain, and doing so publicly so museum visitors and patrons can watch the process unfold over several months. The museum, which received a generous grant from the Friends of Heritage Preservation to clean and treat the Leigh work, has taken what is normally a behind-thescenes process and brought it out into the museum’s Denney Wing, where painting conservator Mark Leonard will work on cleaning the painting and also host weekly question-and-answer sessions, during which time visitors can ask about the treatment process. The event is titled Mysteries of the Mesa: the Restoration of William Robinson Leigh’s Thunder Mountain, and it is ongoing now through February 27, 2018. Leonard will be working on the piece…
1. Kim Seyesnem Obrzut Kim Obrzut’s work seeks to capture and symbolize the spirit of her Hopi Culture—“the oneness of us all, the beauty in harmony and the importance of nature and its gifts.” The rhythmic forms undulate a humble reverence for life itself. “I speak with my hands; the clay becomes my voice,” she says. As an artis t, Obrzut works to “allow the flow of spirit to reveal itself,” while still maintaining a private respect for her culture. Pictured: Seed Corn Carrier, bronze, ed. of 30, 64 x 30¼ x 27½” (928) 226-0690, fineart@kimobrzut.com, www.kimobrzut.com 2. Pottery of the Southwest When you visit Canyon Road’s newest gallery, Pottery of the Southwest, you’ll find two rooms filled with more than 200 examples of historic and contemporary pottery, photography, jewelry and…
On January 19 and 20 the Scottsdale Art Auction will host a special two-day auction for the recently closed Leanin’ Tree Museum of Western Art in Boulder, Colorado. The museum, which shut its doors in August after more than 40 years exhibiting Western and Native American art, was the pride and joy of Ed Trumble, founder and owner of the Leanin’ Tree greeting card company. Trumble, who is 92 years old, is a prolific collector and his interests flow through traditional cowboy works to more modern works by cutting-edge Native American artists. Because the museum shared its owner with a greeting card company, several works in the collection include holiday-themed paintings, including at least three works that depict Christmas in the West. One of the paintings is Jack Roberts’ Looks…
When Alicia DeMers was in college she opened an art gallery that featured her own work, but also work she was curating from around the country. Within two months she was booking events a year in advance and running a promising business, all while still in her 20s. Later she would go to the Missoula Art Museum as the assistant director, as well as work with several major galleries. Now in her 30s, DeMers is launching a new endeavor, Ipseity Art Design in Big Sky, Montana. Ipseity—a Latin-derived word meaning self and “defining who you are,” and pronounced ip-sayit- ee—is part gallery, part design center and part art consultation. “I noticed a huge gap in the fine art spectrum. I would go to clients’ homes all the time and I…
