Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2024/No. 207 i Western Art Collector

Welcome to the November issue of Western Art Collector! This lineup reads like a Western movie script complete with cowboys, cactus and legendary characters. We will start with Medicine Man Gallery’s brand new Maynard Dixon and Native American Museum in Tucson, Arizona. Medicine Man’s gallery owner and podcast host Mark Sublette and his son Charles have been friends of the magazine for 15-plus years. We have watched Mark amass an incredible collection of Maynard Dixon artwork and history. It is all on display for you to enjoy in his new museum that is now open. So stop by the museum, then mosey on down to the gallery around the corner for the New Young Guns show. You will find four artists to add to your must-have list. To wrap up…

Now available for Western art libraries is Jerry Jordan: Together Always Our Spirit, a N large and magnificent book that celebrates the life, career and artwork of one of the great personalities of Taos, New Mexico. Released in late 2023, to coincide with Jordan’s massive solo show at Legacy Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the book chronicles the artist’s many experiences in the art world, including his early days completing paint-by-number kits while on family vacations. As Jordan’s art developed further in high school and then into his 20s, he set his eyes on becoming a professional painter. The dream was solidified further after Jordan, then living in Texas, took an important early trip to Taos. He returned with his wife, Marilyn, to run an art gallery at the…

The day before the 2024 Santa Fe Indian Market was set to start, the artists gathered in the Santa Fe Community Convention Center to learn if their artwork had won any of the top prizes. It’s a unique time during the market because all the award-winning pieces are in the same room together. It’s the one and only time that particular grouping of artwork will ever be on view together. Around the room’s outer edge are paintings, works on paper, drawings and photography. It seems that, year after year, the images are getting bigger and bigger. There are routinely 6-foot canvases on display. But during the 2024 market, tucked within all those large pieces, were two works by Southern Cheyenne painter Merlin Little Thunder. The paintings—one of which was The…

November 23-30, 2024 Tucson, AZ Settlers West Galleries in Tucson, Arizona, is hosting its signature event of the fall season with the Great American West exhibition, featuring some of the biggest names in Western art. Nearly 100 new works will be on view from a total of 48 artists, including Ross Buckland, John Fawcett, Colt Idol, D. Edward Kucera, Daniel K. Tennant, Oreland Joe and Val Paul Taylor. Collectors will also find a variety of mediums to explore, from oil and acrylic to watercolor and gouache. The show opens Saturday, November 23, with an opening reception at 5:30 p.m. A purchase draw will take place after the opening reception at 7 p.m. Tennant brings to the show a gouache still life titled Art and Music, which took the artist four…

November 5-16, 2024 Scottsdale, AZ Bold color, painterly brushstrokes and vivid imagery punctuate the artwork of the late John Nieto (1936-2018). The artist’s unmistakable style has made its way to exhibitions, galleries and events around the world, from Paris to Tokyo to his roots in New Mexico. He even met with President Reagan in the Oval Office to present him with the painting Delegate to the White House in the early 1980s. This fall, Altamira Fine Art in Scottsdale, Arizona, is hosting the exhibition John Nieto: Legend of the American West in honor of Nieto’s dynamic career. “John Nieto’s distinctive style and use of bright, expressive colors and varied topics made his voice stand out as a way to communicate the experience of the American West,” says Jason Williams, owner…

Through October 26, 2025 Scottsdale, AZ Now open at Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West is People, Places, Predicaments: John Clymer’s West, an exhibition that stems from the 2023 acquisition of a significant portion of the Eddie Basha Collection. The exhibiton will highlight works from the artist’s career painting life in the West, as well as his friendship and partnership with Basha, a prominent figure in Arizona politics and business before his passing in 2013. “While Clymer (1907-1989) painted what he loved, Eddie Basha (Arizona philanthropist) collected what he loved,” explains museum associate curator, Tammy Fontaine. “Once they became acquainted, their mutual interests in art and history solidified their friendship. And their mutual interests were further enhanced by the ever-present Doris Clymer, John’s wife, she herself a historian and…

November 15, 2024-January 11, 2025 Kerrville, TX Collaborating for the first time in a comprehensive exhibition of work are artists Noe Perez and Jason Scull, who have frequently shown together in various group shows and events for nearly 40 years. The exhibition, A South Texas Aesthetic, is presented by the Museum of Western Art and features 20-plus works highlighting the artists’ “shared passion for ranch country and the people of South Texas,” says museum executive director Darrell Beauchamp. “Jason and I have been friends for many years,” Perez says. “He is primarily a figural sculptor, and I paint the landscape. However, his favorite subjects come from right here in the South Texas Brush Country. It is like you could set any of his sculptures in one of my landscapes. On…

November 24, 2024 Tucson, AZ The Mountain Oyster Club is celebrating 55 years of showcasing Western art with the annual Contemporary Western Art Show and Sale, hosted at the historic Pond Mansion. The event, scheduled for Sunday, November 24, promises new works from more than 200 emerging and nationally renowned artists. “The art show is an integral part of the Mountain Oyster Club, whose mission is to preserve the traditions of the West and the Western lifestyle,” says Wendy Davis, art committee member. “Western art is an incredibly important part of that mission as it documents the West, past and present. We are very proud to exhibit works from some of the most respected artists of the genre today, alongside emerging artists who will be the headliners of tomorrow.” While…

November 9, 2024 Online Few subjects are as iconic in Western art as the horse. The animal will be the star of the next online auction hosted by Coeur d’Alene Art Auction on November 9. Major horse works by Charles M. Russell, William R. Leigh, Maynard Dixon, Frank Tenney Johnson and many others will be available to bidders. One of the stars of the sale, and the cover lot of the printed catalog, is Russell’s 1897 oil The Rattlesnake, showing a horse and rider reacting to a coiled-up snake ready to strike. The work is estimated at $250,000 to $350,000. The piece comes from the Robert “Bob” Reed collection. The late collector, who lived in Jacksonville, Florida, had a sharp eye. “He was a very practical collector and he kept…

After interviewing Kim Wiggins for our cover feature this month, I found myself diving down a rabbit hole of information about Kim and his remarkable career. Two landmarks on the way down really stood out to me: First, I found a listing of articles from the magazine Argosy by Kim’s father, adventure writer Walt Wiggins. It appears many of the articles have never been digitized in any meaningful way, so all I could do was ponder his Argosy stories and their wonderful headlines: “Bring’em Back Alive,” “Catch a Cougar Alive,” “Deep-Sea Dynamite,” “Half a Ton of Murder,” “It’s Only Your Neck,” “Mile-a-Minute Cattle Rustlers” and “Pronghorned Lightning.” If you own any issues with Walt Wiggins’ stories from the 1950s, hang on to them. Second, I found Kim’s hour-long presentation during…

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Great stories originate from great experiences, but they also come from being around the right people. And listening carefully. New Mexico artist Kim Wiggins has heard some remarkable tales in his 65 years, including many from his parents—Walt Wiggins, a well-respected adventure writer, and Roynel Wiggins, a talented rodeo cowgirl—as well as their famous friends who influenced his own art career. He heard even more stories from his grandfather, who made a monumental impact on Wiggins’ life. “That generation were raconteurs. They were natural storytellers. My grandfather, Walter Chesser, was a sheeprancher and a cowboy. He went on his first cattle drive at 14 years old to Abilene, Kansas, back before the range was all fenced off,” Wiggins says. “He would tell these wild stories. Once he rode into town…

November 1-3, 2024 Pasadena, CA Maxwell Alexander Gallery, featuring some of the most prominent contemporary Western working today, is opening its doors to the public once again after making a location change from Los Angeles to Pasadena, California. In celebration of the reopening, and to show off the walls of the new historic building the art destination now occupies, the gallery is hosting quite the show of original, fresh Western works. Featured at the Maxwell Alexander Gallery’s Grand Reopening, collectors and enthusiasts alike will find artworks by Eric Bowman, Josh Elliott, Phil Epp, Brett Allen Johnson, John Moyers, George G. Redden, Xiang Zhang, Phyllis Shafer and many more. “I have been associated with the Maxwell Alexander Gallery for almost three years,” says Shafer. “My association with [the gallery] has opened…

November 29, 2024 Online Once again, Maxwell Alexander Gallery presents its online-only Black Friday Sale, offering the public the rare opportunity to collect smaller, Western-inspired works from prominent Western artists at lower price points. Due to its popularity, with past years seeing more than 100 pieces selling within minutes, collectors are encouraged to act quickly and swiftly with their purchases. Participating artists this year includes Edward Minoff, David Grossmann, George G. Redden, Josh Elliott, Brett Allen Johnson, Jeremy Mann, Xiang Zhang, Howard Post, Scott Tallman Burdick, Eric Bowman, Logan Maxwell Hagege and many more from the Maxwell Alexander stable. Grossmann offers strong examples from his studio, including September Tree Colors Near Pinyon Mesa and Pine and Aspen Slopes, a 7-by-12-inch landscape painting that exemplifies the artist’s ability to capture the…

October 26-Novermber 30, 2024 Dundedin, FL The annual Fall Harvest show, a tradition since 2005, returns to the Plainsmen Gallery this October. The show will feature approximately 75 paintings and sculptures by 18 prominent Western artists. Offering a broad mix of traditional and contemporary pieces, with an emphasis on small- to medium-sized works, featured artists include Victor Blakey, Brian Bateman, John Coleman, Jim Eppler, Grant Hacking, Hyrum Joe, Denny Karchner, Deb LaFogg, Steven Lang, Bonnie Marris, Monte Moore, Ed Natiya, John Nieto, Dustin Payne, Suzie Seerey-Lester, Terry Smith, Trevor Swanson and David Yorke. Although Yorke grew up in a suburb of Miami, what he describes as “a hot flat land of the tropics,” he has always been captivated by the mountains of the West, fueled by the TV Westerns of…

For years, California artist Kathy Harder has honored a dream of combining her artistry with the stewardship of her beloved mountain ranch. Surrounded by old oak forests, her creativity springs from a “return to source” and a connected journey alongside the animals she documents with such creative power. As someone whose life embodies her art, both literally and figuratively, her expression is deeply intertwined with her daily life. This integration serves as a narrative, as do the more than 20 years of art study. Her work has been shown nationally, including at the Phippen Museum and in the Young Guns show at the Coors Western Art Exhibition & Sale. Harder is looking forward to Cowgirl Up! Art from the Other Half of the West at Desert Caballeros Western Museum in…

November 16, 2024-April 13, 2025 Cartersville, GA Tennessee painter David Wright admits he’s a stickler when it comes to the details of paintings, especially objects such as rifles, clothing, knife sheaths and other accoutrements. In his eyes, he’s protective of history, which needs to be accurate as often as possible. “If you’re doing historical subjects, you need to portray it correctly,” he says. “Lots of artists paint good art, but if you get into the historical phase, those past-time periods, it should be painted accurately.” Wright, who has devoted much of his career to “pre-cowboy, pre-Civil War” frontier paintings, even labels his work—and the work of others, like John Buxton and Robert Griffing—as historical painting to distinguish it due to the research that goes into each work. The historical artist…

November 2, 2024-April 27, 2025 Jackson, WY From Rembrandt to Picasso to Warhol, the National Museum of Wildlife Art presents an exhibition highlighting prints from its permanent collection by some of the most important artists throughout history. “A few years ago, the idea was brought up about a way to get some of our works on paper exhibited. Thinking about all our works on paper, including watercolors and prints, was overwhelming. To narrow down the selections, I decided to concentrate on prints,” says Tammi Hanawalt, curator of art at the National Museum of Wildlife Art. “It has been fascinating for associate curator Kennis Forte and I to really dig in and explore the prints we have in our collection. It was a treasure hunt of sorts as we worked, we…

November 15, 2024 Dallas, TX Western art will make a triumphant return to the American Art Signature sale at Heritage Auctions on November 15 in Dallas. The sale, which will have approximately 80 lots, will showcase artwork in a variety of genres, art movements, styles and mediums. The sale offers prominent Western works from throughout the 20th century and later, “allowing collectors to fill any holes they might have in their collection,” says Alissa Ford, Heritage vice president of American and Western art. “The Western art market is constantly evolving, and most Western collections are quite extensive, ranging from historic to contemporary paintings,” Ford continues. “We are seeing an increased interest in works by contemporary Native American artists. Most major Western art collections include these contemporary pieces to hang alongside…

September 10, 2024 Monrovia, CA John Moran Auctioneers has been hosting semi-regular Art of the American West sales out of its Monrovia, California, salesroom. The auctions have not only been successful, but they are also putting some remarkable work on the open market. For example, during the September 10 sale, one of the top lots was Oscar Howe’s 1959 tempera on paper Grass Dancer (Pezhin wachipi). Howe, a Yanktonai Dakota painter whose work was exceptionally modern, has seen increased prices in recent years as collectors flock to his stylized pieces. Grass Dancer, estimated at $80,000 to $120,000, sold for $114,000. Other lots in the sale were Maynard Dixon’s Study for Painting: Indian Girl for Fertility of the Earth, which sold over the $15,000 high estimate for $19,000; Lew Davis’ Waterhole…

Western Art Trail Calendar November 2024 OUR GUIDE TO SPECIAL EVENTS, SALES & AUCTIONS FROM COAST TO COAST Western Art Trail → Off the Shelf → Fresh Paint November 1-17 Small Works, Great Wonders NATIONAL COWBOY & WESTERN HERITAGE MUSEUM October 26-November 30 Fall Harvest PLAINSMEN GALLERY Dunedin, FL – (727) 734-8200 www.plainsmengallery.com November 1-2 Cowboy Artists of America: 58th Annual Exhibition & Sale WILL ROGERS MEMORIAL CENTER Fort Worth, TX – (817) 247-1200 cowboyartistsofamerica.com November 1-3 Grand Reopening MAXWELL ALEXANDER GALLERY Pasadena, CA – (213) 275-1060 maxwellalexandergallery.com November 1-17 Small Works, Great Wonders NATIONAL COWBOY & WESTERN HERITAGE MUSEUM Oklahoma City, OK – (405) 478-2250 nationalcowboymuseum.org November 1-22 Jeremy Browne INSIGHT GALLERY Fredericksburg, TX – (830) 997-9920 www.insightgallery.com November 9 Kim Wiggins: The Unexpected West LEGACY GALLERY Nov. 2, 2024-Apr. 27,…

1 Maynard Dixon work to benefit Petrie Institute Maxwell Alexander Gallery is now offering Maynard Dixon’s Llano de Los Pastores, which features a rare and large New Mexico scene. The painting, being offered exclusively by Maxwell Alexander Gallery, comes from the Denver Art Museum and is being sold to benefit the acquisition fund of the Petrie Institute of Western American Art at the Denver Art Museum. “Llano de Los Pastores is a rare, larger-scale painting of a New Mexico landscape created on his second trip to the state,” says gallery owner Beau Alexander. To make inquiries about the work, contact the gallery. Visit the website at maxwellalexandergallery.com. 2 Graham | Shay 1857 acquires stunning 19th-century bronze Now available at New York City’s Graham | Shay 1857 is a lifetime cast of…

Opens November 15, 2024 Tucson, AZ Mark Sublette of Medicine Man Gallery in Tucson, Arizona, has selected four young artists for the gallery’s next show, New Young Guns. The exhibition is a sequel to Young Guns, the 2013 exhibition that featured the then-rising stars Glenn Dean, Josh Elliott and Logan Maxwell Hagege. The three painters and a sculptor live in the Southwest and the Pacific Northwest and each, in his or her own way, respond to the various qualities of light. Josh Gibson, who hails from Tucson, observes, “The sparseness of the desert is where the light goes to play. Every day it operates under new conditions. The sky and clouds act like prisms and the light shifts through every hue imaginable.” Hiking through the desert and in the mountains…

November 29-December 13, 2024 Santa Fe, NM Smaller-scale paintings give both new and seasoned collectors the freedom to add something new to their collections at more affordable price points. This sense of freedom can potentially open the door to experimenting with collecting different mediums, styles and subject matter than what one might typically gravitate toward—or it’s simply a chance to snag another painting from your favorite artist. This November, Gallery Wild in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is holding its third annual Mini Masterpieces exhibition, featuring small works by Doyle Hostetler, Carrie Wild, Luke Anderson, Amber Blazina, Jenna Von Benedikt, Taryn Boals, Jeremy Bradshaw, Rip Caswell, Geoffrey Gersten, Caleb Meyer, Kevin Brent Morris, Ron Russon, Christy Stallop, Kristine Taylor and more. “Our annual small works show…is a carefully curated collection of…

Open through February 2025 Charleston, SC Now available at the Gallery by SEWE, the art venue run by the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition, is a stunning new sculpture from artists Joseph H. Sulkowski and Diana Reuter-Twining. The work, The Three Graces, is based on, and meant to accompany, Sulkowski’s mural-sized Apokalupsis painting. The artists, who worked alongside 3D imaging expert Harry Abramson, created three hounds that represent love, beauty and joy that stand in the center of the work that stands 75 inches tall. The Three Graces is made of stainless steel, nickel, copper and acrylic “with state-of-the-art technologies, utilizing sacred geometry and focusing on gesture,” the gallery notes. “Their collaboration resulted in a transformative work of art that symbolically captures the journey of these figures through time and space toward…

Artist Sharon Standridge says her heart is in painting people. “What I love to paint is the figure. In my early 20s, it was viewing the art of Winslow Homer that captured my desire to paint figures telling a story…What motivates me and excites me to paint is the drama of spectacular light and shadow on the figures,” she says. “[My goal is to] draw the viewer in from across the room to delve in closer to view the story that I wish to portray. My preferred subjects range from the cowboy to pioneer women and children, the Native Americans of the Plains and fly fishermen in vintage apparel. It was my memory of my father’s fishing creel that started me collecting fishing creels, especially the split-willow woven creels—what beautiful…

November 2-17, 2024 Oklahoma City, OK ‘T is the season for small works exhibitions, which allow collectors to purchase pieces by prominent artists at more affordable price points. In that spirit, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum will host its 19th annual Small Works, Great Wonders art sale on November 8. The sale will feature paintings and sculpture by more than 130 of the nation’s finest contemporary Western artists, among them William Acheff, Joseph Bohler, Glenn Dean, Josh Elliott, Walt Gonske, Z.S. Liang, Walter T. Matia, Paul Moore, John Moyers, Terri Kelly Moyers, Sandy Scott, Daniel Smith, Sonya Terpening and Curt Walters, to name a few. Alice Leese’ Fat Cows in Green Grass, inspired by an exceptionally wet year on her Texas ranch, will be on offer in the fixed-draw…

November 9, 2024 Scottsdale, AZ Scottsdale Artists’ School knows how to throw an art party. They prove it year after year with their banner event, the Beaux Arts Annual Fundraising Gala. With proceeds benefitting the nonprofit’s educational initiatives, the November 9 gala will feature more than 200 works donated by professional artists affiliated with the school. The sale will take place via online auction platform with bidding for artwork opening on November 7 and running through the gala on November 9. Beaux Arts is a fantastic opportunity for those just beginning to build their collections, as well as seasoned collectors, since the original artworks sell at price points for all budgets. The artists range from students to emerging artists to established veterans. The theme of this year’s event, “An Enchanted…

November 8-9, 2024 Santa Fe, NM Santa Fe Art Auction presents its most anticipated event of the year with the Signature Live Sale this November 8 and 9. Celebrating a milestone 30th anniversary, the annual sale will offer nearly 300 outstanding lots that represent the best of Western and Native American art, both historic and contemporary. Santa Fe Art Auction was established in 1994 for a single, gallery-hosted auction each year. Since taking over as president in 2018, Gillian Blitch has helped transform the auction house into a standalone, state-of-the art operation, featuring eight to 10 auctions per year. Among the artwork collectors can explore in this year’s Signature Live Sale is a wide selection of Western paintings by the Southwest modernists, as well as historic pueblo pottery and Diné/Navajo…

September 14, 2024 Jackson Hole, WY Eleven miles outside Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is the Snake River Overlook, which has majestic views of the winding Snake River framed against the snow-capped peaks of the Grand Teton Range. The location has served as a landscape subject for countless artists, including two whose works performed remarkably well at the September 14 Jackson Hole Art Auction. The first, photographer Ansel Adams, used this location for his iconic image The Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. A 1942 gelatin silver print once owned by singer Elton John had a high estimate of $150,000, which was conquered rather quickly by bidders. It would sell for $312,000, which was the auction’s top lot. The second artist, painter Conrad Schwiering, stood in the same…

California painter Dennis Ziemienski has been gearing up for a rather monumental winter season with a major show and retrospective at Medicine Man Gallery in Tucson, Arizona, as well as a new art book, The Art of Dennis Ziemienski, that will release around the same time. Sensing the excitement in the air, his works have flown off the walls of Altamira Fine Art and Blue Rain Gallery, two of the artist’s other galleries. Altamira, in both Arizona and Wyoming, has recently sold High Desert Mustangs, a large 72-inch-wide piece, showing clouds over horses, and also In the Clouds, a 48-inch-square painting showing a cowboy framed against a tumultuous thunderhead. Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has recently sold Beneath Spider Rock, showing a Native American rider against the…