Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2020/ No. 153 i Western Art Collector

Adam Duncan Harris, the curator of art at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, has been appointed to the position of Grainger/Kerr Director of the Carl Rungius Catalogue Raisonné. This new position and initiative will create a complete catalogue of all of Rungius’ finished paintings. Harris will devote his full attention to the raisonné, and the museum will consider an interim curator of art. “A raisonné is an extensive undertaking and I consider it a distinct honor to have been selected to perform the work,” says Harris. “After years of working with the Rungius pieces, whose works make up the largest number of pieces in the permanent collection at the museum, I am prepared—and excited—to take this next step in my profession.” The National Museum of…

Last year Logan Maxwell Hagege began work on what would become the largest painting of his career. And then life happened. “It’s weird because we went from one event to another, each one a big thing in our lives, and the painting was there in various stages the whole time,” Hagege says. “I just pushed it along bit by bit.” First, in August of 2019, there was a big move to a piece of property in Ojai, California. There was no studio—one is now in the works—but there was a two-car garage, which was suitable as a temporary studio space. Then, in November, his wife Misty gave birth to their second child, a girl they named Poppy. New baby, Christmas, New Years…the whole period was a blur. By March, the…

Canyon de Chelly in northeast Arizona has been inhabited for nearly 5,000 years, its fertile soil and water sources making it ideal for settlement. A classic photo by Edward Curtis depicts seven Navajo on horseback along with their dog, riding through the canyon, dwarfed by the 800-foot cliffs. Canyon de Chelly is a transliteration of the Navajo Tséyi’, meaning literally “inside the rock.” It is still home to Navajo families who farm and raise sheep there. Ray Roberts’ Canyon Riders continues the theme more than 100 years after Curtis’ iconic photograph. His highly developed sense of design has allowed him to depict the vastness of the canyon in a small, 12-by-16-inch format. He also continues the work of the California plein air painters, commenting, “There’s a brotherhood of painters who came…

On May 2 Settlers West Galleries will close out its season with its annual Summer Show, a massive group show featuring work by 42 top Western artists from a variety of different categories including wildlife, landscape, still life and pieces that show the Old West, from cowboys and cattle to Native Americans. “Our warm summers here in Tucson, Arizona, usher many of our collectors off to cooler climates for the season, but before they go we like to tempt them with over 80 new works at our annual Summer Show,” says gallery manager Mike Salkowski. “This event offers us the opportunity to showcase paintings and sculpture by artists we have proudly represented for years alongside new and emerging talents, and this mix makes for an exciting collecting opportunity for art…

On May 15, Altermann Galleries & Auctioneers will present an astonishing collection of Western artwork to bidders during its annual sale in Santa Fe, New Mexico. As with all of its sales, Altermann will offer the auction on a number of online bid platforms so collectors can follow along and make bids from anywhere in the world. The sale will feature a wide variety of Western artwork, including images of the Old West, the contemporary West, cowboys and cattle, Native Americans, florals and still lifes, landscapes, sporting art and wildlife. One early standout is G. Harvey’s Spinnin’ Yarns, a 1970 oil work estimated at $75,000 to $100,000. The piece shows a group of cowboys that have gathered around a glowing campfire as they tell stories and smoke cigarettes, maybe as…

Less than a week before the start of Western Art Week—the annual citywide art event in Great Falls, Montana—the March show was dealt a blow when The Russell, the annual show and sale put on by the C.M. Russell Museum, was postponed in its entirety due to the current worldwide health crisis. A short time later two other Western Art Week shows made similar moves: the Out West Art Show & Sale and the Great Western Living & Design Show. But after some behind-the-scenes tweaking, all three shows are back, and all will be at the same venue. The new dates are September 10 through 12, and the location is the 53,000-square-foot Pacific Steel & Recycling Arena at the Montana ExpoPark in Great Falls. Not only will the event be…

Stand anywhere high up in the Wind River Range—on peaks named Gannett, Knife Ridge, Desolation, Klondike, Wolfs Head and Bears Tooth—and you’re treated to an endless buffet of views below. Glacier-carved basins lined with snow. Emerald lakes that seem to defy the color spectrum. Deep river valleys with pockets of dense forest. It’s some of the most beautiful land in America. The land of Carl Rungius, Albert Bierstadt and Alfred Jacob Miller. It’s also the land of Tucker Smith, the Wyoming painter who has been coming to this magical place since he was a boy. “My first time in the Wind River Mountains was with my father and the scout master, and some other scout when I was 14 or 15,” Smith says. “Later, in college, I would work for…

New Mexico is the embodiment of the unique atmosphere and aesthetic that is the American Southwest. Everywhere you turn, there’s something inherently artistic about the state. From the Sangre de Cristo Mountains (the southernmost part of the Rockies) to the Carlsbad Caverns, to the Rio Grande Gorge and the iconic Shiprock peak, the mesmerizing geology is just one of the many reasons it’s named the Land of Enchantment. And cities like Santa Fe and Taos offer collectors seemingly endless opportunities to immerse themselves in the world of Western art. The historic capital city of Santa Fe is home to three popular arts districts each teeming with galleries showcasing art from some of the top contemporary and historic artists working with Western subject matter as well as Native art. Galleries near…

Manitou Galleries in Santa Fe, New Mexico, presents an exhibition featuring the aesthetic of vintage pickup trucks and cars set against scenery evocative of New Mexico. The show, titled Four Wheelin’ Flashback, showcases the works of William Haskell, Colt Idol, Curtis Wade, Michael Baum, Arthur López and Tim Prythero. An oil painting by Wade, New Mexico Lowrider, depicts a vehicle of vivid teal in front of mountains and billowing clouds, framed by prickly pear cacti in the very foreground. “I have always painted in two different styles: traditional realism and stylized impressionism. This series of truck paintings is the first time I have combined the two,” says Wade. “I am placing a more realistic rendering of a truck into my stylized background. I find the contrast of the two is…

On July 1, Heritage Auctions will host its springtime American Art Signature Auction with approximately 150 lots of fine artwork hitting the market. The sale, which has everything from Golden Age illustrations to Hudson River School works, always has a strong offering of Western paintings and bronzes. This sale is no different with around one-third of the items hitting the block being from the category. “We are really raising the bar of the Western art for the American art sale, because we’re seeing more and more property come in,” says Alissa Ford, director of Western art at the auction house. “We are looking for the crème de la crème.” The sale, as Ford explains, will kick off with the Western division and right out the gate heavy-hitting pieces will be…

The Scottsdale Art Auction, originally scheduled to be held in early April, has been rescheduled for May 16 in Scottsdale, Arizona. Like many events in the country, the auction was postponed to make it safer for in-person attendance, and while May 16 is the preferred final date, the auction remains flexible to push it further back pending guidance from local and national authorities. “We remain very flexible, and we will adjust our window of opportunity based on CDC and Arizona guidelines,” says auction partner Brad Richardson. “Right now there is a strong likelihood that we will have to reschedule, so we’re encouraging everyone to check our website for details.” Richardson says that the auction will be available online, no matter when it would be held, and that as much as…

Opens April 16 Virtual Trappings of Texas Alpine, TX – (432) 837-8145 May 15 Altermann’s American Western Artwork & Native American Artwork Santa Fe, NM – (307) 753-3316 May 16 Scottsdale Art Auction Scottsdale, AZ – (480) 945-0225 May 19 Sotheby’s American Art Auction New York, NY – (212) 606-7000 May 20 Christie’s American Art Auction New York, NY – (212) 636-2000 May 20 Bonhams’ American Art Auction New York, NY – (212) 710-1307 June 4 Hindman’s Arts of the American West Denver, CO – (303) 825-1855 June 26-28 Brian Lebel’s Cody Old West Show & Auction Santa Fe, NM – (480) 779-9378 July 1 Heritage Auctions’ American Art Auction Dallas, TX – (877) 437-4824 July 25 Coeur d’Alene Art Auction Reno, NV – (208) 772-9009 August 15-16 SWAIA Santa…

The Western art enthusiast’s paradise, the annual Phippen Western Art Show & Sale brings together some of the most talented artists in the nation to downtown Prescott’s historic Courthouse Plaza. Visitors can view works from such notable artists as Bill Cramer, Sarah Phippen, Gary Byrd, Julie Nighswonger, Teri Sweeney, Al Glann, Larry Yazzie, Valeriy Kagounkin, Tamara Magdalina and dozens of others. The event, which takes place Memorial Day Weekend, May 23 to 25, showcases original works in oil, watercolor, acrylic, mixed media, pastel, sculpture and drawing. While the juried show features well-established artists, the works of a variety of emerging Western artists will also be showcased. Attendees have the opportunity to meet some of the best in the Western art world today in a casual outdoor setting, as well as…

Tens of thousands of wild horses roam the West. Speaking before Congress in 2007, Arizona Representative Raúl Grijalva said, “Our Arizona Rim wild horses are the direct descendants of the Spanish horses prized by the conquistadors so highly that the foals were carried in hammocks to protect their legs until they were old enough to travel on the forced marches; and prized by the early cattlemen for their endurance and heart and were the very mounts of the U.S. Cavalry as they rode to protect and expand the American West.” They are descendants of the Andalusian war horse whose origins go back tens of thousands of years. The Arizona Rim horses were brought to the area by Francisco Coronado’s Expedition in 1540 and by Father Eusebio Kino in 1653. Kino…

A longside cowboys and Native Americans, horses and canyons are two of the most recognizable images of the West. Mountain Trails Gallery in Sedona, Arizona, will celebrate these icons with the aptly titled exhibition Horses & Canyons, which will include approximately 25 works by gallery artists such as Joshua Been, Steven Lang, Vicki Catapano, Bill Cramer, Curt Mattson and Linda Glover Gooch. Julie R. Williams, director of the gallery, says, “Horses and the history of the West go hand in hand. Whether an artist is depicting the nobility of Native peoples or the traditions of the cowboy way of life, horses are a theme expressed in the work of many Mountain Trails Gallery artists. Many of these artists draw from their own love of horses and years of riding, roping,…

On June 4, Hindman will hold the first Arts of the American West auction in its new 7,000-square-foot saleroom located in the River North Art District of Denver. The sale, which will have more than 350 lots, will include a selection of 19th- and 20th-century Western and wildlife paintings and sculpture along with a group of Thomas Molesworth furniture. There will also be a session of approximately 50 works by Colorado/Western regionalist artists. “The June 4 auction includes great examples of 19th- and 20th-century traditional and modernist Western wildlife and regionalist paintings and sculpture,” says Katherine Hlavin, director, specialist of Western art at Hindman. Highlights include A Warrior’s Pride by Martin Grelle, depicting a Native American warrior on horseback, his horse and another equine companion clad in war paint. The…