Western Art Collector 2017-11

INSIDE Sporting Art • Santa Fe Art Auction • Martin Grelle • Z.S. Liang • Logan Hagege NOVEMBER 2017

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Scottsdale Art Auction Presents the

Leanin’ Tree Museum Collection January 19 - 20, 2018

ARnold FRiBeRg estimAte: $60,000 - 90,000

25" x 50" oil

Auctioning over 500 Works of Western, Landscape & Wildlife Paintings and Sculpture, Including1 28 Works from

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the Leanin’ Tree Sculpture Garden

For more information please call (480) 945-0225 or visit www.LeaninTreeMuseumAuction.com

JAmes e. Reynolds estimAte: $35,000 - 50,000

30" x 48" oil

SCOTTSDALE ART AUCTION

Saturday, April 7, 2018

C o n s i s t e n t R e s u lt s F o R C o n s i g n o R s ! 2017 AuCtion with

sets

90%

18

new AuCtion ReCoRds

oF All lots sold .

C uRRently holding 175 AuCtion ReCoRds. now ACCepting Consignments FoR ouR A pRil 7, 2018 AuCtion.

BeRt eRt phillips hillips sold FoR: $322,000

24" xx 20" oil il

current auction record

7176 MAIN STREET • SCOTTSDALE ARIZONA 85251

For more information please call (480) 945-0225 or visit www.scottsdaleartauction.com.

• www.scottsdaleartauction.com

• 480 945-0225

M Maarrtti inn GGrreellllee

Children of the large-Beaked Bird Children of the large-Beaked Bird 48'' x 60'' Oil 48'' x 60'' Oil

B Bo ouunndd bbyy H He eaar rt t aanndd Pa Pai ni nt t S hS ohw & S a l e • S c o t t S da l e , a Z ow & S a l e • S c o t t S da l e , a Z nn ov e M b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 7 ov e M b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 7 P rPerMe M ierinG 20 new PaintinGS ierinG 20 new PaintinGS

T T HH E E L L E E G G A A C C Y Y G G A A L L L L E E R R Y Y Bo T T • J AJCAkCskos no nHH oLE, WY • sCoTTsdALE, Az B zoEzmE AmnA,n m , m oLE, WY • sCoTTsdALE, Az • 7178 m Ain s TREET , s CoTTsdALE , Az 85251 • 480-945-1113 7178 m Ain s TREET , s CoTTsdALE , Az 85251 • 480-945-1113 WWW.LEGACYGALLERY .Com WWW.LEGACYGALLERY .Com

– STORIES TOLD IN BRONZE –

F I N E A RT O F T H E A M E R I C A N W E S T

Tim Cox, The Heritage Herd, 2017, oil on canvas, 24 x 30 inches Please call for availabilty

SEEKING ARTWORK PURCHASES AND CONSIGNMENTS Individual Pieces

•

Collections

•

Dealers Welcome

Contact Us for Complimentary Artwork Appraisals and Estimates

www.greatamericanwestgallery.com 332 S. Main Street • Grapevine, TX 76051 • 817.416.2600

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NOVEMBER 2017 Monthly PUBLISHER

Vincent W. Miller

EDITORIAL EDITOR

Joshua Rose [email protected]

MANAGING EDITOR

Rochelle Belsito [email protected]

DEPUTY EDITOR

Michael Clawson [email protected]

ASSISTANT EDITOR

Erin Rand

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Sally Cameron

SANTA FE EDITOR ADVERTISING SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

John O’Hern (866) 619-0841 Lisa Redwine [email protected]

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Christie Cavalier [email protected]

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Anita Weldon [email protected]

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Cyndi Hochberg [email protected]

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Cami Beaugureau [email protected]

TRAFFIC MANAGER

Ben Crockett [email protected]

PRODUCTION MULTI MEDIA MANAGER ART DIRECTOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Adolfo Castillo Tony Nolan Audrey Welch

JUNIOR DESIGNER

Kevin King

SUBSCRIPTIONS

(877) 947-0792

SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER

E T T E R

F R O M

T H E

E

D I T O R

Now is the Time

T

here couldn’t be a better time to buy Western art than right now. At this moment. Literally now. It never ceases to amaze us how much quality Western art we see here at the magazine. Historic and contemporary, emerging artists and standard bearers, young and old— everything. It’s all happening right now. September brought us the Jackson Hole Art Auction, Jackson Hole gallery shows, the Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale and others. October was the Cowboy Artists of America’s annual show. And now November brings auctions at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Santa Fe, Leslie Hindman, John Moran and Bonhams. It also brings us the gallery shows from the top artists working today including Martin Grelle, Logan Maxwell Hagege and Z.S. Liang. Like I said, there is no better time than the present. What else could a collector of Western art ask for? We like to say, strike while the iron is hot. Seek out these venues through our monthly offerings. See what’s out there. Then investigate more. Inquire with the galleries, the auction houses, the specialists, the artists. Ask questions, request images, find out information. And then, once you’ve decided what you’re after, make the purchase. Buying art is an endlessly rewarding experience. It’s something you’ll have for the rest of your life and probably pass on to your children as well. The art you buy represents the person you are. It becomes you. And you it. I always say that the only regrets I have in life are works of art I didn’t buy. Many still haunt me! So, take up the challenge, seek out what you love and thing bring it into your home. No one ever had a problem with surrounding themselves with beautiful works of art.

Sincerely,

Emily Yee [email protected]

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

Jaime Peach [email protected]

SUBSCRIPTIONS COORDINATOR

Jessica Hubbard

Joshua Rose Editor

[email protected]

Copyright © 2017. All material appearing in Western Art Collector is copyright. Reproduction in whole or part is not permitted without permission in writing from the editor. Editorial contributions are welcome and should be accompanied by a stamped self-addressed envelope. All care will be taken with material supplied, but no responsibility will be accepted for loss or damage. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the editor or the publisher. The publisher bears no responsibility and accepts no liability for the claims made, nor for information provided by advertisers. Printed in the USA. Western Art Collector 7530 E. Main Street, Suite 105, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 Telephone (480) 425-0806. Fax (480) 425-0724 or write to Western Art Collector, P.O. Box 2320, Scottsdale, AZ 85252-2320

P.S. Once you buy something, tell us about it and we will use it in our Sold section. Just email deputy editor Michael Clawson at [email protected].

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www.WesternArtCollector.com 4

ON THE COVER. . . Martin Grelle, Singer of Old Songs, acrylic and oil on linen, 24 x 24”. Available at Legacy Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona.

LIVE AUCTION SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2017 | 1:30PM MST PETERS PROJECTS, 1011 PASEO DE PER ALTA, SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO 87501

E. Martin Hennings (1886-1956), In Taos Canyon, oil on canvas, 20 x 24 inches, $30,000-$50,000

PR EV IEWS: NOV EMBER 10TH: 10:00AM–5:00PM & NOV EMBER 11TH: 9:00AM–1:00PM COCKTAIL R ECEPTION: FR IDAY, NOV EMBER 10TH: 5:00PM–8:00PM R EGISTER TO BID OR ATTEND THE AUCTION AND V IEW ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS AT W W W.SANTAFE ARTAUCTION.COM

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLE A SE CONTACT JENNA KLOEPPEL , ADMINISTR ATIVE DIRECTOR CALL : 505 95 4 -57 80 | EMAIL : CUR ATOR@SANTAFE ARTAUCTION.COM | VISIT: WWW.SANTAFE ARTAUC TION.COM SANTA FE ART AUC TION, LLC | 92 7 PA SEO DE PER ALTA , SANTA FE , NM 87501 | STAY CONNEC TED

Walt Gonske

A Retrospective : Taos Art Museum until January 7, 2018 and Nedra Matteucci Galleries: June 24 – July 21, 2018

Ranchos Adobe 28 x 30 inches oil on linen 1991

Nedra Matteucci Galleries 1075 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, NM 87501 505-982-4631 • matteucci.com

A catalogue accompanies the exhi bition

L O G A N

M A X W E L L N E W

W O R K S

H A G E G E

" W A Y O U T, ” 3 6 X 2 2 " O I L

MAXWELL ALEXANDER GALLERY

L O G A N M A X W E L L H A G E G E SHOWCASE OF NEW WORKS FOCUSING ON

RECENT TRIPS TO THE SOUTHWEST

J O I N U S N O V E M B E R 4 , 2 0 17 F O R T H E P U B L I C R E C E P TI O N. TH E A RTI ST W I L L B E I N AT TE N D A N C E

E A R LY P R E V I E W A V A I L A B L E N O W B Y R E Q U E S T

MaxwellAlexanderGallery.com | 310.839.9242 | [email protected] W E ’ V E M O V E D ! 4 0 6 W. P I C O B LV D . L O S A N G E L E S C A 9 0 0 1 5

AUCTION AUCTION TH TH JJANUARY COTTSDALE ANUARY 18 18 & & 19 19 || SSCOTTSDALE TH

TH

Kenneth Riley b. 1919 CAA, NAWA | Mandan Gold Kenneth Riley b. 1919 CAA, NAWA | Mandan Gold Oil on linen | 48 by 40 inches | $90,000 - $130,000 Oil on linen | 48 by 40 inches | $90,000 - $130,000

NVITING C ONSIGNMENTS FOR THE J ANUARY 2018 AND IINVITING CONSIGNMENTS FOR THE JANUARY 2018 AND PRIL 5TH & 6TH 2018 A UCTIONS IN S COTTSDALE A A PRIL 5 & 6 2018 AUCTIONS IN SCOTTSDALE TH

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FOR A COMPLIMENTARY AUCTION EVALUATION, PLEASE SEND IMAGES AND ARTWORK INFORMATION TO FINFO OR A COMPLIMENTARY AUCTION EVALUATION, PLEASE SEND IMAGES AND ARTWORK INFORMATION TO @ALTERMANN.COM. YOU MAY ALSO MAIL SUBMISSION MATERIALS TO THE SCOTTSDALE GALLERY. [email protected]. YOU MAY ALSO MAIL SUBMISSION MATERIALS TO THE SCOTTSDALE GALLERY. 345 CAMINO DEL MONTE SOL, SANTA FE, NM 87501 345 CAMINO DAIN EL M ONTE ,SSOL , SANTA F, EAZ , NM 87501 STREET COTTSDALE 85251 7172 EAST M STREET , SCOTTSDALE AZ., 85251 7172 EAST MAINOFFICE , 2103 IRVING B,LVD DALLAS, TX 75207 CONSIGNMENT CONSIGNMENT OFFICE, 2103 IRVING BLVD., DALLAS, TX 75207

(855) 945-0448 (855) 945-0448 ALTERMANN.COM ALTERMANN.COM

Property From a Private Collection ERNEST LEONARD BLUMENSCHEIN Eagle Nest Lake, 1933 Estimate $300,000-500,000

American Art Auction New York 13 November 2017

Viewing 3 – 13 November 1334 YORK AVENUE, NEW YORK, NY 10021 ENQUIRIES +1 212 606 7254 [email protected] SOTHEBYS.COM/AMERICANART SOTHEBY’S, INC. LICENSE NO. 1216058. © SOTHEBY’S, INC. 2017

DOWNLOAD SOTHEBY’S APP FOLLOW US @SOTHEBYS

DARCIE PEET

darciepeet.com • Facebook.com/DarciePeet

Saturday November 18, 2017

Cañada del Oro Cloudburst Coming 20 x 20 Oil

Ember Glow 16 x 12 Oil

SETTLERS WEST

GREAT AMERICAN WEST SHOW 6420 N. Campbell • Tucson, Arizona 85718 • 520-299-2607 • www.settlerswest.com

Commemorating the 2017 Breeders’ Cup World Championships Del Mar Racetrack, November 3-4, 2017

2017 Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar III, watercolor, 8.5” x 11”

2017 Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar VII, watercolor, 8.5” x 11”

gaylegarnerroski.com

The hidden gems of the SCI Convention

Take a walk on the wild side! SCI’s Art Walk

Wildlife art displayed by over 60 world renowned wildlife artists.

Come & Explore January 31st through February 3rd, 2018. Las vegas Convention Center

Join and Register today! SafariClub.org | 888.746.9724 #SCIConvention

“Dancing Peonies,” 11 x 14" Oil on linen panel

KRISTIN GREVICH 763-476-8087 | [email protected] w ww. k ri s ti n g rev i c h art. c om

Inquiries and Commissions Welcome /KristinGrevichArt

@kristingrevichart

@KristinGrevich

CONTENTS

NOVEMBER 2017

Previewing New Exhibitions Every Month Coast To Coast

80 76 BILLINGS

NEW YORK

JACKSON HOLE

EASTON INDIANAPOLIS

DENVER SPRINGDALE

GRAND CANYON VILLAGE MONROVIA LOS ANGELES

CAREFREE PHOENIX

SANTA FE

CAVE CREEK

OKLAHOMA CITY

SCOTTSDALE DALLAS TUCSON

FORT WORTH

82 84

UPCOMING SOLO & GROUP SHOWS 76

40 great years

80

Kevin Red Star

Anniversary show Crow traditions

82

Stephen C. Datz Rewarding journeys

84

Preserving heritage 25 participating artists

SPECIAL SECTIONS Collector’s Focus: Sporting Art

64

Western Small Works & Miniatures

68

FEATURES 42

Martin Grelle: Chasing Thunder By Michael Clawson

48

Z.S. Liang: Quiet Moments By Michael Clawson

52

Logan Maxwell Hagege: Of Earth and Sky By Michael Clawson

56

On the Hunt: Artists in the Wild By Michael Clawson

DEPARTMENTS

56

On the Hunt: Artists in the Wild By Michael Clawson

Calling Coast to Coast Western Art News Recently Acquired Curating the West Western Art Trail Artist Focus Pages

28 26, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36 38 39 40 86

William Herbert “Buck” Dunton after a successful hunt.

AUCTIONS & EVENTS PREVIEWS

88 90 92

Legacy Fort Worth, TX

Small Works, Great Wonders

106

Sotheby’s American Art Sale

108

Leslie Hindman’s Arts of the American West

110

Heritage Auctions’ American Art Signature Auction

Denver, CO

Oklahoma City, OK

Zion National Park Plein Air Invitational

Dallas, TX

Springdale, UT

94

Waterfowl Festival Easton, MD

100

Santa Fe Art Auction

104

Christie’s American Art Sale

Santa Fe, NM New York, NY

New York, NY

112

John Moran Auctioneers’ November Sale Monrovia, CA

118

Hidden in the Hills Cave Creek, Carefree and North Scottsdale, AZ

REPORT

96

Quest for the West

98

Grand Canyon Celebration of Art

Indianapolis, IN

Grand Canyon Village, AZ

114

Altermann Galleries’ August Sale

116

Jackson Hole Art Auction

Santa Fe, NM Jackson Hole, WY

OUT OF THE VAULT TREASURES OLD & NEW

WINTER WREATH REVELRY EXHIBITION & SALE

ON VIEW THROUGH JAN 2018

NOV 24 – DEC 10

VENTURES 2018 TRIPS & CLASSES Grand Falls Day Trip APRIL 2 – 19, 2018

MUSEUM SHOP Authentic Native Art & Jewelry

shopmusnaz.org

Exploring Escalante APRIL 16 – 20, 2018

ICONIC IMAGES OF THE AMERICAN WEST EDWARD CURTIS

An Oasis in the Badlands – Sioux, 1905

Classic, Luminous & Enduring Christopher Cardozo Fine Art is pleased to present an extraordinary collection of Edward Curtis’ most iconic Goldtones . Each is created from an original Curtis glass-plate negative. ™

Our limited-edition Goldtones have been exhibited in forty countries and are found in numerous private collections. Every Goldtone comes with a handcrafted frame created from Curtis’ original design. ™

™

These compelling Goldtone images are available exclusively through our online gallery. For detailed information please visit us at edwardcurtis.com/goldtones or call 612.212.7044. ™

CHRISTOPHER CARDOZO FINE ART edwardcurtis.com 612.212.7044

ZOHI GALLERY

THUNDER VOICE EAGLE

SHONTO BEGAY

DARREN VIGIL GRAY

NATIVE OWNED AND OPERATED

THE COMPLETE NATIVE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE DARREN VIGIL GRAY SHONTO BEGAY

STEVEN PAUL JUDD

ZOE URNESS

CRAIG GEORGE SANTIAGO X IRA LUJAN BILLY ROGERS GREGG DEAL

ANDERSON KEE BUNKY ECHO-HAWK ISHI GILINSKY BETHANY YELLOWTAIL RANDY BARTON ALANO EDZERZA SAGE JOSEPH RYAN BENALLY GIOVANNI BENALLY 130 LINCOLN AVE. SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO, NATIVE AMERICA

TWELVE ARTISTS OF CHRISTMAS DECEMBE R 1 - 16 , 2 017 | O P EN HO U S E: TH U R S DAY, D E C E M B E R 7 T H

Tucker Smith, Upper East Fork, oil, 10 x 12 inches

Z.S. Liang, Cheyenne Scout. oil, 12 x 9 inches

Bonnie Marris, The Old Stone Wall, oil, 11 x 14 inches

William Acheff, Fire Light and Good Smoke, oil, 9 x 7 inches

THE SCOTTSDALE GALLERY WILL FEATURE

THE JACKSON GALLERY WILL FEATURE

12 MASTER WESTERN ARTISTS

12 MASTER WILDLIFE ARTISTS

SCOTTSDALE 7330 E. Main Street, Suite 100, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 (480) 945.7751 JACKSON HOLE PO Box 1149, 130 E. Broadway, Jackson, WY 83001 (307) 733.3186 WWW.TRAILSIDEGALLERIES.COM

[email protected]

Robert Robert I. Mesa I. Mesa

SHOPPING. SHOPPING. EXPERIENCE. EXPERIENCE.

Terrance Terrance Cliffod Cliffod

Robert Robert I. Mesa I. Mesa Robert Robert I. Mesa I. Mesa

PRESENTED BY BY SWAIA SWAIA PRESENTED

At At Historic Historic La La Fonda Fonda on on the the Santa Santa Fe Fe Plaza! Plaza!

Saturday Saturday December December 16, 16, 9am 9am -- 5pm 5pm •• Sunday Sunday December December 17, 17, 10am 10am -- 3pm 3pm $10 One-Day Pass • $15 Weekend Pass $10 One-Day Pass • $15 Weekend Pass 505-983-5220 505-983-5220 // swaia.org swaia.org Book Book your your weekend weekend package package today! today! lafondasantafe.com lafondasantafe.com

Branching Out Limited Edition Bronze of 35

CONGRATUL ATIONS TO

Ken Rowe — ON CELEBRATING —

30 Years of Sculpting Magnificent Bronzes Among the many accomplishments during his sculpting career, award-winning artist Ken Rowe will be inducted as an Honorary Artist Member of the prestigious Mountain Oyster Club in Tucson, Arizona in November 2017, during its 69th Annual Contemporary Western Art Show & Sale.

VISIT WITH KEN AS HE SCULPTS WEEKLY IN THE GALLERY

LARGE PHOTO OF KEN ROWE BY SHIRLEY EICHTEN ALBRECHT

Garden Warriors, bronze mounted on black granite, 15 x 15 x 8"

t e n e r BCook CAST

TUD ART S

IO

Sweet Tooth, bronze mounted on black granite, 16 x 6 x 6"

549 Langvista Drive Victoria, BC, Canada, V9B 5N2 brentcooke @ shaw.ca 250.386.5352

www.castartstudio.com

Western Art News

Helping Hands By Western Hands permanent design center planned for the spring of 2018 in Cody, Wyoming.

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y Western Hands, which aims to preserve the legacy of Western design through the support of artisans and craftsmen and women, has recently secured its first permanent home in Cody, Wyoming. The 8,000-square-foot facility, formerly occupied by a local hardware store and centrally located near the historic Irma Hotel in downtown Cody, was acquired specifically to benefit the organization and its members. It is tentatively planned to open in the spring of 2018. The design center will house a retail gallery showcasing handmade works of art, including Western-designed wooden and leather furniture, leather, fabric and bead works and metal craft, and will showcase the evolution of Western function art, including designs influenced by Thomas Molesworth. A historical overview

Rendering of the new By Western Hands home in Cody, Wyoming.

of Western design furniture and other functional art, which was greatly influenced by Molesworth at his Shoshone Furniture Company, will be exhibited. Other artisans, some of whom were ranchers and cowboys by trade and who influenced and sustained the craft over the last 100 years, will be featured. An archival library will also be available to

Jenny Booth, carved antler candle holder

26

the public to research original designs through collections of photographs and drawings. “We are employing a triumvirate with these three areas in the design center: educational, historical and retail space,” says By Western Hands chairwoman Yancy Bonner. “It is a very different model from anything we have seen in the last 40 years, but one that evolved from the association members themselves.” In addition to retail and gallery space, the facility will offer apprenticeship, adult education and member education programs, as well as a place for sharing the knowledge and skills of creating Western functional art. “There will be an ability to work with up-and-coming artisans interested in Western functional art, and to work with craftsmen at the top of their game in a setting conducive to learning,” says executive director Dennie Hammer. “We will have a demonstration and workshop in the center with access to more specialized

shops to work, as some tasks won’t be able to be completed in our facility. This unique setup will foster a lot of connectivity between everyone involved.”  Each piece made and sold by artisan members through the retail gallery will be branded and cataloged as a By Western Hands work. “How By Western Hands can best support craftsmen is by creating an association of these independent businessmen to brand and market themselves to the wholesale and retail public through the physical showroom, enhanced and supported by the website that is controlled by By Western Hands so they can design and sell goods to support themselves and their families,” says Hammer. Bonner adds: “It’s a cohesive vehicle that promises authenticity, quality and lends legitimacy to anybody affiliated with the By Western Hands brand.” For more information about the By Western Hands visit www.bywesternhands.org.

JERRY VENDITTI BEYOND THE CANVAS

“Western Swallowtail,” 20 x 14” Mixed Medium: Soft Pastel and Oil on Canvas

“I believe art is not unlike life – limitless in form; infinite in expression.” JERRYVENDITTI.COM

[email protected]

707-888-5257

Calling Coast to Coast

We ask leading galleries from coast to coast what their thoughts are on the market and where it might be headed.

PRESIDENT

SALES MANAGER

Curtis Tierney

Wolfgang Mabry

Tierney Fine Art Bozeman, MT

Ventana Fine Art Santa Fe, NM

Today’s fine art market is both like and unlike past years—let me explain. Art collecting tenets in perpetuity will always be to buy the most noted names, highest-quality examples of their work and finest condition. However, two key differences are at play today. Collectors are scrutinizing values like never before, coming out of a great recession. Additionally, they are highly educated and engaged. The internet provides art buyers remarkable access to information, transparency and purchasing options. The savvy collector leads the market today. As a private dealer in 19th and 20th century American and Western paintings, I find the current market captivating. I get to connect on a very personalized level with individuals. Together we bring the highest shared connoisseurship to their collecting. Private placement and representation affords the opportunity to give the utmost level of service.

The market in Santa Fe has felt the impact of the wild hurricane season and the widespread disruptions in Texas and Florida. The major fires in the Pacific Northwest have made the normally vivid blue Santa Fe sky hazy. Still, Santa Fe is a resilient market for art, and people still find their way here to enjoy the small-town ambience and big-city cultural offerings. Our collectors come from all over North America, and from Europe, Asia and Australia, knowing that Santa Fe will have delightful

“The market is headed toward a transformational turnover of generations.”

28

“…Santa Fe is a resilient market for art, and people still find their way here to enjoy the small-town ambience and big-city cultural offerings.”

The market is headed toward a transformational turnover of generations. The challenge going forward will be replacing departing art collectors (who are downsizing or passing away) with new collectors. Currently, there are a lot of art collections coming to market, and here is the kicker: the new collectors don’t always have the same tastes and preferences as their predecessors. That said, classic Western and American art will always have its place. In particular, the story of the American West’s exploration, expansion and settlement is unlike any in history. It is a fascinating story sure to capture generations of art collectors for year to come.

weather, great hotels and restaurants, and an enormous variety of art with high quality standards, all in a unique setting with a walkable scale. Ventana has enjoyed 35 years of offering original works by an evolving roster of about 25 artists in traditional and contemporary categories. Not every collector is looking for precisely what we offer, but a good many get introduced to artists they might not have had in mind, but whose works have enough of that indefinable something that stimulates the impulse to buy. In the slower-traffic times we make a lot of contacts by email and social media, and we keep established clients updated with new arrivals that might fit a previously expressed interest.

Tierney Fine Art

Ventana Fine Art

Bozeman, MT | (406) 586-4521 www.tierneyfineart.com

Santa Fe, NM | (800) 746-8815 www.ventanafineart.com

Western Art News

Special Editions Classic Howard Terpning images to be released in a limited edition series to mark the artist’s 90th birthday.

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ine Art Publishing, the exclusive publisher of Western painter Howard Terpning, has announced a special new series of limited edition giclée prints to celebrate the artist’s 90th birthday on November 5. To mark the occasion, each print will be limited to 90 prints. The publishing company, started by Howard Terpning’s son Steven Terpning, was formed in December 2016 and released its first print in February 2017. Beginning on November 5, Fine Art Publishing will be offering five giclée prints and one small canvas work as part of the Howard Terpning 90th Birthday Series. The titles will be released quarterly through November 5, 2018; the first release is Status Symbols, done for a 1982 show at Settlers West Galleries in Terpning’s hometown of Tucson, Arizona. “We’re incredibly excited about these images, particularly the quality of the giclée prints.

The Ploy, oil, 30 x 48” (giclée: 26 x 42”)

30

We have a printer that we’ve worked with in many capacities over the past 15 years, and they’re printing these with one of the latest and greatest printers, and always with the highest quality materials, from archival inks to a very particular canvas that really gives the images the impact we want,” Steven says. “My dad has been very supportive to the project, from coming down to the warehouse to sign the prints, to helping us color correct the image and everything else. I’m so fortunate and lucky to be able to spend time with my father almost on a daily basis. Not many people have that opportunity to do that and share that experience, and I would never trade that for anything. It’s funny, growing up people have always told me my father is this great and wonderful artist, but to me, he’s just my dad. He’s not Howard Terpning, the famous artist—he’s just dad.”

Following the release of Status Symbols, other releases include The Ploy, which was shown in the 1978 Prix de West exhibition; Crossing Below the Falls, a 1995 work that uses reference from Running Eagle Falls in Glacier National Park; Dust of Many Pony Soldiers, which was shown in the 1981 Cowboy Artists of America exhibition; Shield of Her Husband, a 1981 work showing a strong Sioux woman; and the 1980 work Sioux Flag Carrier, a small work that will be released in the summer of 2018. Howard recalls pleasant memories of all the images, including Crossing Below the Falls. “I went to Glacier with my daughter, Susan, to do some field studies. I had a camera with a long zoom lens to record all the detail. I put the camera on the ground to pack up, and we hiked out. In the parking lot I realized I had left the camera on the ground. On the hike back I remember looking at people coming out to make sure they didn’t have my camera on their shoulder. Luckily, thank goodness, it was still there on the ground,” Howard says, adding that The Ploy also has a lot of special meaning to him. “I was so excited to be showing as a guest artist at the Prix de West alongside some great artists, such as [John] Clymer and [Tom] Lovell. For this piece, some people told me they felt it was not realistic to have these Crow warriors under the Tetons, but these tribes traveled great

Status Symbols, oil, 40 x 30” (giclée: 34 x 26")

distances, whether they were looking for adventure or to see new and different country. The Blackfeet were known to travel as far down as the Mexican border. I had a lot of fun painting this one, though, as these warriors have come upon this trapper.” Howard has retired from museum and gallery shows, but still actively paints and has no intentions of quitting. In fact, there is something new on the easel now. For other artists entering their 71st year of painting, he offers some helpful advice: “If you’re physically able to keep doing it, do it. I can’t imagine stopping,” he says. “The joy of painting leads me. So keep at it and don’t quit.” For more information about Howard Terpning prints, visit www.howardterpning.com.

Western Art News

Altered States A new focused Remington exhibition at the Sid Richardson Museum examines three works with mysterious histories.

Frederic Remington (1861-1909), He Rushed the Pony Right to the Barricade, ca.1900, oil on canvas. Sid Richardson Museum.

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rederic Remington is one of the most iconic Western artists to ever live, and with that acclaim comes an unfortunate byproduct: his works are occasionally copied, altered and otherwise misrepresented to the public. Rather than turn a blind eye to these works of questionable authenticity, the Sid Richardson Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, has devoted a small focused exhibition to them in Frederic Remington: Altered States. The exhibition, ongoing now, will feature three paintings, each of which has its own unique history. One of the works in the exhibition is He Rushed the Pony Right to the Barricade, which was shown publically for years as a Remington painting until Remington scholar Peter Hassrick

began to scrutinize the paint itself. He found details of the painting, including the signature, that appeared to have faint halos of color around them. And since the work was reproduced in Remington’s book The Way of an Indian, he had something to compare it with. “A pinpoint of paint was sent out and it was discovered the paint was not available until long after Remington’s death. At that point we had a decision to make: to strip the color paint away and restore it or just leave it?” says Mary Burke, director of the Sid Richardson Museum. “What was decided was to strip away portions of the color paint to reveal Remington’s original black-and-white paint, and to use it as a teaching tool at the museum.” In The Thunder-Fighters Would

Take Their Bows and Arrows, Their Guns, Their Magic Drum, Remington shows two figures within a narrow composition, but in Francis Parkman’s book The Oregon Trail, Remington’s illustration depicts three figures. An X-ray was taken and revealed the third figure. The biggest, and still unsolved, mystery is the The Way Post, a work long attributed to Remington but with lingering doubts. “Its authenticity was questioned even before the museum opened in 1982. Peter Hassrick, just by looking at the visual information in the painting, thought the work was by an artist who predated Remington, William Cary. An expert on Cary was brought in but the issue was never addressed and the question just hung there,”

Frederic Remington (1861-1909), The Thunder-Fighters Would Take Their Bows and Arrows, Their Guns, Their Magic Drum, 1892, oil on wood panel. Sid Richardson Museum.

Burke says. “We could not find another signature under the painting’s ‘FR,’ but we did analyze the white paint of the signature and found it was not the same consistency of the white gouache in the painting. But that’s not conclusive, because the artist, whoever it was, could have signed it later with different paint. So it doesn’t answer the question.” The popular theory is that the work is not by Remington. Other works in the exhibition include two different castings— one early and one late—showing the differences that developed as Remington worked on the bronze The Rattlesnake. The exhibition will be on view through September 9, 2018. For more information visit www.sidrichardsonmuseum.org.

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Western Art News

Museum visitors in a recently renovated part of the Kravis Discovery Center at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Discovery Trail

Utilizing augmented reality and tablets, children explore the Kravis Discovery Center’s new Interactive Discovery Trail.

The Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma, introduces new interactive and immersive features.

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he Kravis Discovery Center at the Gilcrease Museum has recently reopened after a renovation that has added the Interactive Discovery Trail, an immersive experience that will bring museum visitors closer to the materials in the collection and provide a deeper examination of more than 4,000 artifacts. The new feature was designed by TEQ4, a United Kingdombased firm that specializes in immersive attractions and interactive experiences for museums, science centers and theme parks around the world.

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The new additions to the Gilcrease will offer a variety of technologybased features, including visitor tracking, augmented reality and 3D printing. Additionally, the Interactive Discovery Trail will use 3D soundscapes, innovative display solutions and TEQ4’s proprietary Chaperone system to tell the story of Native peoples and cultures of North, Central and South America. “We are grateful to the Raymond and Bessie Kravis Foundation for the latest investment in the Kravis Discovery Center. The

new Discovery Trail gives museumgoers a taste of new technologies that will be incorporated into the $65 million museum expansion project that is part of Vision Tulsa, approved by Tulsa voters last year,” says Susan Neal, chief operating officer of the Gilcrease Museum. “We appreciate the creative talent of TEQ4 to present a dynamic and educational experience.” Robert Pickering, director of the Museum Science and Management Program at the University of Tulsa, and project manager of the Interactive

Discovery Trail, says, “For a new generation, the newly renovated Kravis Discovery Center now adds stories, voices and context to help visitors understand the genius and artistry of Native American cultures past and present.” Other new features that are part of the Kravis Discovery Center include a projected map table, bear cave panorama and an augmented-reality interactive drawer experience with 3D-printed and virtual objects that allows visitors to see, manipulate and study the collection.

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doctor’s bag, and Rick Bean’s intricate saddles. Other noteworthy showings were made by Oreland Joe, who brought major works in marble and alabaster, but also an oil on canvas titled White Shield at the Battle of Rosebud 1876, which was painted in a simple style with remarkable action and numerous symbols that tell a deeper story about Joe’s subject. TCAA rawhide braider Pablo Lozano had a strong

showing, selling seven of his eight pieces, including a beautifully designed walking stick. Sculptor Paul Moore also had an exceptional body of work, and collectors rewarded him by buying nearly all of his available work. His pieces included scenes of Hopi customs, heroic figures on horseback and a work titled Red Ghost of Arizona that depicted a camel with a mummified corpse on its back. Moore said the piece was based on historic accounts of a camel that had been driven mad with a sun-dried corpse lashed to its hump. Moore won the top sculpture award and the Anne Marion Best of Show Award for Trying to Outrun Avanyu, a piece that depicted a serpent in a cloud bearing down on a group of desert riders. Other award winners were Blake for watercolor, Bruce Greene for drawing, and Tom Browning, who won the Ray Swanson Memorial Award. Grant Redden won the top prize for oil painting and also the Stetson CAA Award for his body of submitted work. The opening events are over, but the Cowboy Crossings exhibition hangs through December 31.

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1. Oreland Joe next to his piece White Shield at the Battle of Rosebud 1876. 2. Martin Grelle during his painting demonstration. 3. Grant Redden paints a horse scene during a demonstration. 4. TCAA member Ernie Marsh sketches a design. 5. Paul Moore and Judy Hatfield next to Moore’s sculpture, Discipline of the Ogres. Photo credit: Jerry Hymer. 6. TCAA’s newest member Beau Compton. 7. Patrons Jennifer Gripe and Jeremiah Johnnson with TCAA artist John Willemsma. Photo credit: Jerry Hymer. 8. CAA’s newest members: Tyler Crow, Mikel Donahue, Phil Epp and C. Michael Dudash. Not pictured is Tim Solliday. 9. CAA artist Loren Entz, patrons John and Charlotte Kimberlin, and patron Phil Berkebile. Photo credit: Jerry Hymer. 10. TCAA artist Pablo Lozano with patrons Debbie and Larry Powers. Photo credit: Jerry Hymer. 10

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Videos in each issue let you take part in all the art action—starting from inside artists’ studios to gallery openings and right through to auctions on the go.

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Members of the Cowboy Artists of America and the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association under the famous End of the Trail sculpture at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

Paul Moore’s gold medal-winning sculpture Trying to Outrun Avanyu.

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Covering The Major Art Destinations Our State of the Art sections alert you to the peak seasons for Western art destinations around the nation. You’ll find details about all the major shows opening along with images of new work and dates of upcoming exhibitions.

MUSEUM REPORT

MUSEUM REPORT

Top Form Works in silver and leather, paint and bronze make a stunning debut at Cowboy Crossings in Oklahoma City. f you ever want to know the state of the cowboy in modern American culture, then Cowboy Crossings is the place to go and get your bearings. The annual show, held at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, opened October 14 and once again brought all aspects of the West front and center. The exhibition joins the works of the Cowboy Artists of America, the 51-year-old group known for its authentic portrayals of the West in painting and bronze, with the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association, an 18-year-old group that creates the highest quality cowboy gear, from saddles to bits and spurs and everything in between. Both the CAA and the TCAA named their newest members at this year’s opening. The TCAA voted in Arizona silversmith Beau Compton. And the CAA voted in five new members: Tyler Crow, Mikel Donahue, Phil Epp, C. Michael Dudash and Tim Solliday. It was the largest addition to the CAA in a number of years. This year’s show, the first since the CAA’s 50th anniversary throughout 2015, was marked by strong works across all mediums, including Teal Blake’s watercolors, Loren Entz’s large cowboy oils, John Willemsma’s fully carved

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Western Art News

Clockwise from left: John Fawcett, Earnin’ His Oats, oil, 16 x 12" William Haskell, Desert Chamisa, acrylic on panel, 8 x 10" Julie Bell, Jackson Redhead, oil on wood, 18 x 24"

Desert Oysters The 48 annual Mountain Oyster Club show returns with works by more than 200 artists to Tucson, Arizona. th

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ith more than 200 locally and nationally known Western artists, the Mountain Oyster Club returns with the 48th annual Mountain Oyster Club Contemporary Western Art Show and Sale on November 19. The event will take place at the private club’s home at the historic Pond Mansion in Tucson, Arizona. Artists in the show include John Fawcett, Julie Bell, William Haskell, Buckeye Blake, Shawn Cameron, Stephen C. Datz, Deborah Copenhaver Fellows, Greg Kelsey, Howard Post, Darcie Peet, Bill Nebeker and hundreds more. This year’s honorary featured artist is Arizona bronze

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sculptor Ken Rowe. The club has an interesting history and name, which refers to the Western “delicacy” of fried bull testicles—the club’s logo is the posterior side of a bull. The club’s website illuminates the group’s origins: “There are many colorful stories of how the Mountain Oyster Club came to be. There is probably a thread of truth in most of them. The most common versions say that it was begun by a group of cowboys, playboys, ranchers, polo players, race-horse types and others whose unacceptable behavior had gotten them thrown out of all of the respectable establishments in Tucson. Whether the real reason for its creation was

to give ranchers and their wives a place in town where they could feel at home in their boots and Levi’s and shoot out the lights without offending the rest of the membership or some other less interesting purpose, we know it began in 1948.” It goes on to add: “… [T]he Mountain Oyster Club prides itself in holding true to its rich heritage. Many of the original ‘Los Viejos’ are no longer with us, but the M. O. Club has attracted a colorful array of Westerners that hold true to the club’s traditions. You will still find the custom woven carpet, good ‘ol boys in the bar willing to share a story or two, and your right to wear your blue jeans and park

your pickup or stock truck in the lot, as well as the motto ‘cerveza y huevos para todos.’ Changing times are even dealt with by applying the swift old Western style of justice, as those who have allowed their cell phones to ring have found out when they picked up the tab for a round of drinks. Also unchanged is a collection of fine Western art, fine wines and spirits, Southwestern hospitality and an enticing menu that includes fine cuts of beef prepared to satisfy the palates of those that know a thing or two about whence it came and how good it can be when it is prepared correctly.” This year’s show will run from 3 to 5:30 p.m. on November 19. Tickets can be purchased for $50 and must be purchased in advance—the show often sells out. For more information visit www.mountainoysterclub.com.

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Western Art News

Puma Town Cougars, mountain lions and pumas are the theme for a new exhibition in Tucson, Arizona.

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new puma-themed exhibition, Puma Past and Present: A Natural History of the American Mountain Lion, opens September 16 and continues through December 25 at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, Arizona. The juried exhibition, curated by Holly Swangstu, will take place in the Ironwood Gallery and will showcase 70 original artworks created by 61 different artists. Artists include Cher Anderson, Priscilla Baldwin, Patricia Banks, Guy Combes, David Conklin, Andrew Denman, Laura LePere, Jennie Norris and many others. The exhibition will also feature youth and amateur artists, as well many archival

Rob MacIntosh, Observation

Andrew Denma, Troublemaker

elements, historical photos and items from the museum’s permanent collection. The exhibition will help celebrate the museum’s 65th anniversary of interpreting the Sonoran Desert for visitors from around the globe. The museum’s own past has a rich history with wildlife, starting in 1953 when George L. Mountainlion, a young mountain lion that been handraised in Southern California, was acquired by the Desert Museum and quickly became its mascot. The lion arrived on George Washington’s birthday, which inspired his name—the L was added for Leo. The mountain lion died in 1955, but his legacy continues today as the museum focuses on the puma concolor, also called mountain lion, puma or cougar. For more information about Puma Past and Present: A Natural History of the American Mountain Lion visit www.desertmuseum.org.

Patrice Dello-Russo, Don’t Flinch!

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THE BRINTON 101

at The Brinton Museum November 9 to December 17, 2017 THE BRINTON 101 is the 2017 adaptation of TBM’s former Small Works invitational show. The exhibit features nearly 300 works of art in varying media by 101 top notch artists from across the country. Our premise is that a great work of art can be accomplished in a small amount of space, hence the show features paintings, sculptures and mixed media pieces in a wide variety of themes and price ranges.

Connie Robinson, Snoodville, oil, 6 x 11

Jhon Goes In Center, Tabloa Nunp lyotake (Two Sitting Bulls), sterling silver and fairburn agate

Rosetta, At the Waterhole, maquette, bronze, 4.75 x 8.25 x 7

Lori Putnam, Snow Mass, oil on linen, 6x8

TheBrintonMuseum.org • 239 Brinton Road • P.O. Box 460 • Big Horn, WY 82833 • 307-672-3173

SAV E THE DATE M A RC H 15‒17, 2 018 The Russell is the premiere fundraising event for the C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Montana, attracting artists, collectors and patrons from around the country. The three–day schedule of events includes rare opportunities to interact with the distinguished Russell Skull Society of Artists and the ability to purchase their art, as well as the art of many other acclaimed contemporary and historic Western artists. Much more than a Western art exhibition and sale, The Russell is a Western art experience! 2017 Russell Skull Society of Artists

400 13 th Street North | Great Falls, Montana | (406) 7278787 | cmrussell.org

CM Russell Museum.indd 1

9/27/17 1:52 PM

Recently Acquired

National Museum of Wildlife Art: Lanford Monroe

Lanford Monroe (1950-2000), The Gathering, 2000, oil on canvas, 33 x 82½”. Purchased with funds generously donated by the RSGBK Foundation in honor of Collectors Circle 2017, National Museum of Wildlife Art. © Estate of Lanford Monroe.

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n July 26, the National Museum of Wildlife Art hosted the annual Collectors Circle event, which brings an exquisite selection of artwork to the museum, which is then voted on for purchase by museum patrons. This year five works were chosen for the museum’s permanent collection, with two additional works purchased using anonymous donations. Works include Eland Antelope by Wilhelm Kuhnert, Study of a Thistle by Barbara Dietzsch, Animal Pins by William Morris, Homage to Tyke by Wendy Maruyama, Untitled (Bear laying down) by Nicola Hicks, and conservation and framing of Bearded Vultures attaching Alpine Ibex by Joseph Wolf. Another work chosen was a diptych of a forested area with moose titled The Gathering by famed landscape and wildlife painter Lanford Monroe. The Connecticut-born artist, whose parents were illustrator C.E. Monroe and portraitist Betty Monroe, was heavily inspired by Bob Kuhn and John Clymer, who was her neighbor. The Gathering was purchased using funds provided to Collectors Circle from the Robert S. and Grayce B. Kerr Foundation. Potential artworks are vetted by the museum’s collections committee and curatorial staff, then brought to Collectors Circle,

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where they are then voted on for acquisition. This year’s selections were in a variety of media including porcelain, watercolor, oil, wood, blown glass and charcoal. “We are so grateful to the members of the Collectors Circle,” says Adam Harris, Petersen Curator of Art & Research at the museum. “They continue to support the growth of a multifaceted collection, incorporating the best of historic and contemporary art depicting wildlife. With their help, we were able to add five works to the collection ranging from a watercolor of bug life on a thistle painted in the 1700s, to a large, hand-crafted elephant mask created in 2015.” Since 1998, the Collectors Circle has helped the museum acquire more than 90 works of art. “As always, this year’s Collectors Circle dinner was a lot of fun,” says Sue Simpson Gallagher, co-chair of the collections committee.  “There was a wonderful sense of camaraderie, commitment, competition and compromise in selecting artworks” Calling all Western Art museums! Have a recently acquired painting or sculpture? Email the details to [email protected].

Curating the West

Each Month We Ask Leading Museum Curators About What’s Going On In Their World. Andries Fourie Curator of Art and Community Engagement The High Desert Museum Bend, OR (541) 382-4754 www.highdesertmuseum.org

What event (gallery show, museum exhibit, etc.) in the next few months are you looking forward to, and why? We are about to start working on a large, interdisciplinary exhibition that explores the issue of water in the West. It provides an opportunity to study this

central and contentious issue from the point of view of art, ecology, history and geology. What are you reading? I’m reading The Oregon Desert by E.R. Jackman and Reuben Long. The book is a wonderful testament to the land and people

Claudia P. Pfeiffer George L. Ohrstrom, Jr. Curator of Art National Sporting Library & Museum Middleburg, VA (540) 687-6542 www.nationalsporting.org

What event (gallery show, museum exhibit, etc.) in the next few months are you looking forward to, and why? I am looking forward to the National Sporting Library & Museum (NSLM) being the opening venue for A Sporting Vision: The Paul Mellon Collection of British Sporting Art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA), a traveling exhibition organized by VMFA, on view at NSLM from April 13 through July 22, 2018. Paul Mellon, a lifelong sportsman, art collector and philanthropist, had strong connections to the region, and the exhibition of 18th- to 20thcentury sporting masterworks is a natural fit for the NSLM’s mission.

What are you reading? I am currently reading Pferde: Niedersachsens Stärke (Horses: Lower Saxony’s Strength), a catalog for an exhibition held at the Historisches Museum Hannover in 2006 to which Ulrike Weiß contributed an essay. Dr. Weiß was a John H. Daniels Fellow at NSLM; she and I are curating an exhibition of paintings and sculpture titled Sidesaddle, c. 1680 to 1945, to be held at NSLM in the fall of 2018. Interesting exhibit, gallery opening or work of art you’ve seen recently. The Horse in Ancient Greek Art, co-curated by my colleague Nicole Stribling and Peter Schertz

of the Fort Rock Valley. Long’s earthy humor blends seamlessly with Jackman’s scientific knowledge to provide a loving portrayal of Oregon’s dry side.

the moment?

Interesting exhibit, gallery opening or work of art you’ve seen recently.

What is your dream exhibit to curate? Or see someone else curate?

In going through our museum’s collection, I was impressed by some small-scale pencil sketches of livestock by E.B. Quigley. These little preparatory drawings pair an incredible level of attention to detail with a marvelous sense of gesture and mark making.

I would love to curate an exhibition that asks contemporary Native American artists to select historical works from our collection with an eye towards reinterpretation. I imagine that this process could foster a very productive dialogue between the past and the present.

What are you researching at

of VMFA, recently opened at NSLM and is on view through January 14, 2018, after which it will travel to VMFA. The exhibition and catalog focus on myths and legends, warfare, hunting and horsemanship depicted in Greek art featuring equines. This unique focus on equestrian imagery found on vases, sculpture and coins created between the 9th and 4th centuries BCE offers a fresh perspective on Greek culture and art. What are you researching at the moment? I’m currently delving into the personal diaries of Ellen Emmet Rand (1876-1941) and her archives housed at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, Storrs, Connecticut. Rand, a pioneering and successful, professional female portrait painter, was the first female student of Frederic William MacMonnies and is, perhaps, best known for her official presidential portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. I am researching Rand’s sporting paintings, featured in her 1936

I’m currently doing some research about the pioneer homesteaders of the Fort Rock Valley in preparation for an exhibition.

solo exhibition at the Sporting Gallery & Bookshop in New York City. What is your dream exhibit to curate? Or see someone else curate? The works that remained in iconic French artist Edgar Degas’ (18341917) studio upon his death have always held a particular allure for me. Among these was his powerful and transcendent, 70-by-60-inch painting, Scene from the Steeplechase - The Fallen Jockey, now in the National Gallery of Art collection. Additionally, although Degas was not known for sculpture during his lifetime, 150 wax sculptures were found in his studio upon his passing. Several of these were of horses (some with jockeys) in a variety of poses at rest and in motion. It would be a once-in-alifetime opportunity to interpret these sporting subjects set against a backdrop of the iconic and bold horse racing paintings that fueled Degas’ career.

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Western Art Trail Calendar

Our guide to special events, sales & auctions from coast to coast NOVEMBER Nov. 1-15 TRAILSIDE GALLERIES

A View to the West Scottsdale, AZ – (480) 945-7751 www.trailsidegalleries.com

Nov. 3 SAKS GALLERIES

5th annual Rims to Ruins Denver, CO – (303) 321-3120 www.mesaverdefoundation.org

Nov. 3 HERITAGE AUCTIONS

American Art Dallas, TX – (877) 437-4824 www.ha.com

Nov. 3-5

24th annual Carefree Fine Art & Wine Festival Carefree, AZ – (480) 837-5637 www.thunderbirdartists.com

Nov. 3-Jul. 1, 2018 HEARD MUSEUM

Awa Tsireh: Pueblo Painter and Metalsmith Phoenix, AZ – (602) 252-8848 www.heard.org

Ending Nov. 5 BOOTH WESTERN ART MUSEUM

Ansel Adams: The Masterworks

Frank Sauerwein (1871-1910), Mesa III Oraibi, watercolor and gouache on paper, 9 x 13 3/8”. Estimate: $7,000–$9,000

Nov. 11: Santa Fe Art Auction Santa Fe, NM | (505) 954-5780 | www.santafeartauction.com

Nov. 6-12

Nov. 10

ZION NATIONAL PARK

NATIONAL COWBOY & WESTERN HERITAGE MUSEUM

Zion National Park Plein Air Art Invitational

BOOTH WESTERN ART MUSEUM

Booth Photography Guild Annual Exhibition

Springdale, UT – (435) 772-3264 www.zionpark.org

Oklahoma City, OK – (405) 478-2250 www.nationalcowboymuseum.org

Cartersville, GA – (770) 387-1300 www.boothmuseum.org

Ending Nov. 5

Nov. 9-Dec. 17

Ending Nov. 11

Nov. 13

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WILDLIFE ART

THE BRINTON MUSUEM

MODERN WEST FINE ART

Cartersville, GA – (770) 387-1300 www.boothmuseum.org

Andy Warhol: Endangered Species Jackson, WY – (307) 733-5771 www.wildlifeart.org

The Brinton 101 Big Horn, WY – (307) 672-3173 www.thebrintonmuseum.org

Ending Nov. 5

Nov. 10

NEW MEXICO FARM & RANCH HERITAGE MUSEUM

LESLIE HINDMAN AUCTIONEERS

American Plains Artists’ 32nd Annual Juried Exhibition and Sale Las Cruces, NM – (308) 249-1488 www.americanplainsartists.com

Arts of the American West Denver, CO – (312) 280-1212 www. lesliehindman.com

Nov. 10-12

Waterfowl Festival Easton, MD – (410) 822-4567 www.waterfowlfestival.org

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Small Works, Great Wonders

Ending Nov. 12

Ed Mel, Billy Schenck and Gary Ernest Smith Santa Fe, NM – (801) 355-3383 www.modernwestfineart.com

Ending Nov. 11 BLUE RAIN GALLERY

Doug West Santa Fe, NM – (505) 954-9902 www.blueraingallery.com

SOTHEBY’S

American Art New York, NY – (212) 606-7000 – www.sothebys.com

Nov. 17-19, 24-26

21st annual Hidden in the Hills Artist Studio Tour & Sale Arizona - (480) 575-6634 www.hiddeninthehills.org

Nov. 17-Dec. 3 MEDICINE MAN GALLERY

Stephen Datz Tucson, AZ – (800) 422-9382 www.medicinemangallery.com

Nov. 18

Dec. 2-Feb. 25, 2018

TOP WESTERN EVENTS AND AUCTIONS AT A GLANCE

SETTLERS WEST GALLERIES

LEIGH YAWKEY WOODSON ART MUEUM

The Great American West

Wild Fabrications

Tucson, AZ – (520) 299-2607 – www.settlerswest.com

Wasau, WI – (715) 845-7010 – www.lywam.org

Nov. 11 Santa Fe Art Auction

Nov. 19

Dec. 3-Mar. 11, 2018

Santa Fe, NM – (505) 954-5780

MOUNTAIN OYSTER CLUB

UTAH MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

48th annual Mountain Oyster Club Contemporary Art Show & Sale

Go West! Art of the American Frontier from the Buffalo Bill Center of the West

Jan. 3, 2018 Winter West Symposium

Tucson, AZ – (520) 729-0319 www.mountainoysterclub.com

Salt Lake City, UT – (801) 581-7332 www.umfa.utah.edu

Nov. 18-Jan. 15, 2018

Dec. 9-Feb. 2018

EITELJORG MUSEUM

HOCKADAY MUSEUM

Jingle Rails: The Great Western Adventure Indianapolis, IN – (317) 636-9378 – www.eiteljorg.org

Making Our World More Beautiful: The Collection of Sam and Jean Bibler

Nov. 18-Jun. 3, 2018

Kalispell, MT – (406) 755- 5268 www.hockadaymuseum.org

DESERT CABALLEROS WESTERN MUSEUM

One Trader’s Legacy: Steve Getzwiller Collects the West Wickenburg, AZ – (928) 684-2272 www.westernmuseum.org

Ending Nov. 19 EITELJORG MUSEUM

Light, Space, and Power: The Art of P.A. Nisbet

Ending Dec. 10 BRISCOE WESTERN ART MUSEUM

That Day: Pictures in the American West San Antonio, TX – (210) 299-4499 www.briscoemuseum.org

Ending Dec. 31 BOOTH WESTERN ART MUSEUM

Indianapolis, IN – (317) 636-9378 – www.eiteljorg.org

Western American Art South of the Sweet Tea Line V

Nov. 20

Cartersville, GA – (770) 387-1300 www.boothmuseum.org

BONHAMS

Ending Dec. 31

American Art

GILCREASE MUSEUM

Denver, CO – (303) 291-2567

Jan. 3, 2018 Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale Denver, CO – (303) 291-2567

Jan. 18-19, 2018 Altermann Galleries’ & Auctioneers’ January Auction Scottsdale, AZ – (505) 983-1590

Jan. 20-21, 2018 Brian Lebel’s High Noon Show & Auction Mesa, AZ – (480) 779-9378

Feb. 10, 2018 Masters of the American West Los Angeles, CA – (323) 667-2000

March 14-16, 2018 Out West Art Show & Sale Great Falls, MT – (406) 899-2958

March 15-17, 2018 The Russell: An Exhibition and Sale to Benefit the C.M. Russell Museum

May 2018 (Date TBA) Heritage Auctions’ American Signature Art Auction Dallas, TX – (877) 437-4823

May 2018 (Date TBA) Christie’s American Art Auction New York, NY – (212) 636-2000

May 2018 (Date TBA) Phippen Museum’s 42nd annual Western Art Show & Sale Prescott, AZ – (928) 778-1385

June 2018 (Date TBA) Prix de West Oklahoma City, OK – (405) 478-2250

June 2018 (Date TBA) Brian Lebel’s Old West Show & Auction Fort Worth, TX – (480) 779-9378

June 2018 (Date TBA) Maynard Dixon Country Camp Out Mt. Carmel, UT – (800) 992-106

July 2018 (Date TBA) Coeur d’Alene Art Auction Reno, NV – (208) 772-9009

Aug. 18-19 SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market

Great Falls, MT – (406) 727-8787

Santa Fe, NM – (505) 983-5220

March 18-20, 2018 Cowgirl Up! Art from the Other Half of the West

Aug. 2018 (Date TBA) Heart of the West Contemporary Western Art Show and Auction

New York, NY – (212) 644-9001 www.bonhams.com

Creating the Modern Southwest

Nov. 21

Tulsa, OK – (918) 596-2700 www.gilcrease.org

CHRISTIE’S

Ending Dec. 31

Wickenburg, AZ – (928) 684-2272

Bozeman, MT – (406) 781-0550

New York, NY – (212) 636-2000 – www.christies.com

WESTERN SPIRIT: SCOTTSDALE’S MUSEUM OF THE WEST

Ending Nov. 25

Grand Canyon Grandeur

March 15-17, 2018 March in Montana

Aug. 2018 (Date TBA) Altermann Galleries’ & Auctioneers August Auction

American Art

DESERT CABALLEROS WESTERN MUSEUM

The West Observed: The Art of Howard Post Wickenburg, AZ – (928) 684-2272 www.westernmuseum.org

Ending Nov. 26 LEIGH YAWKEY WOODSON ART MUEUM

Birds in Art

Scottsdale, AZ – (480) 686-9539 www.scottsdalemuseumwest.org

Ending Dec. 31 FENIMORE ART MUSEUM

American Folk Art: Seven Decades of Collecting Cooperstown, NY – (607) 547-1470 www.fenimoreartmuseum.org

Wasau, WI – (715) 845-7010 – www.lywam.org

DECEMBER Dec. 2-3 NATIONAL HISPANIC CULTURAL CENTER

29th annual Winter Spanish Market Santa Fe, NM – (505) 246-2261 www.spanishcolonial.org

In every issue of Western Art Collector, we will publish the only reliable guide to all major upcoming sales, events and auctions nationwide. Contact Erin Rand at [email protected] to discuss how your event can be included in this calendar.

Great Falls, MT – (307) 635-0019

March 23-24, 2018 Briscoe Museum’s Night of Artists Sale San Antonio, TX – (210) 299-4499

March 2018 (Date TBA) Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market

Jackson, WY – (307) 733-3316

Sept. 2018 (Date TBA) Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival Jackson, WY – (307) 733-3316

Sept. 2018 (Date TBA) Western Visions

Phoenix, AZ – (602) 252-8840

Jackson, WY – (800) 313-9553

April 6-8, 2018 Cattlemen’s Western Art Show & Sale

Sept. 2018 (Date TBA) Quest for the West

Paso Robles, CA – (805) 472-9100

Indianapolis, IN – (317) 636-9378

April 7, 2018 Scottsdale Art Auction

Sept. 2018 (Date TBA) Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale

Scottsdale, AZ – (480) 945-0225

Cody, WY – (888) 598-8119

April 2018 (Date TBA) Altermann Galleries & Auctioneers’ Auction

Oct. 2018 (Date TBA) Cowboy Crossings Oklahoma City, OK – (405) 478-2250

Scottsdale, AZ – (480) 945-0448

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Chasing

Thu nder M

artin Grelle recently finished a piece titled A Moment of Peace, a concept that has recently eluded the painter’s own life. “I’m on 18-hour days right now,” he says from his studio, a wet palette at the ready near his easel. “They’ve been marathon painting sessions for the last several months, but an end is in sight.” The reason for the epic late-night painting sessions is a November 11 solo exhibition, Bound by Heart and Paint, at Legacy Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona, an exhibition that has all the makings for a historic art opening and not just for Scottsdale or Grelle, but for all of Western art. It’s rare to see more than three Grelle paintings in a single room together at one time, and for this show Grelle has aimed for nearly seven times that amount—20 in all. As best he can reckon, it will be the largest show he’s had in more than 15 years. The build-up for this new solo show has been a long time coming for the Texas painter, who has busied himself with everything but a solo exhibition for many years. Three years ago, as president of the Cowboy Artists of American, he helped

Martin Grelle at work on new works in his Texas studio.

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Texas painter Martin Grelle to unveil 20 works in a historic new show November 11 at Legacy Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona. By Michael Clawson

set into motion the group’s 50th anniversary celebration, which itself was a year’s worth of museum shows, sales and retrospectives throughout 2015. Then, of course, there were the annual museum shows in Oklahoma, California, Indiana and others, each of which required anywhere from one to three major pieces. All of this was in addition to his personal life, which included a studio renovation, two sons were married, and Grelle himself was married in December 2016. “Joyce has been very patient with her new husband as he lives in the studio,” the artist says, laughing at the ease at which he descends into a labyrinth of deadlines and commitments. “I’ve been told, ‘Grelle, there is a word called no.’ I tell them

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A Moment of Peace, oil on linen, 36 x 24”

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On a Late Winter’s Trail, oil, 18 x 24”

I use it frequently but there is still so much to say yes to.” Meanwhile, the Western world has waited patiently for each new Grelle work, whether they slip intent-to-purchase tickets in bid boxes at museum shows, make silent bid offers at gallery openings or raise paddles at auctions, where Grelle commands prices that hover in the mid-six figures and often stretch to half a million dollars and beyond. These events, while rewarding for his work, tend to spread him a little thin, which is why this long-gestating solo show is so exciting—he can tell a larger story about himself, his subjects and paintings. “Every artist wants to think out of the box, and to push themselves, and I certainly see that opportunity here,” Grelle says, adding that artists came before him helped pave the way for those who would follow. “You just always want to grow, and I often look back on people like John Clymer and Tom Lovell and some other guys—Howard Terpning is certainly in that group—you just want to find a point where you can find yourself. When I started I was following Jim Boren, who was doing horses and barn paintings and they really influenced me a lot. And then Melvin Warren’s oils influenced me even more, even though I didn’t know him as well as Jim. As you get going you just want to try on things and see how they fit you. And that’s what I did until I found what I like. You take bits and pieces, whether its Sorolla or whatnot, and you find who you are.” He specifically mentioned Boren and Warren because they came before him in Bosque County, Texas—the three of them are nearly half of the Bosque Seven—and showed him what was possible within Western art. In fact, as one story goes, a much younger Grelle was working at his father’s service station in Clifton, Texas, and Boren came in with a flat tire that resulted in a spontaneous and informal meeting with a painter who would later become Grelle’s mentor. “As long as I can remember I was always interested in trying to replicate things with drawing. When I was a little bitty guy, back in those days you had school projects, drawings on the bulletin board and whatnot, and everyone in the class would be asked to draw for Easter or Christmas and other events. Mine always got a really great response, so I kept at them. My mom and dad were very supportive so for Christmas and birthday gifts they would give me paint-by-number kits. After I did the paintings I would keep the extra paints and do my own paintings,” Grelle remembers. Things progressed quickly from there: watercolors

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Blackfeet in Yellowstone Country, oil on linen, 48 x 38”

from his mother, a book on drawing came in the fifth grade, oil paints and a small easel came from his brother around junior high. “I would paint anything I could find, even those old Mobil oil calendars. By the time I was in high school Jim and Melvin had moved into town and I was seeking them out.” His early amateur works were dogs and horses, occasionally figures, followed by old farms and ranches as his professional career was kicking off. “Bosque has this really great German and Norwegian architecture that’s fun to paint, as well as Bosque itself, which is very pretty with hills and creeks,” Grelle adds. As his work and worldview expanded outward, he was eventually drawn into Native American subject matter. “You have to be curious and investigate the world around you, and that’s what I did.” By the mid-1980s, still in the early chapters of his professional career, the painter would

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meet another artist, Bruce Greene. The two quickly became pals and today are practically neighbors. Several years after meeting, likely in 1990, Green and Grelle were in Phoenix for the annual CA show which was then at the Phoenix Art Museum, and after the show they went to a Mexican restaurant in Scottsdale. “I remember sitting there and we were telling each other to do whatever it took to reach that level that we just witnessed. And we were committed, too,” Greene says. “We told ourselves to never be satisfied with our work, to always push it and make it better. That was our goal then, and that’s our goal now.” Within several years, both would be CA members, and today they are two of the group’s top-selling artists. Greene still pops into his buddy’s studio to see new work, and he’s seen many of the pieces for Bound by Heart and Paint. “What you’re going to see is absolutely magnificent.

I’ve seen the work in person—Martin and I still critique our work together—and people are going to love it. It’s going to be absolutely over-the-top fabulous,” Greene says. “These big shows are something else. It’s just really fun to put a pile of those things together in one place to see the results.” Grelle was approached about a large solo exhibition in early 2016, several months before John Coleman’s massively successful Legacy solo show, during which the painter and sculptor not only sold out but racked up more than $1.6 million in sales in a single night. The Coleman show didn’t necessarily change the Grelle show, but it did blow the doors open as far as what could be done with a big eventstyle show in Scottsdale. For Grelle and Legacy owner Brad Richardson, the sky was the limit. “When Martin and I started talking about the idea, we both agreed it needed to be a largerthan-normal one-man show, and to make it more of an event by putting a large body of work out there for collectors,” Richardson says. “And what you see is really something extraordinary. Martin’s done some pieces he’s never done before, including a buffalo hunt and some other exciting new things. We set out to do something on a whole new scale, and he’s delivered that with these exceptional new works.” The Legacy owner is no stranger to Grelle’s paintings: as one of the partners of the Scottsdale Art Auction, Richardson had been involved with six of Grelle’s top eight auction records, altogether representing more than $2.6 million in sales, including the 2014 sale of Dust in the Distance, which sold for $575,000, an artist world record. Richardson attributes the artist’s success to his rich color, evocative imagery that is sensitive to the subject matter, and his adherence to authenticity to Native cultures, artifacts and traditions. Works in the exhibition include Chasing Thunder, which shows a hunter on horseback descending upon his massive prey. The piece is one of many examples of work that show the artist pushing himself into new and unexplored areas or subject matters. Other pieces include Between Earth and Sky, a camp scene that shows a teepee in a stunning backlight that emphasizes the sun and quality of light—“Got this idea up in Montana during the CA trail ride…I just loved the idea of light wrapping around the top part of that teepee,” Grelle says—and the brilliantly colored Singer of Old Songs, which the artist did as a tribute to the drummaker in the painting, Alex Birdinground. “He was a really interesting man, just a neat guy. I got to meet him before he passed and I did a piece of him for the Prix de West,” he says. “He had this wonderful emotion on his

Chasing Thunder, oil on linen, 46 x 54”

face, and was a truly great character. I was happy to revisit this wonderful man.” In Blackfeet in Yellowstone Country, Grelle paints two Native figures on horseback as they stand at a lake that has several submerged logs near the bank. The translucent and reflective qualities of the water were the reason the piece exists—“I wanted to capture that water, which is what that painting is about,” he adds. After this year’s CA trail ride, he and Joyce went up through Cody, Wyoming, to Yellowstone since his wife had never seen it before. “Right inside the east entrance coming from Cody, just up over the pass, we found this little lake with the logs in the water. It was a challenge for me, but that’s why I wanted to do it.” Reflective and translucent water also plays a role A Moment of Clarity, showing a solitary figure, his shadow turning a muddy creek into patches of brilliant abstracted shapes below the striking image of a horse and rider. Other works include the portrait Man of the Comancheria, featuring a stoic figure with a green shirt that required a soft pink in the distant mountains to balance visually, and Bound By Heart and Paint, which is also the title of the show. “It’s such an intimate moment as this man paints her face. I’ve read that several tribes did that, including Crow and Cheyenne. This one centers around the Cheyenne,” Grelle says. “I wanted to capture the proud and caring attitude about this man painting his wife’s face, and to feel their closeness.” The works, like many of Grelle’s paintings, have a peacefulness embedded within every brusthroke. His Native figures are rarely angry or violent. They are quiet and calm as they gaze out into the landscape, or occasionally at the viewer, in reverence and stillness. It’s a personality trait that comes from Grelle himself. “I’m a peaceful kind of person and I’m just drawn to beauty, whatever that beauty may be,” he says. “I’m also drawn to their history, from their colorful and amazing regalia to the country they lived in. The American West was their home; they were part of it. What I’m trying to give people is a glimpse back in time, one single moment in time.”

Martin Grelle — Bound By Heart and Paint November 11-19, 2017; artist reception and live auction, Nov. 11, 5-7 p.m. The Legacy Gallery, 7178 Main Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 Between Earth and Sky, oil on linen, 36 x 36”

(480) 945-1113, www.legacygallery.com

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HEADLINE TO BE PLACED We are delighted to introduce Western Art Collector magazine’s Advisory Board Member, and Autry National Center Board of Trustee Member, John Geraghty who will be writing a regular column for us.Lore mod magna aut praesse quismodipit By Artist Name

Q

U

I

E

T

MOMENTS

Z.S. Liang focuses on peaceful scenes and sensitive portrayals with his new work at Trailside Galleries in Scottsdale, Arizona. By Michael Clawson

In the Morning Mist (Detail), oil, 24 x 30”

Paying Homage to the Bear, oil, 42 x 30”

High Vantage Point, oil, 40 x 28”

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ainter Z.S. Liang says gallery shows are sometimes given to artists and they have to go searching for material. For his most recent works, the material came to him long before his gallery called with the invitation. “I did not have to go searching at all for ideas. It was not that way at all,” he says. “These things were cooking in my mind. They were ready to come out.” Liang’s new works—six peaceful Native American scenes involving one and two figures, as well as several magnificent horses—will debut at a new exhibition opening November 1 at Trailside Galleries in Scottsdale, Arizona. Liang is widely known and respected for his large and elaborate multi-figure historical scenes, some of them featuring a dozen figures or more arranged in complex compositions. With these new works, as he does occasionally with his paintings, he dials the intensity down and focuses his attention on the intimate and quiet moments of Native American figures as they go about their lives, interact with their horses, and pass along their heritage and culture. “Some of the paintings are more memorials to the rider on horseback, some about their

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Z.S. Liang in his California studio with his new works.

daily lives, and others are about tradition and ceremony,” he says. “Overall it is a good grouping with some motifs I’ve been thinking about for a long time.” One of the standout pieces of the show is Horse Whisperer, showing a male figure gently comforting his horse. Liang says the painting was inspired by one of his models, whose horsemanship had drawn the artist’s eye. “I met this young Indian man. He was Lakota

and a very good horseman. I remember when he touched his horse I could see he had a very special connection to his horse,” he says. “His shirt is very interesting. I have a similar one in my studio that’s a copy of one from a museum that is from the Blackfeet from the early 19th century. There is a very good meaning for the holes in the shirt: it is perforated because the holes are meant to symbolize bullet holes, which means that the warrior was so brave and

his spirit was so strong that even the bullets could not kill him.” In the Morning Mist depicts two figures checking their weapons before setting out on a hunt. Liang has painted a misty haze behind them that gives the painting an almost ethereal quality, as if the figures are floating in the coolness of the morning. For Paying Homage to the Bear, another work showing a pair of figures, Liang paints two men against a smooth rock face as one of them draws wildlife on the pale stone. “These are two Crow Indians, and the one is using a buffalo hoof to draw with,” the artist says. “They used to heat the buffalo hoof up in the fire and it would turn into a paste that they could paint with. Charcoal was used to make it like a grease, and they could use red ochre to get red colors. I’ve had the idea for this painting for five years, and I’ve finally secured it on canvas.” In High Vantage Point, Liang shows a rider signaling to an unseen friend using a dyed stroud, a length of thick woolen fabric. While the horse and rider are certainly the focus of the painting, Liang wanted the clouds to express the painting’s mood and to suggest movement. “I wanted the clouds to be very dramatic, and move from blue to white to gray as they rose higher and higher as the storm moved in over this butte. There are just so many wonderful views on the Plains,” he adds. These authentic and often sensitive portrayals of Native American figures are unique for Liang, especially considering his own heritage: the California-based artist is originally from China, where the American cultural motif of “cowboys and Indians” is not ingrained into children at a young age. After coming to the United States in 1982 to study art, Liang discovered the magnificence of Native American art outside the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston as he gazed up at Cyrus Dallin’s iconic 1909 monument Appeal to the Great Spirit. “Next to my art school was the museum, and in front of the building in the center of the square is this Indian on horseback with his hands open as he looks up at the sky,” Liang says. “It was so powerful to me that I immediately connected and I could feel that it was a spiritual piece to me.” He continues, “When I started painting Indian figures, I didn’t even know all the Western artists, people like Russell or Remington. My education to that point was in the Russian style of social realism and then later American impressionism. It was only later that I would find American painters such as Charlie Russell and Frederic Remington, as well as people like Joseph Henry Sharp and Howard Terpning.” Years later, as Liang’s works progressed and worked their way into the upper echelon

Horse Whisperer, oil, 20 x 14”

of Western art, one of those artists would take notice. “Z.S. Liang is quite dedicated to his work, and I admire and respect what he does,” Terpning says. “When it comes to these Native American scenes that I, and also Liang, paints, you just have to paint intuitively and you have to have a real connection to the subject. It’s something you can’t invent or create—you either feel it or you don’t. And he certainly must feel it because his work is really exceptional.” Terpning and Liang both agree that the quality of their work is often tied, at least in part, to the sensitivity paid to the subject matter, whether that’s culture and ceremony or

artifacts and regalia. “I’m always trying to be truthful to the subjects. I make the paintings full of details, and I utilize every detail available to me,” Liang says. “It’s those truthful details that make the work authentic.”

Z.S. Liang: New Works November 1-15, 2017 Open House, Nov. 11, 1-4 p.m. Trailside Galleries, 7330 E. Main Street, Suite 100, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 (480) 945-7751, www.trailsidegalleries.com

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Of

EARTH and

SKY

Logan Maxwell Hagege’s newest works at Maxwell Alexander Gallery present modern figures as they look into, and out of, the past. By Michael Clawson

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or California painter Logan Maxwell Hagege, the desert, particularly the deserts of the Southwest, are stages on which his players are arranged in Western theater— tableaus of sage and sand, earth and sky, past and present. “These scenes make sense in my mind—they’re almost like memories—and so I just fill them out as I want them,” Hagege says, adding that his works are often assembled from reference materials gathered for a variety of sources. “I like having that variety…of landscapes, of figures, or artifacts. I start adding these things together—after all, no one is going to see the reference material, only the finished work, so it doesn’t matter—and it starts creating this imagined world.” Hagege likes to keep his works and their themes ambiguous to his audience, which leaves each individual viewer pondering deeply about his Native American figures, many of whom are posed within the scenery as monuments to the sun, represented with brilliant orange and gold light that pours into the painting from an unseen horizon, and also monuments to time, shown here by his subjects’ untethered place within the larger narrative of the American West. And though the figures are unrestrained by time, they are clearly modern subjects; in Way Out, for instance, a rider with a piercing gaze can be seen wearing blue jeans and a red bandana, both of which are decades away from the man’s first phase Navajo chief’s blanket that he is wrapped in. These ideas of time and place can be seen in Hagege’s new exhibition opening November 4 at Maxwell Alexander Gallery in Los Angeles. The show will feature six new pieces, as well as a variety of small works. One of the pieces in the show is Bloom, which shows one of the artist’s favorite models draped in a white blanket as he stands with a horse in front of a simple, almost abstracted background

Bloom, oil, 16 x 20"

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Way Out, oil, 36 x 22

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of purple mountains and a large cloud that cuts out a billowy silhouette from the teal sky. Elements of the painting, like the horse and rider, are rendered with exquisite detail, and others, like the background, are flatter and simpler. The effect was intentional. “I try to have a balance, and Bloom is a great example to illustrate that balance. The mountains are really simplified, but against them is this more complex battle with the figure and the horse and all its tack,” Hagege says. “I end up playing the flat against the more three-dimensional aspects, and I really want to see how far I can push it. Gustav Klimt is one of my favorite painters, and he really was doing some amazing things with that flat, graphical style but then realizing it on a threedimensional object.” Bloom also presents an artistic challenge in that there are distinct blocks of color that should not work together, but do, whether it’s from the teal sky and purple mountains, or the yellow and green sage at the rider’s feet—color, even varying degrees of vibrant color, all seem to co-exist pleasingly. “I like to think about it as putting on a pair of tinted glasses, like a rose-colored glasses or even those yellow blueblockers glasses. The glasses create a color tone that is cast over everything. So when I’m mixing colors, if I’m picturing that color tone over everything it helps my brain process the colors I’m looking at and wanting to achieve in the painting,” he explains. “You sort of have to think in tones or color keys. It’s a very intuitive sort of feeling, which means it’s hard to explain but you know it when you see it because it either works or doesn’t work.” This shifting color key can be seen in great effect in Go With the Clouds, which shows a male and female figure in a complex

Logan Maxwell Hagege.

Go With the Clouds, oil, 40 x 40"

arrangement that involves a menacing shadow that looms over the female and her horse, abstracted and elongated shadows on the desert floor, and riders on the horizon that seem to be sinking into the sandy earth. The colors are there, but they are not punchy or vivid. They are informed by the haziness of the fading sunset, which drains the world of its pop of color and replaces it with a copper glow. “I know it doesn’t always seem this way, particularly since some of my works are very colorful, but I’m not really attracted to colorful paintings,” he says. “In many ways I’m more attracted to muted and more subdued works.” Expanding on that idea, Hagege says that Go With the Clouds was largely conceived as a black-and-white series of shapes on the canvas as a tool to bring out the composition he wanted to achieve. Once he captured the full painting, with its dramatic shapes and figures in the foreground and background, he was able to build up the detail and color he wanted within the world. “N.C. Wyeth and Gustav Klimt, as different as they were, they

were creating worlds,” the artist says. “They wanted the viewers to have some sort of experience within these worlds. Even someone like Georgia O’Keeffe, she was looking at the world and making edits, and putting that in her works. She wasn’t showing you the real world, but her world.” Hagege, like Klimt and O’Keeffe, is building his own world, one where the sun blesses those it touches, the clouds bloom on the horizon and figures ponder their place in time within the desert’s majesty.

Logan Maxwell Hagege November 4-December 2, 2017 Maxwell Alexander Gallery, 406 W. Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90015 (310) 839-9242, www.maxwellalexandergallery.com

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Philip R. Goodwin (1881-1935), A Break at Dawn, oil on canvas on board, 24 x 36” Courtesy Coeur d’Alene Art Auction.

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ON THE For more than a century Western artists have turned to the wild for subject matter and sport. By Michael Clawson

HUNT

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ong before the days of foldable pop-up tents, subzero sleeping bags, GPS maps and RV campgrounds with water and cable hookups, German-born wildlife painter Carl Rungius would pack up a string of mules with a supplies, including a rifle and painting materials, and trek off into the wilderness for weeks at a time. These weren’t the days of Lewis and Clark, a time when a man’s survival depended on his ability to live off the land. Rungius lived in the time of airplanes, automobiles and the telegraph. He didn’t have to live off the land—he chose to. “He was really dedicated to the wild and what it offered. The first time he did it he really found something reaffirming about being out there, and he then brought those experiences back to his paintings. People responded to that authenticity because it was born from experience,” says Adam Duncan Harris, Petersen Curator of Art and Research at the National Museum of Wildlife Art. “For me, even today with modern equipment, it’s

An unidentified man, left, stands with Philip R. Goodwin, Carl Rungius and Jimmy Simpson during a trip to Banff National Park in 1911. The camp and kettle made frequent appearances in Goodwin paintings. Photo courtesy Larry Len Peterson.

Carl Rungius (1869-1959), The Stampede, 1899, oil on canvas, 26 x 46”. Purchased with Funds Generously Donated by a Consortium of Anonymous Donors, National Museum of Wildlife Art. © Estate of Carl Rungius.

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still hard for me to comprehend how he could spend that much time in the wilderness. It was amazing to me he could sustain himself for so long, and so many repeat trips.” Rungius was not the first artist who treated the wild as sport, and he certainly was not the last. His commitment to nature and a sporting lifestyle has been passed down through the generations, and even artists today are venturing far and wide from their studios to experience their subject matters, be it camping in uncharted country high in the mountains or hunting big game in serene valleys or wading through shallow creeks while angling trout. From historic artists like Rungius, Philip R. Goodwin and William Herbert “Buck” Dunton to contemporary artists such as Luke Frazier, Brent Cotton and Tim Shinabarger, sporting artists have used the world as their canvas and

their art is better for it. Rungius’ long history with America’s natural spaces almost never happened. In 1894, he arrived from Germany to take part in a moose hunt in Maine. The hunt didn’t produce anything, and Rungius was left with a choice: return by boat to Europe or stay in Maine for the next season. “It was an amazing sign of the times because he couldn’t fly back home the way we jump on planes today. So rather then get on a long boat ride back, he stayed through the winter so he could do the hunt again,” Harris says, adding that when the artist chose to stay he sealed his destiny with the American outdoor experience. “What Rungius really loved about the wild, Wyoming in particular, was how he could pack into the wilderness and be completely alone, hunting and fishing to sustain himself.”

In addition to hunting and fishing, he also painted. The ratios of these activities changed over time. Harris adds, “Biographers Jon Whyte and E.J. Hart note that Rungius’ schedule early in life was to explore and hunt six days of the week, and to sketch, draw and paint on the seventh. Rungius said, ‘At first I went to those countries for the sport they offered…Gradually I found that the painting, on the hunting trips, was becoming the important thing, and what mattered to me about the animals was not shooting them but painting them.’ Twenty years later he noted how his schedule had altered, ‘now I devote one day a week to hunting, and on the other six I paint.’” In some cases, he mixed both painting and hunting. In The Stampede, he shows startled elk that have reacted to the crack of a gunshot. In the distance an elk can be seen on the ground,

W. Herbert Dunton (1878-1936), The Deer Hunter, 1908, oil on canvas, 38 x 25”

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where the hunter’s shot met its mark. The painting depicts a scene experienced by Rungius himself. In fact, he was the hunter and he later wrote that after he took the first shot he regretted pulling the trigger because a larger bull elk was among the pack. The larger, more magnificent elk can be seen prominently in The Stampede. Joining Rungius on at least two trips was another sporting artist and illustrator, Philip R. Goodwin. In one of their most famous adventures, Rungius and Goodwin headed off into Banff National Park in Canada in 1911. Six weeks in the bush heavily influenced Goodwin and those experiences were certainly reflected in many of his works, often called predicament paintings, which frequently showed two male figures on various adventures with bears, moose, canoes and other sporting scenes. Author Larry Len Peterson calls Goodwin a child prodigy and wunderkind, and one of the greats when it comes to sporting art. “His paintings were about camaraderie and friendship, about two guys out shooting the rapids or hunting. They’re thrilling pieces,” Peterson says. “To Goodwin the essence of the outdoors was being out in it with your good friends. And his friends included Rungius, and also Charlie Russell, who just idolized Goodwin—and Goodwin was younger than Russell. Charlie Russell did more illustrated letters to Goodwin than any other artist, and in the letters he’s fawning over Goodwin asking him when he can come visit again. People just really loved Goodwin, and they loved spending time outdoors with him.” In several works by Goodwin, stand-ins for

Photographer unknown, Rungius at camp in the Wind River Mountains, ca. 1898. Courtesy of the National Museum of Wildlife

Russell and Rungius are almost too obvious to ignore. In Unexpected Guests, two men packing a canoe point at a bear and her cub across a river. One of the men, younger and thinner, is likely Goodwin, while the other figure with a pronounced jaw and chin is probably Russell, Peterson says. Adding to the history of the

Sculptor Tim Shinabarger with his wife Roxane on a backpacking trip in Montana.

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painting is a surviving photograph of Goodwin and Russell, each of them wearing packs almost identical to the figures in the piece. Goodwin rose up into art doing illustration under Howard Pyle and his Brandywine illustration school. At 22 years old, in 1903, Goodwin illustrated Jack London’s Call of the Wild, a bible to many outdoorsmen and adventurers. Later achievements only increased his standing within the world of sporting and outdoor adventure: he illustrated Teddy

Tim Shinabarger, Old Man of the Sage, bronze, ed. of 24, 16 x 17½ x 10”

Roosevelt’s African Game Trails: An Account of the African Wanderings of an American Hunter-Naturalist, he painted a hugely successful campaign for Winchester rifles, and he worked on magazines such as Outdoor Life and National Sportsman. He was so successful that artists such as Norman Rockwell would visit his studio to watch him work. But his heart still called to the outdoors. “Goodwin’s journals from up in the mountains in Banff reveal some of the trip with Rungius, for instance Rungius told him to never leave your gun, and then a bear came up on him and got between him and his rifle. They had a laugh about it later,” Peterson says. “When you start talking about sporting artists, no one is even close to Goodwin. He was on a different level entirely.” Another artist who led a fantastic outdoor life surrounded by hunting, fishing and nature, was Taos Society of Artists founder William Herbert “Buck” Dunton, whose escapades are as legendary as Rungius’ and Goodwin’s. “He really started out as a sporting artist, simultaneous with him being a Western illustrator,” says Michael R. Grauer, curator at the PanhandlePlains Historical Museum. “All he wanted to do was be out in the woods amongst the animals. Photographs show Dunton with bear (and cub) furs, with binoculars and rifle at the ready amid heavy foliage, with strings of trout, and with duck and other game dangling from his belt as he leans on a shotgun. In a magazine article titled “Concerning a Custom Sporter,” Dunton describes his daughter’s upcoming college graduation and his hunt for the perfect gift. “As she had owned and ridden her own horses since the age of 5, and had owned and shot her own rifles since her eighth birthday,

Philip R. Goodwin sketching in Banff National Park in 1911. This photo was likely taken by Carl Rungius. Photo courtesy Larry Len Peterson.

Luke Frazier, Caught in the Open, oil, 30 x 48”

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Brent Cotton, Late Summer Memory, oil on linen, 14 x 11”

meanwhile developing into a tall, rugged, and husky young woman, I decided almost at once that this remembrance should consist of a fine rifle,” Dunton wrote. “Truly, it seemed to me, such would be a most fitting present for a girl who had been raised in the open, and particularly so as coming from her Daddy with whom she had packed back into the Sangre de Cristo since early childhood.” While sporting was a family activity, he also involved other artists including other Taos artists such as Leon Gaspard. These trips are reflected in his works, which often feature hunters carrying rifles and clad in various accoutrements, bears in moody dark forests, majestic elk holding graceful poses and the scenery that would accompany many of these scenes. Dunton himself was also a likely subject, Grauer says. “At a certain point Dunton pretty much

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exclusively featured big game animals, primarily elk and deer and bear, or people who are associated with that lifestyle, such as hunting guides he knew or hunters. They all became his main subjects,” he says. “But I also think the latter part of his career is almost exclusively autobiographical.” Grauer adds that while Dunton hunted big game, he also went through a period of intense conservation. “In 1926 he gave a radio address about the dangers of overhunting big game, and really came out strongly for responsible game hunting,” Grauer says of Dunton’s broadcast, titled “Hunt But Don’t Kill All.” “During this period he would do more ‘dry hunts’ where he would take the animal with a sketchbook or camera, but not a gun. And when he did hunt he was very adamant about ethical hunting. He talks specifically about being a good shot, and how if a hunter can’t kill an animal with one shot

then they need to go home and practice because it was unneeded suffering on the animal.” Sporting lifestyles of Dunton, Rungius and Goodwin, while relegated in the past, don’t differ that much from sporting lifestyles lived by artists today. For Montana sculptor Tim Shinabarger, his work and much of his lifestyle revolves around wilderness and the experiences therein. “It has become our lifestyle, to the point that we usually plan one big trip every year where we go in the remote wilderness and just fish and explore and have a wonderful time in nature,” Shinabarger says, adding that he and his wife often eat game meat year-round. “I just like to immerse myself in with the animals and the land, and then bring those experiences back with me to the studio. I’m grateful it’s so accessible to us, especially when you think back to Russell and Rungius and those guys. Talk about tough, back in those days they didn’t have anyone cutting trail for them. When you see pictures, they had working man’s hands not artists hands.” He adds, “Some wildlife artists go to the zoo and parks, and they operate from their hotels without ever crossing that line into the environment. When you live out in it for three weeks at a time, you have so much more to say about it. You see animals when they are truly wild.” Sporting painter Luke Frazier agrees with Shinabarger’s assessment that nature provides something unique for outdoor enthusiasts as well as artists. “Let me put it this way, I paint the life I lead and I paint the things I enjoy most. As an artist you’re inspired to paint the things you love,” the Utah painter says, adding that he grew up fishing, trapping and hunting, and these days he frequently can be found on a boat with a fishing pole or in the forest with a rifle. “The seed was planted very young in me, and I grew up reading old Outdoor Life or Field & Stream magazines. Back then there were more illustrations on the covers, so I could see people painting things that I really enjoyed doing.” Frazier is certainly a fan of Dunton, Rungius and Goodwin, but he also points to his own mentor, Robert Abbett, a prominent sporting artist known for his bird dog paintings. “Bob’s work just spoke to me…the grasses, the trees, the dogs, the birds…it was all wonderful,” he says. “I also gravitated toward W.H.D. Koerner, N.C. Wyeth and others, artists who told stories with their paintings. They painted fantasy worlds and I fell in love with them.” For Montana artist Brent Cotton, whose landscapes often feature anglers casting lines out into reflective streams and rivers, he also says that being connected to nature is not just a hobby but a way of life. Before he became

Utah painter Luke Frazer on a successful duck hunt.

(Top) Carl Rungius (18691959), Buffalo painted on Bison Bone, oil on bone, 17¾ x 9¾ x 3”. JKM Collection®, National Museum of Wildlife Art. © Estate of Carl Rungius. (Bottom) Philip R. Goodwin (18821935), Indian Buffalo Hunt (on bison bone), ca. 1930, oil on bone, 19 x 9½”. JKM Collection®, National Museum of Wildlife Art.

an artist he was a hunting and fishing guide. Those experiences, and others growing up, have instilled in him the importance of being outdoors and experiencing its wonders. “I just had an experience the other night when I was hunting by myself. I was way up in the Bitterroot wilderness and there was snow on the ground and the sun was setting. It was just absolutely gorgeous and the night was completely still as an elk was bugling in the distance. The crescendo of his bugle carried

William Herbert “Buck” Dunt on with geese. Photo cour tesy Michael R. Grauer / Panh andle-Plains Historical Muse um.

Brent Cotton fish

for miles. It gave me chills. I just thought for a moment, ‘Man, I’m so lucky to be here right now,’” Cotton says. “Those experiences are really hard to put into words because they’re so primal. It’s the smell, the sounds, the sights…it’s so all-encompassing and it certainly helps add authenticity to my paintings, whether you’re out in the snow like I was or knee-deep in a trout stream listening to the water flow around you as you execute a perfect cast and watch the fly fall down knowing there’s a big trout underneath.”

ing and painting

at the same time.

Like Rungius before him, Cotton is introducing nature to the next generation—his own children. “I’m a dad now and I have young kids, so I enjoy seeing nature through their eyes, seeing them have those experiences, ones I’ve had countless times but ones they’re having for the very first time,” he says. “Those things change who you are, whether you’re an artist or not. Being outdoors is a joy and a gift, and one I’ve been so thankful to have been given, and one I want to pass on to others.”

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1. Ken Carlson, The Spoils of the Victor, oil on board, 24 x 36". Courtesy Trailside Galleries, Jackson, WY, and Scottsdale, AZ.

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SPORTING ART

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he great frontiersman and guide Daniel Boone said, “I have never been lost, but I will admit to being confused for several weeks.” Guides, steeped in knowledge, experience and respect for the wilderness and wildlife take sportsmen on the experience of their lives. Artists add to the skills of the guide with their ability to render fact and impressions in their paintings. They give the armchair explorer and hunters themselves a feeling of being there in the combination of peaceful wilderness and thrilling hunt. Nicholas Coleman follows in his father Michael’s footsteps with his interest in painting timeless scenes of early trappers and guides as well Indian encampments in the West. The Moose Hunter shows the hunter heading towards his canoe for an early-morning expedition in the fall. Coleman began painting

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“When creating paintings I take into consideration the composition, lighting, details, and moods of the subject I am painting, with the final results, re-kindling great memories of those that are viewing the art. When purchasing sporting art you should feel a connection to what the artist has portrayed.” — David Ruimveld, artist at his father’s side in Utah, was trained academically, and accompanied his father on pre-dawn deer hunting treks, all of which contribute to the authenticity of his paintings.

Greg Wilson began observing and drawing animals while growing up in Colorado, inspired by his father and his grandfather who taught him to appreciate the animals. He

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2. Nicholas Coleman, The Moose Hunter, oil on panel, 16 x 20". Courtesy The Sportsman’s Gallery, Ltd., and Paderewski Fine Art, Charleston, SC. 3. Julie Askew, Reflection, acrylic on canvas, 12 x 9". Courtesy Trailside Galleries, Jackson, WY, and Scottsdale, AZ. 4. Southeastern Wildlife Exposition, Ubridled, oil on canvas, 60 x 60", by Kathryn Mapes Turner. 5. David Ruimveld, Brothers, acrylic watercolor on canvas, 45 x 65" 6. Greg Wilson, Snake River Royalty, oil, 30 x 48". Courtesy Astoria Fine Art, Jackson Hole, WY. 7. Southeastern Wildlife Exposition, Blind Sight, oil on linen, 24 x 20", by Peggy Watkins. 8. Southeastern Wildlife Exposition, My Dad’s Pointer Bo, bronze, 9 x 7", by Rod Zullo.

spent hours of his free time observing wildlife and going home to draw what he had seen. Now painting animals in their natural habitat, he achieves an honest naturalism from his years of observing. A bull moose and cow are Snake River Royalty, majestic but sniffing the air for danger as they emerge from the safety of the forest. Julie Askew’s moose is almost secondary to the fall scene in Reflection. She comments, “A quiet moment in the Western landscape can be broken in a split second by any number of creatures entering the scene. Here it is a moose, cautiously wandering into view. Is he alone?” The British painter believes firmly in only painting what she has experienced and is an ardent supporter of conservation. The hunter’s prize is, more often, the prey of its neighbors in the wilderness. Ken Carlson paints animals in their

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natural habitat, wary, cautious or stalking. In The Spoils of the Victor a bear is about to enjoy its catch while, at the same time ready to fight off hungry intruders. Carlson has been fascinated by birds and animals since he was a young boy in Minnesota, always observing and drawing. His intense, narrative paintings are the result of years of observing animals in the wild where, once, he was charged by a bull moose. Acute awareness, familiarity and knowledge are qualities of both hunter and artist. In this special collector’s focus, readers will be introduced to a sporting artist and event that promotes wildlife art and conservation. Born and raised in Michigan with a family of fishing and hunting enthusiasts, David Ruimveld spent a good measure of time in the rivers and woods growing up. His pursuit of fly fishing and hunting has taken him from Alaska to the Caribbean and throughout the United States. These journeys are where he gets his inspiration for his paintings. His paintings can be found in many galleries, fly fishing lodges, and in private collections throughout the United States and fly fishing destinations in other countries that offer the sporting lifestyle. Celebrating its 36th annual event in 2018, Southeastern Wildlife Exposition (SEWE) continues to showcase the finest in wildlife and sporting art. Held in Charleston, South Carolina, SEWE is the premier wildlife art show in the East, hosting more than 100

artists annually. The event will open February 16 and close February 18 at multiple venues throughout historic downtown Charleston. VIP events and art previews begin February 15. One painter is selected as Featured Artist each year. Kathryn Mapes Turner has been selected as the 2018 featured artist. Artists honored with this distinction over the years have included Brett Smith, Carl Brenders, Luke Frazier, John Banovich, Dustin Van Wechel and Eldridge Hardie. Joseph Sulkowski will be joining the 2018 show as a guest artist, along with Ezra Tucker, Stefan Savides, Julie Jeppsen and more.

FEATURED

ARTISTS & GALLERIES David Ruimveld 10525 East T Avenue, Vicksburg, MI 49097 (269) 626-8763 [email protected] www.davidruimveldstudio.com

Southeastern Wildlife Exposition February 15-18, 2018 Charleston, SC (843) 723-1748 www.sewe.com

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WESTERN SMALL WORKS AND MINIATURES

SMALL TREASURES BY JOHN O’HERN

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mall works and miniatures can be an introduction to collecting and can fill in gaps in established collections. Their intimacy can evoke a greater closeness to the subject and to the presence of the artist. John Moyers is well known for his large paintings. “I paint what excites me. Maybe for two months all I want to do is landscapes, then maybe Native Americans and then Mexican pieces.” He continues, “The more you paint, the more comfortable you get with the process. Hopefully, I’m improving all the time.” His small, plein air paintings embody the excitement of being on sight and experience the vibrant atmosphere of the Southwest. Old Adobe is 12 by 12 inches. The buildings bake in the sun beneath a steely sky, one with the land they sit on. Jane Shea paints in egg tempera, an ancient technique that suits the natural weathered beauty of the subjects she paints. She admired the work of Andrew Wyeth as a young girl and went to Chadds Ford with the intention of knocking on his door. She lost her courage and, instead, plucked a blade of grass from outside his house, a simple thing she still cherishes today—beauty and memory in the smallest thing. Among her paintings of the old adobe churches in northern New Mexico is Iglesia de la Familia Santa, 5 by 7 inches. It encapsulates the humble presence of the church.

David Grossmann encapsulates a more expansive landscape in First Rays of Light in the Canyon, at 8 by 6 inches. Always without a human presence, his paintings give an impression of place. He spends much of his time outdoors and becomes intimately familiar with the places he paints—often outside and later in his studio. In an interview for this magazine earlier this year, he said, “What I hope comes through clearly in myself and in my work is a feeling of stillness, a sense of peace and beauty. There’s such a harried, fractured sense to life, or there can be. That’s part of why I’m so drawn to sitting outdoors, meditating on beauty and stillness.” Ansell Bray is an avid sportsman, studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, and has had many exhibitions of his paintings and sculpture. He translates his knowledge of fish and game in small sculptures for belt buckles, pins and pendants. As the interest in small works and miniatures grows, museums and galleries have begun offering exhibitions of the small but fine works of art. In the pages of this collector’s focus, readers will be introduced to museums and galleries that count Western miniatures among their works, and to the artists that create them. Brent Cooke of CastArt Studio in Victoria, British Columbia, combines his two favorite activities—photography and sculpture—to

1. John Moyers, Old Adobe, oil on panel, 12 x 12". Courtesy Medicine Man Gallery, Tucson, AZ.

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make a career. “All of my pieces are sparked by  observations out in the field  enjoying hours hiking with my camera searching for subjects and documenting their natural behaviors, then returning to the studio to convert that research material into bronze sculptures,” Cooke says. “I know that many others also see the activities of wildlife that

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I observe, and I think this is what allows people to enjoy my work—it stimulates their own personal experiences or memories of time in nature.” In 1899, Charlie and Nancy Russell bought two lots in Great Falls from Josephine Trigg’s father, Albert J. Trigg. Josephine Trigg became a friend, neighbor and admirer of

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Russell’s talent. The C.M. Russell Museum is proud to present a new permanent exhibition, The Josephine Trigg Collection. This reinstallation, in the original Trigg gallery, maps the life of Josephine, the Trigg family’s unique relationship with both Charlie and Nancy Russell, and how their gifts from Charlie became the foundation of the

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2. Jane Shea, Eglesia de la Familia Santa, egg tempera, 5 x 7". Courtesy Meyer Gallery, Santa Fe, NM. 3. David Grossmann, First Rays of Light in the Canyon, oil on linen panel, 8 x 6". Courtesy Altamira Fine Art, Scottsdale, AZ and Jackson, WY. 4. Modern West Fine Art, Picacho, oil on canvas, 14 x 11", by Billy Schenck. 5. Ansell Bray, Atlantic Salmon, sterling silver and bronze belt buckle, 2¾ x 1¾". Courtesy The Sportsman’s Gallery, Ltd. and Paderewski Fine Art, Charleston, SC. 6. Modern West Fine Art, Valley View Over Oak Creek, acrylic on canvas, 12 x 12", by Shonto Begay. 7. Mountain Oyster Club, Desert Chamisa, acrylic, 8 x 10”, by William Haskell. 8. The Brinton Museum, Prairie Hillside, oil on board, 8 x 10", by Clyde Apsevig. 9. Mountain Oyster Club, Re-Purposed, gouache, 8 x 8", by Nicholas Wilson. 10. The Brinton Museum, River Island, Allegheny, 5 x 1½", by Thomas Paquette. 11. Kim Seyesnem Obrzut, Star, bronze, 14 x 5½ x 5½"

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WESTERN SMALL WORKS AND MINIATURES

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12. Raymond Gibby, Fighting Back, bronze, ed. 50, 5½ x 9 x 3" 13. Mountain Oyster Club, Lost and Found, oil, 8 x 8", by Stephen C. Datz. 14. Trailside Galleries, Chasin’ Rabbits, oil on board, 16 x 12", by Ross Buckland. 15. C.M. Russell Museum, Shadow Rider, 1926, watercolor, pen and ink on paper, by Charles M. Russell (1864-1926). C.M. Russell Museum Collection, gift of the Josephine Trigg Estate. 16. C.M. Russell Museum, Storm on Lake McDonald, 1906, watercolor on paper, by Charles M. Russell (1864-1926). C.M. Russell Museum Collection, gift of the Josephine Trigg Estate. 17. Trailside Galleries, Silent Sanctuary, 16 x 12", by William Suys.

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18. Kim Seyesnem Obrzut, Spring, bronze, 7½ x 6½ x 7" 19. Raymond Gibby, Old Chisholm, bronze, ed. 50, 11 x 13 x 8" 20. Gayle Garner Roski, 2017 Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar V, watercolor, 8½ x 11" 21. Raymond Gibby, Taking a Stand, bronze, ed. 50, 7 x 4 x 4"

C.M. Russell Museum complex and gallery. Included in the Trigg Collection are a number of small works which will be on display in this permanent exhibition. “I have always been enamored with the beauty and majesty of horses. They are such magnificent creatures that symbolize the spirit of freedom and adventure in all of us,” says Gayle Garner Roski of the inspiration for her work. She has had the opportunity to paint one of the greatest thoroughbreds in history— Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. Since then she has been visiting historic racetracks

to create works that capture the excitement of thoroughbred racing. Her related works have been exhibited at Santa Anita Park and Del Mar Racetrack. Raymond Gibby of Gibby Bronze considers his works, “stories told in bronze.” He says, “My visual works allow me to verbally express my thoughts to all who would like to hear them. I have learned to engage a person on their level of interest so that as I explain my work in a way that it may become a delight to them.” “I speak with my hands, the clay becomes

my voice,” Kim Seyesnem Obrzut says of her creations. “My work seeks to capture and symbolize the spirit of my 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.” When restarting her art career in the early 2000s, Kristin Grevich joined a group of daily painters. “We took on the challenge to complete one small painting every day,” she explains. “What a blessing this was. In a few hours you had planned, painted and finished a

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WESTERN SMALL WORKS AND MINIATURES

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small work. Collectors love these small gems. People can always find space for a small piece of original art at a price that most people can afford and cherish.” Modern West Fine Art, located in Salt Lake City, Utah, here features Billy Schenck and Shonto Begay, two artists that typically work in larger formats. “Our focus continues to evolve as we meet the demand of our market’s interest in collecting contemporary works that push the boundaries of Western art. We encourage our collectors to invest in pieces that move them and to consider what makes

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“There is something very personal and intimate about small works, and so I always suggest that collectors look for imagery that has special meaning to them and resonates in their hearts when they acquire smaller-scale paintings.” — Gayle Garner Roski, artist

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FEATURED

ARTISTS & GALLERIES The Brinton Museum 239 Brinton Road, Big Horn, WY 82833 (307) 672-3173 www.thebrintonmuseum.org

CastArt Studio 549 Langvista Drive Victoria, BC, Canada V9B 5N2, (250) 386-5352 [email protected] www.castartstudio.com

C.M. Russell Museum 400 13th Street North Great Falls, Montana 59401 (406) 727-8787 www.cmrussell.org

Gayle Garner Roski (818) 980-0385 [email protected] gaylegarnerroski.com

Gibby Bronze

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22. Kristin Grevich, Nap Time, oil on paper, 9 x 12" 23. Brent Cooke, Bald Eagle, bronze mounted on black granite, 9 x 7 x 7" 24. Brent Cooke, Underwater Waltz, bronze and stainless steel mounted on black granite, 19 x 19 x 23" 25. Gayle Garner Roski, 2017 Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar IV, watercolor, 8½ x 11" 26. Brent Cooke, Reed Raider, bronze mounted on black granite, 24 x 8 x 18" 27. Kristin Grevich, The Teacher, oil on linen panel, 11 x 14"

Raymond Gibby (479) 586-7645 [email protected] www.gibbybronze.com

Kim Seyesnem Obrzut (928) 226-0690 [email protected] www.kimobrzut.com

Kristin Grevich Medina, MN; Grand Rapids, MN (763) 476-8087 [email protected] www.kristingrevichart.com the work unique in the artists’ repertoire,” says gallery director Shalee Cooper. “We support our artists in creating pieces that diversify their bodies of work.” The Mountain Oyster Club brings together 200 local and nationally renowned artists to exhibit their best, new work in the historic setting of the pond mansion. Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres  will be served among the work of the finest traditional and contemporary Western artists at their annual show and sale in Tucson, Arizona, taking place this year on November 19. Beginning November 9, the Brinton Museum presents their holiday invitational THE BRINTON 101. The exhibit features over 300 works of art in a variety of media from 101 artists across the country who were asked

to create artworks in configurations of 8 by 10 inches. A reception to meet the artists takes place on Sunday, November 12, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and the exhibition continues through December 17. With locations in Jackson, Wyoming, and Scottsdale, Arizona, Trailside Galleries features Western works both big and small from renowned artists, including Matt Smith and Ross Buckland. The gallery has been regarded as one of the pre-eminent dealers in American representational art since its founding in 1963, specializing in a rich and varied collection of works by the leading Western, wildlife, figurative, impressionist, and landscape artists in the country.

Modern West Fine Art 177 E. 200 S. Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 (801) 355-3383 [email protected] www.modernwestfineart.com

Mountain Oyster Club Tucson, AZ (520) 792-0319 [email protected] www.mountainoysterclub.com

Trailside Galleries 7330 E. Main Street, Suite 100 Scottsdale, AZ  85251, (480) 945-7751 130 E. Broadway, Jackson Hole, WY 83001 (307) 733-3186, www.trailsidegalleries.com

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UPCOMING SHOW

S HOW LO C AT ION T UC S ON, A Z

Up to 75 works November 18, 2017 Settlers West Galleries 6420 N. Campbell Avenue Tucson, AZ 85718 (520) 299-2607

40 great years

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he Great American West, Settlers West Galleries’ long-running exhibition and sale, returns November 18 to Tucson, Arizona. This year’s show will celebrate a milestone: 40 years of bringing top-quality Western art to Arizona collectors. “This show always starts our season in Arizona with a good step forward,” says Stuart Johnson, owner of Settlers West Galleries. “We really notice artists put forth an extra effort for this show, and we’ve been very successful with it. And this year, with the 40th anniversary, we are seeing the artists showing even more enthusiasim and willingness to be involved and

bring their best work.” Johnson says the show has always been a great opportunity to introduce collectors to a wide range of Western art, from the top artists working—Martin Grelle and Howard Terpning have both been regulars at previous shows—to new up-and-coming artists rising through the ranks today. “We certainly have had the best artists here, whether that’s Howard Terpning or any of the other greats, but we also like to present new talent,” he says. “This year those artists are Brittany Weistling and Kyle Ma, both of whom are young and exceptional artists who are keeping our lineup fresh.”

Teresa Elliott, Horsehead Crossing, oil on panel, 20 x 20"

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Weistling will be showing Living Water, featuring a female figure in a stream. “There’s this concept of interweaving motion and complexity that typified the Baroque period of art where figures were depicted in mid-action and cloth billowed endlessly to create the ’Baroque fold’ as an extension of the subject’s emotion,” she says. “I wanted to pay a little homage to that by painting a dress that takes on a life of its own when submerged in water. I didn’t want to include anything that would date the era so the scene would feel timeless and a bit ambiguous, in keeping with those same Baroque-inspired themes.” Other artists include Christopher Blossom, Mark Boedges, Harley Brown, Ross Buckland, Ken Carlson, C. Michael Dudash, Joni Falk, Bonnie Marris, Kenny McKenna, Scott Tallman Powers, R.S. Riddick, Gladys Roldan-de-Moras, Mian Situ, Tim Solliday, Andy Thomas, Michael Ome Untiedt, Kim Wiggins and many others. William Acheff will be showing a silver revolver against a leather saddle bag hanging against a wall painted in the most distinct shade of green in Packing Fancy Iron, while Oreland Joe will be showing his newest Native American action scene in Bull Bear’s Dog Soldier. Teresa Elliott, whose delicate portraits of cows have long been favorites of Western collectors, will be showing Horsehead Crossing, a portrait of a young calf with horn nubs against a moody and atmospheric background tinted in greens and blues. “Horsehead Crossing is a ford of the Pecos River in West Texas where many cattle and horses perished in the 1860s. Steep banks, briny water and quicksand lay in wait at the river’s crossing for thirsty animals. Horse skulls could be found atop mesquite trees at the ford,” Elliott says. “I painted this calf in remembrance of this historical locale in the desert not far from my studio.” Towering cliffs in national parks are the themes of works by Denis Milhomme and Arizona artist Darcie Peet, who has painted Ember Glow featuring a glowing snow scene

Robert Griffing, “He said it was General Braddock’s horse,” oil on canvas, 30 x 40"

Oreland Joe, Bull Bear’s Dog Soldiers, oil, 48 x 30"

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Michael Ome Untiedt, Ranger Trinity as the Flock Strays, oil, 22 x 30"

William Acheff, Packing Fancy Iron, oil, 24 x 18"

within Monument Valley. Airplane enthusiast and adventurer Ross Buckland will be bringing No Ordinary Days, which shows a small plane passing in front of a magnificent waterfall. Former veterinarian John Fawcett, known for his meticulously detailed scenes with horses, will be bringing the watercolor Last String In, showing a cowboy following behind a grouping

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John Fawcett, Abandoned Dreams, oil, 24 x 36"

of horses, and Abandoned Dreams, showing an aging wagon rotting away on the prairie. “The 2,200-mile trek from the Midwest to Oregon and California was used by nearly 400,000 settlers, miners, farmers and families in the 20 years from 1840 to 1860. Many families did not make the trip successfully due to the hardships of treacherous terrain, sickness from cholera and

scurvy, hypothermia and debilitated animals,” Fawcett says. “Wooden wheels on their wagons would often dry out causing metal rims to fall off, and river crossings were dangerous causing drownings. Indian attacks were common on parts of the trail, and it wasn’t unusual for children to get run over by wagons. For many families they were left with ‘abandoned dreams.’”

Brittany Weistling, Living Water, oil on linen board, 28 x 22"

Painter Robert Griffing, whose large groupings of Native Americans in the northeast of the country are highly collectible and sought after, will be showing “He said it was General Braddock’s horse.” “In 1764 while traveling in the Ohio country, an English officer reported seeing a warrior on a magnificent white horse. He was told it once belonged to General

Braddock, and was taken at the battle of the Monongahela. We know Braddock had four horses shot out from under him, so if he had a white horse it could have been held in reserve to be ridden on the victory march into Ft. Duquesne. But that never happened,” Griffing explains. “A warrior on a beautiful white horse would have drawn a lot attention wherever he went, and people would have questioned how

did he obtain such an animal on the frontier? Certainly not through trade. After Braddock’s defeat, hundreds of horses were now in the hands of the Indians, so the warriors claim could be true.” Fo r a d i re c t l i n k to t he ex h i b it i n g g a l l e r y g o to w w w. we ste r n a r tc o l l e c to r. co m

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S HOW LO C AT ION BI L L I NG S, M T

UPCOMING SHOW Up to 10 works Through October 30, 2017 Stapleton Gallery 104 N. Broadway, Suite 204 Billings, MT 59101, (406) 384-0996 www.stapletongallery.com

KEVIN RED STAR

Crow traditions

Little Crane #2, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 24"

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orses, teepees, buffalos and war shields are all common subjects for Montana-based artist Kevin Red Star, but his Crow heritage gives him an uncommon vantage point for these oft-painted subjects of Western art. Red Star’s paintings are the subject of a solo exhibition at Stapleton Gallery in Billings, Montana. Red Star’s works have a unique sheen to them, with their intense layering and underpainting sometimes portraying paintings within paintings. Viewers can look at the same work several times, and each time, a new element will be revealed. Stapleton Gallery owner Jeremiah Young says, “One does not mistake a painting

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Three Crow Generation, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48"

from Kevin Red Star as being from any other artist. He is telling  the story of Crow people while creating works of timeless quality.” All of Red Star’s paintings begin with a free sketch on paper to flush out his subject, and when he finally moves over to canvas, he does not use a projector or photographic references. Instead, he draws from his cultural knowledge of his people and his own imagination. In Three Crow Generations, a mother, daughter and grandmother squarely face viewers, who will inevitably notice Red Star’s close attention to detail when illustrating their clothing. “Indian culture has in the past been ignored to a great extent. It is for me, as well as for many

other Indian artists, a rich source of creative expression,” Red Star notes. “An intertwining of my Indian culture with contemporary art expression has given me a greater insight concerning my art. I hope to accomplish something for the American Indian and at the same time achieve personal satisfaction in a creative statement through my art.” Kevin Red Star’s solo exhibition will remain on view at Stapleton Gallery in Billings through October 30. Fo r a d i re c t l i n k to t he ex h i b it i n g g a l l e r y g o to w w w. we ste r n a r tc o l l e c to r. co m

Strikes the Enemy, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48"

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S HOW LO C AT ION T UC S ON, A Z

UPCOMING SHOW Up to 15 works Nov. 17-Dec. 3, 2017 Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery 6872 E. Sunrise Drive, Suite 130 Tucson, AZ 85750, (520) 722-7798 www.medicinemangallery.com

STEPHEN C. DATZ

Honeybee Canyon Study, oil, 8 x 12"

Natural Geometry, oil, 12 x 18"

Rewarding journeys

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olorado painter Stephen C. Datz, like most landscape painters, is most at peace in front of the easel and out within nature. For his newest show, opening November 17 at Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery in Tucson, Arizona, the artist has painted some of his favorite locations in the United States—scenery that includes destinations in Utah, Colorado, Arizona and other locations in the Southwest. But instead of painting the hits of these destinations, Datz has turned his attention to some notable B-sides. “I’ve chosen views that I’ve not looked at before. The more you look at places the more you get to know them, and the more you don’t really see them at first glance anymore,” he says. “So for this show I wanted to focus on areas I’ve not painted before, places that have called out to me over the years. These less well-known areas might not be as recognizable, but they are just as stunning.” In Ancient Ways, the painter turns his eye to Canyon de Chelly, a popular painting in Northern Arizona known for its tall canyon

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walls formed into tight S-shaped curves. While many artists have focused on these dramatic cliff faces, Datz focuses on the flat canyon floor and a dry creek bed that runs through it alongside trees with autumn leaves. The cliffs can be seen in the image, but as a secondary element that guides the viewers’ eyes through the top of the image. “This past fall was my first trip to Canyon de Chelly. I had always heard from people and other artists about how beautiful it was, but I’ve never been able to go. So when the calendars, or maybe it was the stars, started lining up I made time to go and see it,” he says. “It’s unusual in that it’s a fairly wide-open canyon in many places. When I was there I really challenged myself to find new views, or even familiar views that I hadn’t seen done before. I was struck by how busy the traffic was in the canyon. There are Jeep tours and horseback tours, and also farmers who have parcels of farm land in the canyon. It’s still a very active place.” With other works, Datz focuses on the quality

of light, especially in Pillar of Community and Natural Geometry, both of which feature earlyevening light that makes red rocks glow with a shimmering clarity. “I painted Natural Geometry not far from where I live her in Grand Junction, Colorado. Because the air is so dry, the winter light is very crisp and clear. It has a quality that is definitely different than summer. It’s bright, but it doesn’t blaze, and everything reacts very different under it,” he says, adding that he often chooses compositions that exemplify interesting shapes found naturally in the wild. “With that one, I loved the way the rocks are kind of cleaved and cracked in very particular ways. There is a pattern, a geometric order, to everything that really fascinates me.” Datz’s new show will be on view through December 3. Fo r a d i re c t l i n k to t he ex h i b it i n g g a l l e r y g o to w w w. we ste r n a r tc o l l e c to r. co m

Ancient Ways, oil, 24 x 24"

Speaking Rock, oil, 8 x 10"

Pillar of the Community, oil, 24 x 24"

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UPCOMING SHOW

S HOW LO C AT ION S COT T S DA L E , A Z

Up to 25 works November 1-15, 2017 Trailside Galleries 7330 E. Main Street, #100, Scottsdale, AZ 85251, (480) 945-7751 www.trailsidegalleries.com

Preserving heritage

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aving spent more than 50 years devoted to preserving and interpreting the American West, Trailside Galleries celebrates that commitment with their new show A View to the West. The exhibition features brand new works from more than 25 Western artists, including Kathleen Dunphy, Marlin Rotach, Mike Desatnick, Robert Duncan and William S. Phillips. Rotach’s watercolor Deep Shadows on the Mesa will be featured in the show. Of his work, he says, “I was fortunate to grow up in the 1950’s when Westerns were the mainstay in movies and television. Like all my childhood friends, we all dreamed of being cowboys riding through those landscapes with spectacular vistas.” Last year, he participated in a trail ride in Moab, Utah, on which much of his recent work is based. “The light, the shapes, the complexity of color from the Canyonland’s mesas was a definite adrenaline rush and just the kind of inspirational   challenge I seek.” This summer’s blistering Northern Californian sun encouraged Dunphy to seek refuge in higher elevations. The rivers and mountain forests she Kathleen Dunphy, Daybreak, oil, 36 x 36"

Mike Desatnick, History Lesson 101, oil, 30 x 36"

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Robert Duncan, Waiting and Watching, oil, 24 x 30"

William S. Phillips, Flying Through Chatsworth, oil on board, 20 x 16"

encountered while on an early-morning walk with her dog prompted her to paint Daybreak. She says, “As the rising sun hit the damp edges of the river, steam rose up into the light and illuminated the start of another beautiful day in the mountains. I leashed up my dog before she could dive in the water

and break the serenity of the scene, then quickly set up my easel to paint a study.” A View to the West  will open November 1 at Trailside Galleries’ Scottsdale, Arizona, location, and on November 11 the gallery will host a reception and open house from 1 to 4 p.m., allowing collectors a chance to view

the body of all new works with many of the participating artists in attendance. The show will remain on view through November 15. Fo r a d i re c t l i n k to t he ex h i b it i n g g a l l e r y g o to w w w. we ste r n a r tc o l l e c to r. co m

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ARTIST FOCUS

High Rise, bronze, 21 x 17 x 14"

Summer School, bronze, 11½ x 10 x 5½"

Ken Rowe

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his has been a big year for Sedona, Arizona-based bronze wildlife sculptor Ken Rowe, but that isn’t surprising as 2017 marks the artist’s 30th anniversary as a sculptor. After numerous anniversary celebrations, Rowe has been named the honorary featured artist of the Mountain Oyster Club during its Contemporary Western Art Show & Sale on November 19. His bronze High Rise, which depicts three Gambel’s quail in flight, will be part of the Tucson, Arizona, club’s permanent art collection. The sculpture, just like all of Rowe’s work, came to life in the field. For the past 20 years he has used live models, beginning with a horse in 1997 and all the way up to a snow leopard living in Alaska in 2017. The majority of Rowe’s subjects reside in the American

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West. He says, even all these years later, he’s still infatuated with the sculpting process, a process that begins with the privilege of being in the field with the animal. “My work isn’t just about an anatomically correct animal, though that is very important to me,” says Rowe. “I strive to capture the animal’s spirit and personality and share it with the viewer. When I sculpt a wolf, I want the viewer to see more than just a wolf. I think I fully understood the importance of fieldwork in 1999 when I was sculpting a 900-pound grizzly bear named Coco. On the third day, I was given permission to touch Coco, and I felt his breath on my body. It was a profound moment that changed my sculpting entirely.” Along with his work being on view at

Rowe Fine Art Gallery in Sedona, collectors can find his pieces at Desert Mountain Fine Art in Scottsdale, Arizona; Mountain Trails Gallery in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Park City, Utah; and at Sage Creek Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Want to See More?

Represented by Rowe Fine Art Gallery 336 SR 179 Suite A-102 | Sedona, AZ 86336 | (928) 282-8877 www.rowegallery.com

/rowegallery @rowegallery4027 @rowegallery

Artist Focus

Silverback, oil on canvas, 14 x 20"

King of the Pride, oil on canvas linen, 24 x 35"

Royal Annes, oil on canvas, 16 x 12"

Jerry Venditti

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his is it,” says artist Jerry Venditti. “It’s not about anyone; it’s about everyone. Be part of a face of change!” Venditti creates his own vibrant style that takes one beyond the canvas—no subject too insignificant to be treated with reference and perfection. He pursued his love of art under the mentorship of renowned art teachers in the San Francisco Bay area. Venditti’s work is collected privately, internationally and corporately. He is a member of Artists for Conservation (Nature Artists), one of the world’s leading groups of artists supporting the environment and was selected

this year as one of 84 artists to participate in the international exhibit in China. He also was a featured artist at the Jane Goodall International Symposium for Conservation Art. Venditti works with environmental foundations in Africa and is passionate in bringing attention and awareness to the plight of the earth’s endangered species—from the towering to the tiny, beasts to insects—which are on a dangerous precipice. His wildlife paintings, such as Silverback and King of the Pride, shed light on the threads of nature we are tragically losing forever if these fellow creatures are allowed to perish, he says. Venditti and his wife, Deenie, are collaborating

with a nonprofit foundation, A Face of Change, to travel to Africa. Venditti’s work is his spiritual endeavor. Anywhere you are, his fine art vistas vibrate to the heart, mind and soul of your being... bringing with them a chance for a fuller, grandeur moment. He is represented by Castle Gallery in Fort Wayne, Indiana; the Louvre Gallery in Grass Valley, California; and Lawrence Gallery in Portland, Oregon.

Want to See More? [email protected] www.jerryvenditti.com

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MUSEUM PREVIEW

Clash of Cultures A new exhibition at the Sid Richardson Museum examines the legacy of conflicts between Native Americans and those who traveled West.

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hen Western visitors—cowboys, soldiers, settlers and explorers— made their way into the heart of the country and beyond, their sudden arrival sent shockwaves through Native American tribes that were protective of their lands and their ways of life. This fragile new balance in the American West serves as the main theme of a new exhibition, Legacy, now open at the Sid Richardson Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. “With the settling of the West by so many different kinds of people, from cowboys to explorers, indigenous people were at the center of a lot of conflict as people moved into the West. We wanted to explore how artists depicted this important theme,” says Mary Burke, the director

of the museum. “It’s such a sensitive subject, and so we made a choice early on to really focus on the lives of the people—they aren’t people that exist in the past; they are real people living today. And what happened to the Native people who were driven from their homelands had repercussions that are still felt today.” The exhibition draws from many works in the permanent collection, including major works from Charles M. Russell, who frequently offered dignified and sensitive portrayals of Native Americans in his highly regarded and celebrated works in both oil and watercolor. In Bringing Up the Trail, Russell paints several figures on horseback, their reflections mirrored in the glassy surface of a pool of standing water.

Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), Bringing Up the Trail, 1895, oil on canvas

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Packs on the horses suggest a hunting part, or even moving day as the tribe relocates to a new camp on the prairie. In the Wake of the Buffalo Runners, one of the few pieces on loan from a private collection, features a similar scene, but with one stunning difference in a female figure who is proudly standing on her horse to catch the last light of the day. “The color just radiates perfectly from the scene. People really respond to the color and the treatment of the light of the sun upon the land. The whole painting just glows,” Burke says. “Russell showed a real sensitivity to this whole Blackfoot family. And he gave great dignity to the female character. She’s standing, which means she’s elevated and given an

MUSEUM PREVIEW

Peter Moran (1841-1914), Indian Encampment, ca. 1880-1881, oil on panel

Oscar E. Berninghaus (1874-1952), The Forty-niners, before 1942, oil on canvas

idea of different people traveling to the West, from the miners and their humble burro to the stagecoach with its team of horses.” Other works include Frank Tenney Johnson’s Trouble on the Pony Express, showing two riders confronting each other near the banks of a river, and two works from notable Western artists who aren’t seen as regularly as Russell or Johnson: Peter Moran’s panoramic Indian Encampment and William Gilbert Gaul’s The Pow-Wow, which shows several Native American figures gathered near a teepee. “This exhibition is also a great opportunity to introduce visitors to our wonderful collection,” Burke says. “It’s a starting point to so much more—to cattle, to the land, to the entrepreneurial spirit of the West.”

Legacy

Through September 9, 2018 Sid Richardson Museum, 309 Main Street, Fort Worth, TX 76102 (817) 332-6554, www.sidrichardsonmuseum.org

Fort Worth

authority and prominence in the painting.” In The Forty-niners, Oscar E. Berninghaus paints a dramatic scene of the massive scope of the settling of the West, from miners in their tattered clothes and lone cowboys to oxen-pulled covered wagons and faster horsedrawn stagecoaches. This early Berninghaus piece should thrill fans of the artist, who is primarily known for his work in Taos, New Mexico. “Berninghaus did a lot of work for the Anheuser-Busch company because he was from St. Louis, where the company was based. He did a lot of murals, and his earlier work was more reminiscent to these sorts of scenes,” Burke says. “The likelihood that all of these things—gold miners, stagecoach and wagon—would have appeared in one scene was unlikely, but he was trying to convey an

William Gilbert Gaul (1855-1919), The Pow-Wow, ca. 1890, oil on canvas

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MUSEUM PREVIEW

Tiny Treasures The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum’s wintertime fundraiser features small-scale paintings and sculpture by more than 100 artists.

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he 12th annual Small Works, Great Wonders exhibition and sale at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City will include smallscale paintings and sculptures by more than 100 emerging and established artists. The museum fundraiser highlights works depicting contemporary and traditional Western subjects, with paintings limited to 16 by 20 inches and sculpture being no larger than 20 inches in height, width and depth. “We present quality art, but the nature of the size of the art puts it in a more affordable category,” says Susan Patterson, the museum’s curator of special exhibits. “It’s a great place for someone who may want to start collecting, but going to a big art sale can be a bit intimidating. This is a comfortable, causal evening where people often

get their first taste [for art collecting]…Many of the artists [participating] are Prix de West artists, so we feel the quality of the show is at the top, and gives seasoned collectors the chance to pick up work by their favorite artists as well.” This year’s Small Works, Great Wonders takes place November 10 at 6 p.m., with the fixed-price draw beginning at 7 p.m. A proxy service is available for collectors unable to attend the opening, and a catalog of the artwork will be available online in early November. Patterson adds that collectors enjoy the “cash-and-carry” aspect of the show, where they take their purchased works home with them the same evening. Any paintings that have gone unsold will remain on view through November 26, with collectors able to purchase the pieces at any time during the exhibit.

Billy Schenck, Solitario #4, oil on canvas, 16 x 20"

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Allen Eckman, Blackfoot Chief — Warrior in the Wind, cast-paper sculpture, 20 x 16 x 4½"

There will be a number of new participants in the show including Julie T. Chapman, Teresa Elliott, Laura Robb, Suchitra Bhosle, Jan Martin McGuire, Adam Smith, John Taft and Kathy Tate. There also will be works in the show from William Haskell, Edward Aldrich, Jerry Markham, Allen Eckman and Billy Schenck, to name a few. Aldrich’s animal portrait Pensive is one of the pieces available in the sale. “Pensive is one of those images that is all about the expression of the animal. Many people who have canine companions can relate to the expression of these animals when they are laying down, head on paws with that faraway look in their eyes,” says Aldrich. “It is no different with the wild members of this species. Another aspect that drew me to this image was the partial backlighting. This effect creates a halo effect that is compelling and really fun to paint. This interplay of light and shadow draws the viewer in and makes for dynamic imagery.” Haskell’s tornado painting Uproar is another on view. “I use the tornado symbolically in my work to represent the changes that we are all experiencing in our lives. These changes can be good or bad, but we all experience these disruptions,” he says. “Many of my paintings are about my past, as is Uproar, having grown

MUSEUM PREVIEW

William Haskell, Uproar, acrylic on panel, 9 x 12"

up in the Midwest experiencing things like the small family farm and tornados among other things, I wanted to create an homage to the Midwest, which plays such an important

role in our daily lives and has such a rich and stalwart heritage.” In addition to the sale, the museum store will host a Holiday Open House from 5 to

8 p.m. Reservations to attend Small Work, Great Wonders are suggested, with tickets costing $65 for members and $75 for the general public.

Small Works, Great Wonders

November 10-26, 2017

• Museum Store Holidy Open House, November 10, 5-8 p.m. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 Northeast 63rd Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73111 Edward Aldrich, Pensive, oil, 14 x 20"

(405) 478-2250 nationalcowboymuseum.org/ smallworks

Oklahoma City

• Art Preview & Reception, November 10, 6-9 p.m., with fixedprice draw beginning at 7 p.m.

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EVENT PREVIEW

Natural Splendor Artists head to Zion National Park in Utah to create plein air art.

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uring the week of November 6 to 12, two dozen landscape artists will converge on Zion Canyon for the ninth annual Zion National Park Plein Air Invitational. Hosted by the park’s non-profit partner, the Zion Natl Park Forever Project, the invitational is intended to inspire and educate visitors about the park as well as raise funds for the park’s future. This year’s featured artist is James McGrew of Lake Oswego, Oregon, and his oil painting Eternal Majesty appears on all of the event’s promotional materials. Visitors can see and interact with McGrew and other artists throughout the week during free one-hour painting demonstrations. On November 11, all artists will be present for a paint out and sale on the Great Lawn while a silent auction takes place in the Zion Lodge. “I love the diversity of subjects. You can be right along the Virgin River and its dramatic vertical walls on either side with the light reflecting off the walls onto the river, or you can be on the east end with the dramatic sandstone ‘sculptures’ carved by wind and rain,” says participating artist Cody DeLong. He often arrives at the event a few days early to enjoy the park. “Wherever I paint in Zion I am in a constant state of awe.” For Michele Usibelli, the event is an opportunity to escape from a hectic everyday life. “I will always make time to escape to the magical, beautiful and inspirational Zion National Park,” she says.

Kimbal Warren painting en plein air.

2017 featured artist James McGrew and Michele Usibelli at the 2016 event. Steve Stauffer paints in Zion National Park.

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EVENT PREVIEW

James McGrew, Eternal Majesty, oil, 40 x 30”

Joshua Been, Vertigo, oil

This year, the event is mixing things up, sending artists farther down the canyon to the historic Grotto House to paint, in addition to painting at the park’s Human History Museum. “It will be interesting to see how the artists face the challenge of trying to depict something new,” says event chair Miriam Watson. The plein air paintings produced during the week will go on sale during an invitationonly gala and reception on Friday, November 10. The show and sale is open to the public on November 11 and 12.

Zion National Park Plein Air Invitational Zion National Park, Zion National Park Road, Springdale, UT 84767 www.zionnationalpark.com Michele Usibelli, Approaching Zion, oil

Springdale

November 6-12; November 11-12, show and sale

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MUSEUM/EVENT PREVIEW

Citywide Participation Venues throughout Easton, Maryland, host events and artist galleries as part of the annual Waterfowl Festival.

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ovember 10 to 12, the annual Waterfowl Festival will take place in Easton, Maryland, bringing together some of the finest wildlife and sporting art from around the country. Featured will be 80 artists, who will exhibit their work in 10 galleries and pavilions at various venues around the city. Kicking off the festivities is the VIP preview event benefitting the Waterfowl Chesapeake, which aides in the conservation of the Chesapeake Bay region. It all begins on November 9 with an opening ceremony at 4 p.m. where the 2017 Hall of Fame Awards will be presented and the new Federal Duck Stamp winning artist is introduced. The premier party will happen from 4:30 to 9 p.m. where attendees will have a preview of this year’s artwork and have the chance to mingle with the artists. Also happening during the party is the “Fin, Fowl and Farm” tasting tour and open bar at each downtown gallery. At 7 p.m. will be the “Decoy in a Glass” auction where one lucky bidder has the chance to take home a miniature carving piece, a “cocktail decoy,” in support of the Waterfowl’s Perry Scholarship Fund. Participating in this year’s show are artists such as Roger Dale Brown, Beverly Ford Evans, Mark Madden, David Robbins, Herb Watson, Kathryn Ashcroft, Adele Earnshaw, Lisa Egeli, Grant Hacking, Jill Basham, C. Keith

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Artists’ works on display at the Art at the Armory gallery.

MUSEUM/EVENT PREVIEW

Clockwise from top left: Julia Roger’s feature art piece The Long Stretch; David Lanier, Side By Side; Cathy Sheeter, Master of the Marsh

Whitelock, Joel Boches and more. Each year, the exhibition also selects a featured artist of the exhibition, with Easton native Julia Rogers being bestowed the honor for 2017. “We are excited and thrilled to have Julia, such an accomplished local painter, as the first woman to be our featured artist for this year’s festival,” says Margaret Enloe, the fair’s executive director. “She is an amazingly

A wooden trout sculpture by Joe Waldroup.

talented artist and has an eye for color and movement, exemplified so well in her painting of trumpeter swans, The Long Stretch. We couldn’t be happier to welcome her this November as our Featured Artist.” Rogers, whose painting The Long Stretch is the featured piece for the show, first participated in the Waterfowl Festival in 1979 while she was still in high school. “I am humbled by the invitation to be featured at the Waterfowl Festival,” she says. “They have had a longtime mission to making our environment remain and be restored to a habitat that encourages wildlife and clean water. I like to combine my efforts and make a difference with conservation of wildlife

whenever possible. I am an artist first, but I am aware of what a privilege it is to observe and record the beauty of our natural world.” Other events taking place during the Waterfowl Festival include a conservation mural project, retriever and raptor demonstrations, the World Waterfowl Calling Contest, and kids’ art activities. Tickets to all three days of the Waterfowl Festival can be purchased for $15 prior to October 31 and for $20 after or onsite. A complete schedule of weekend festivities, a venue map and more is available on the event website.

Waterfowl Festival November 10-12, 2017 • November 9: Opening Ceremony, 4 p.m. • Premiere Night Party, 4:30-9 p.m. Easton, MD www.waterfowlfestival.org

Easton

• “Decoy in a Glass” Auction, 7 p.m.

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MUSEUM REPORT

Strong Showings With 50 prominent artists and more than 150 works, the Quest for the West returned to the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapoplis.

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ow in its 12th year, the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis once again welcomed Western painters and sculptors to its galleries for the Quest for the West exhibition and sale. The show, which featured more than 50 artists and 150 works, opened with blockbuster sales, including an inaugural and nearly sold out miniatures presentation, as well as the full exhibition that generated more than $960,000 in sales—$1 million depending on how you like to round up. More than 400 patrons were on hand to welcome and mingle with the artists. Events included an opening night reception during the miniatures presentation, the by-draw sale, a banquet and awards ceremony, and the grand opening of Quest artist P.A. Nisbet’s solo exhibition, Light, Space and Power: The Art of P.A. Nisbet. Rather than hosting an art demonstration, this year’s show featured spirited artist discussions that paired two artists together to chat about major works from the museum’s permanent collection. Jay Moore and Joseph McGurl spoke about a Thomas Moran Grand Canyon landscape, Brenda Murphy and Krystii Melaine chatted about an Ernest L. Blumenschein work, Sandy Scott and Scott Rogers spoke about a Frederic Remington bronze, Andy Thomas and C. Michael Dudash examined a Frank Tenney Johnson nocturne, and Logan Maxwell Hagege and Howard Post spoke about a Maynard Dixon work. Post joked to the audience: “I don’t think it’s worthy to be here in the museum, so I’m going to offer to take it home and store it,” he said. Before and after the bugle fanfare that marked the end of bidding during the sale, artists were in high spirits as they chatted with guests and watched as bids were deposited into boxes next to each paintings,

apolis, home The Eiteljorg Museum in Indian

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of the Quest for the West.

John Moyer’s The Way to Sacred Water, winner of the Harrison Eiteljorg Purchase Award.

and later pulled randomly during the draw. “It’s going great. We love this show,” sculptor Curt Mattson says. “You know, there’s no show that’s going that I’ve been to where they facilitate being able to meet the collector and the quality of the art is just so good. So we’re thrilled. We’re having a great time and the art is wonderful.” Award winners were Jerry Jordan for the Victor Higgins Work of Distinction for his body of presented works, Jay Moore won the Henry Farny Award for painting, Tim Cherry was honored with the Cyrus Dallin Award for sculpture, John Buxton won the patron’s choice award, Glenn Dean won the artist’s choice award, and John Moyers won the Harrison Eiteljorg Purchase Award, a major follow-up to his museum purchase award at the Autry Museum of the American West earlier this year. Post also won the Artist of Distinction Award, which means he gets a solo exhibition at next year’s Quest for the West. Post is going to have a busy year—it will be his fourth solo museum show in 2018.

MUSEUM REPORT

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1. P.A. Nisbet and his wife Rose. 2. C. Michael Dudash with one of his sold-out pieces. 3. Gil Waldman and Christy Vezolles, left, with Eiteljorg Museum CEO John Vanausdall. 4. John Fawcett, left, Robert Griffing and George Hallmark in the Quest gallery. 5. Glenn and Suzanne Dean in front Glenn’s artist’s choice winner. 6. Miniatures on display opening night. 7. Gladys Roldan-deMoras, left, greets guests. 8. Artist Rox Corbett with collector David Hummel. 9. The nearly sold out miniature presentation. 10. P.A. and Rose Nisbet, left, with painters John and Terri Kelly Moyers. 11. First-time Quest artist David Grossmann. 12. Logan Maxwell Hagege, left, Mark Maggiori and Glenn Dean.

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EVENT REPORT

A Grand Time Dozens of artists turn out to paint the Grand Canyon and celebrate the famous Arizona landmark.

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he beauty of the Grand Canyon—and there is an abundance of beauty—is that an artist can form a little rectangle with their fingers, stretch their arms out in front of them and point their makeshift frame at the canyon, and no matter where they look they have a painting. And then from that point— up, down, left and right—there are even more paintings. The volume of scenery to take in is so immense that the problem is not choosing what to paint, but choosing what not to paint. These are great problems to have for artists who participated in this year’s Celebration of Fine Art on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon on September 15 and 16 in Northern Arizona. The annual show brings out dozens of artists to paint, celebrate and raise money for the Grand Canyon, one of the most treasured national parks in America, and one recognized around the world. This year’s show featured an artist reception, art workshops and demonstrations, a plein air quick draw on the rim trail that features an endless variety of scenic views, the quick draw live auction and a special

Crowds gather in the Kolb Studio on the edge of the Grand Canyon.

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A plein air artist paints the Grand Canyon during the Grand Canyon Celebration of Art. Photo by Terri Attridge.

collector’s reception and sale that also featured an awards ceremony. This year’s top award winners were James McGrew, who won the peoples’ choice award; Bruce Gomez won the artists’ choice award; first-year attendee Lyn Boyer won the collectors’ choice award; and Elizabeth Black won the best in show. Sales totaled more than $169,000, more than $40,000 of which came from the quick draw. Show coordinator Kathy Duley says that sales were so good that they topped last year’s sale by more than $25,000. “We exceeded our expectations, which is always wonderful. It was a beautiful show, with some really terrific artists,” she says. “The artists love the show, and they love being up there on the rim challenging themselves as they paint the canyon. So many of them tell us it’s their favorite plein air event that they participate in.” The Grand Canyon Association, the organizer of the event, is currently trying to raise funds and making initial plans to eventually have a permanent art space and museum located on the South Rim. The museum would house art events and the Grand Canyon’s permanent art collection, which includes major works by Curt Walters, P.A. Nesbit and Thomas Moran, one of the most famous artists to ever paint at the canyon. These efforts were complicated when a water pipe ruptured in the canyon prior to the show. Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Christine Lehnertz told guests that, because of the excessive repairs needed on the water pipe elsewhere in the park, the museum would be a “heavy lift” that would need to be pushed along by donors, art enthusiasts and events like the Grand Canyon Celebration of Art. “It’s going to be a long road, but we’ll get there,” Lehnertz told guests. For more information about the association and events at the canyon, visit www.grandcanyon.org.

1. Bill Cramer paints a landscape. 2. Painters Bruce Gomez and Rachel Pettit with Grand Canyon Superintendent Christine Lehnertz. 3. Best of show winner Elizabeth Black. 4. Artists capture the canyon in paint. Photo by Terri Attridge. 5. Aaron Schuerr works on a pastel piece. 6. First-year attendee Lyn Boyer. 7. Joshua Been, wearing a wig-like hat, paints the canyon near the edge. 8. Marcia Molnar with several of her canyon pieces. 9. Ron Larson’s finished painting. 10. Michelle Condrat with one of her abstracted landscapes.

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EVENT REPORT

Panoramic view of the Grand Canyon at sunset.

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AUCTION PREVIEW

Raymond Jonson (1891-1982), Untitled (New Mexico Vista), 1925, oil on canvas, 25¼ x 30” Estimate: $60/100,000

Santa Fe Modern New Mexico modernist works are highlights of the Santa Fe Art Auction on November 11.

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anta Fe is known for its rich Western and Native American traditions, but also its cutting-edge art from some of the leading American modernists. Those two aspects of The City Different will be seen together in the Santa Fe Art Auction on November 11. “We do have some particularly strong lots for New Mexico modernism, whether it’s Raymond Jonson or Andrew Dasburg. We’ve seen some standout pieces sell at online sales

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throughout the last year, so we’re very excited to bring them to auction. This is a genre that our buyer base has really responded to very strongly,” says Jenna Kloeppel, administrative director for the Santa Fe Art Auction. “But then we also have some more traditional pieces, including a really great collection of Cowboy Artists of America works that are going to be on the market for the first time since they were purchased at CA shows in the 1990s. We have

works by William Moyers, Frank McCarthy, Howard Terpning, Charlie Dye and Gary Niblett. There will be something for everyone.” Highlights in the 250-lot sale include Terpning’s Native American portrait The Eyes of Winter, estimated at $75,000 to $100,000, and an Arnold Friberg work Silver and Gold, estimated at $50,000 to $70,000, which shows Friberg’s distinct rendering of later-afternoon sunlight. “What struck me most was the

AUCTION PREVIEW

Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953), Lorenzo Martinez (Bull Breath), oil on canvas, 18 x 12” Estimate: $50/70,000

Howard Terpning, The Eyes of Winter, oil on board, 12 x 9” Estimate: $75/100,000

Santa Fe

Thomas Crotty (1934-2015), Chama River at Abiquiu (triptych), 2011, oil on canvas, 54 x 90 x 1” Estimate: $90/120,000

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Sheldon Parsons (1866-1943), Taos Road, oil on canvas, 16 x 18” Estimate: $12/18,000

lighting. It’s almost luminescent when you see it in person,” Kloeppel says. “It just pops off the canvas with these remarkable colors.” Two other Western highlights include Dye’s The Rustler, estimated at $30,000 to $50,000, and McCarthy’s action-packed Cheyenne, estimated at $50,000 to $70,000. Notable modernist works, and there are many, include two Jonson works—Untitled (New Mexico Vista), estimated at $60,000 to $100,000, and The Night, Chicago, estimated at $80,000 to $120,000—as well as several pieces by Emil Bisttram, the most prominent being the landscape Red Rain, estimated at

Andrew Dasburg (1887-1979), Red Lands Orchard, 1960, pastel on paper, 17 x 22” Estimate: $15/25,000

$40,000 to $60,000. “With Jonson’s New Mexico piece, the perspective is remarkable, and you really get a sense for Jonson’s mastery of this skewed perspective with the combination of curved lines and the, maybe not chaotic, but staged, effect of his composition…And The Night, Chicago is really a standout piece, something that is really atypical for what a lot of our buyers and consignors would expect from this sale. It is a deco piece from Jonson’s time in Chicago and the colors just shine—you wouldn’t know this painting was almost 100 years old—and there is nothing quite like it in the auction,” Kloeppel

says. “Red Rain is a very straightforward landscape, but a closer look does reveal a lot of these really great geometric shapes and patterns that align with some of Bisttram’s more modern pieces. It’s an exceptional work.” The sale will also feature a number of Dasburg works, including three pieces that showcase the artist’s delicate paint application: Red Lands Orchard (est. $15/25,000), Untitled (Village Landscape) (est. $12/18,000) and Valley Fields from Llano Quemado (est. $12/18,000). “These are later-era Dasburg pieces, and they are extremely desirable to collectors who are looking out for works with these nice

Bert Geer Phillips (1868-1956), Corn Dance, Santo Domingo Pueblo (triptych), ca. 1920s, oil on board, 4 x 6” (each panel) Estimate: $30/50,000

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AUCTION PREVIEW

Frank McCarthy (1924-2002), Cheyenne, oil on canvas, 32 x 40” Estimate: $50/70,000

muted pastel colors. The untitled piece is especially wonderful because you can see the influence of Cézanne. It’s magnificent to see his strengths, this minimalist and cubist aesthetic, applied to the landscapes of northern New Mexico,”  explains Kloeppel. “Dasburg is one of the more international

Other artists in the sale include modernist Kenneth Adams, printmaker Gustave Baumann, landscape painter Doel Reed, cowboy artist Peter Hurd and Taos painter Sheldon Parsons, as well as contemporary Western painters Michael Cassidy, Luke Frazier and Woody Gwyn. Kloeppel says buyers and sellers she’s spoken to seem enthusiastic about the market and are hopeful that Western art will continue its climb upward. “We’ve seen in other Western art auctions that the market has certainly picked up. Being at the Jackson Hole Art Auction recently we saw strong very strong sales,” she says. “We’re in a unique spot as the last major Western art auction of the calendar year. It really gives us a perspective on all the other major sales. And right now all indications suggest we’re in for a strong sale.”

Santa Fe Art Auction November 11, 2017, 1:30 p.m. 1011 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, NM 87501, (505) 954-5780 www.santafeartauction.com

Santa Fe

artists who came to New Mexico and you see his influences, including those from France, in his paintings during this time.” Two important Taos works available are Joseph Henry Sharp’s Lorenzo Martinez (Bull Breath) (est. $50/70,000), which shows a former governor of the Taos Pueblo, and Bert Geer Phillips’ triptych Corn Dance, Santo Domingo Pueblo (est. $30/50,000), which shows the famous ceremony that still occurs today every August 4. “This event was then, and still today, open to the public, and when Phillips painted this tourism would have been a major thing in the area because of the railroads, which brought visitors to northern New Mexico,” Kloeppel says. “Corn Dance was painted for the Salmagundi Club in New York City, as part of its Thumb Box exhibition. It’s a very special piece.” Another triptych in the sale is Thomas Crotty’s 1911 oil Chama River at Abiquiu, which shows a prominent point that overlooks the Chama River in one of New Mexico’s most iconic areas. The painting took several years to complete and was in the possession of a close friend of the artist.

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AUCTION PREVIEW

Mastered Lands Major landscapes from Thomas Moran are highlights of Christie’s American art sale in New York.

Thomas Moran (1837-1926), Zion Valley, South Utah, 1914, oil on canvas, 21½ x 42” Estimate: $2/3 million

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ive works by Thomas Moran, including one major oil and another major watercolor, are being offered in Christie’s November 21 American sale in New York. “I’m a bit of a Moran fanatic, so I’m very excited to talk about these pieces, especially the watercolors,” says Tylee Abbott, Christie’s Western art specialist. “To find just one of these watercolors is exciting, but three is incredible.” The watercolor is Morning Glory Pool, Yellowstone, which carries an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. It was conceived during Moran’s 1871 trip West with Ferdinand V. Hayden, who later compiled a report that included several Moran paintings and William Henry Jackson’s photographs.

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The report eventually led to the creation of Yellowstone National Park in 1872, which makes Yellowstone paintings from Moran in the early 1870s highly collectible. “Watercolors by Moran are rare. Yellowstone watercolors are even rarer. Early works are rarer still. And a work in this condition makes it even rarer—it could have been painted yesterday and yet it’s nearly 150 years old,” Abbott says. “Moran was one of the foremost American watercolorists; to have this piece is really wonderful.” The Moran oil, Zion Valley, South Utah, is also going to command a huge sum, and could likely be the star of the auction. It’s estimated at $2 to $3 million. The 1914 painting originated during a trip West in 1873, two years after

Moran’s previous trip to Yellowstone. During the 1873 expedition, Moran went by rail to Salt Lake City, then over to Green River before heading south through Utah and eventually to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. During the trip south, he stopped in what is now Zion National Park and Springdale, Utah. Abbott says the Moran pieces will have wide crossover appeal among bidders. “Moran occupies a unique place. He’s a Western artist but also a 19th-century landscape painter, so he has a broad interest among collectors,” he says. Other works in the sale include Joseph Henry Sharp’s Wyoming Encampment (est. $100/150,00), Henry Farny’s watercolor and gouache After the Hunt (est. $200/300,000)

AUCTION PREVIEW

Thomas Moran (1837-1926), Morning Glory Pool, Yellowstone, 1873, watercolor and gouache on paper, 9¼ x 13¾” Estimate: $300/500,000

Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953), Wyoming Encampment, 1907, oil on canvas, 20 x 30” Estimate: $100/150,000

Henry Farny (1847-1916), After the Hunt, 1901, watercolor and gouache on paper laid down on board, 12¼ x 7¾” Estimate: $200/300,000

and Eanger Irving Couse’s The Chimayo Blanket (est. $120/180,000). In addition to the live sale on November 21, Christie’s will also offer an online sale from November 14 to 21. Works in the online portion include William Acheff’s Zuni Past (est. $20/30,000), Olaf Wieghorst’s Roping a Maverick (est. $30/50,000) and Wilson Hurley’s The Grand Canyon of the Colorado (est. $20/30,000).

Christie’s American Art Sale November 21, 2017

Eanger Irving Couse (1866-1936), The Chimayo Blanket, ca. 1916, oil on canvas, 24 x 29” Estimate: $120/180,000

New York

20 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020, (212) 636-2000, www.christies.com

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AUCTION PREVIEW

New Mexico Treasures Masterpieces from Taos artists hit the auction block November 13 during Sotheby’s American art sale.

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orks from five members of the Taos Society of Artists, including three Taos Founders, will be major highlights in Sotheby’s American art sale November 13 in New York City. The big standout is Oscar E. Berninghaus’ Crowd at Horse Race—Taos, N. Mex, a 1946 oil featuring a group of onlookers who have come to a desolate stretch of desert to watch an unseen horse race; the back of the painting says the event is “during San Geronimo Festivities in September, each year.” The work is estimated at $600,000 to $800,000, and if it sells within those estimates it will be the best selling Berninghaus in more than nine years. The work bears some resemblance to the Taos artist’s auction record, The Pueblos Await the Dancers, which sold in 2008 for more than $1.4 million. Both works feature an arrangement of dozens of figures in the lower half of the painting with a stunning landscape in the top half. Also available will be Ernest L.

Ernest L. Blumenschein (1874-1960), Eagle Nest Lake, 1933, oil on canvas, 28½ x 37¼” Estimate: $300/500,000

Maynard Dixon (1875-1946), Canyon Ranch, oil on canvas, 25 x 301/8” Estimate: $150/250,000

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E. Martin Hennings (1886-1956), Untitled (Portrait of Frank Samora), ca. 1924, oil on canvasboard, 141/8 x 141/8” Estimate: $60/80,000

AUCTION PREVIEW Oscar E. Berninghaus (1874-1952), Crowd at Horse Race—Taos, N. Mex, 1946, oil on canvas, 30½ x 34” Estimate: $600/800,000

to $80,000. Other works in the sale include Edgar Payne’s landscape Canyon de Chelly (est. $60/80,000) and Maynard Dixon’s landscape Canyon Ranch (est. $150/250,000), which was shown at various galleries and exhibits from 1942 to 1946.

Sotheby’s American Art Sale November 13, 2017 1334 York Avenue New York, NY 10021 (212) 606-7000 www.sothebys.com

New York

Victor Higgins (1884-1949), Adobe and Wagon, ca. 1915-16, oil on canvas, 14 x 147/8” Estimate: $30/50,000

Blumenschein’s Eagle Nest Lake, a 1933 oil estimated at $300,000 to $500,000. The landscape, with its crystalline blue reflections in the water’s surface, could come within striking distance of the Taos Founder’s second best auction lot, The Red War Bonnet, which sold in 2006 for $436,800. His auction record is White Blanket and Blue Spruce, a lot that sold in 2011 for more than $1.5 million. The Couse offering, a simple landscape measuring 16 inches tall, is Indian/Horse/ Teepee, estimated at $25,000 to $35,000, while the Victor Higgins work, Adobe and Wagon, is estimated at $30,000 to $50,000. E. Martin Hennings’ Untitled (Portrait of Frank Samora) is expected to fetch $60,000

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AUCTION PREVIEW

Classic Examples Historic Western art from a Midwestern museum highlights Leslie Hindman Auctioneers’ two-day Arts of the American West sale.

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cross two days, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers is some of these pieces have some exhibition history,” will bring to market more than 535 lots of says Maron Hindman, of the auction house. Western and Native American art in an “…[I]t’s always nice to have that provenance to array of price points and categories. Featured go with the piece. [Collectors will be interested will be both historic and contemporary in] not only the exhibition history, but the fact pieces, with property from a Midwestern that it was museum consignment.” museum being among the highlights. The Among the highlights from the collection, with a strong showing of historic group is Couse’s Sacred Rain Bowl works, includes pieces by Eanger Irving Couse, (est. $100/150,000); Leigh’s The Roper Frank Tenney Johnson, O.C. Seltzer, William R. (est. $100/150,000); and Johnson’s Rocky Leigh, Edgar Samuel Paxson, Herman Wendelborg Steeps (est. $40/60,000). “The major works are Hansen, Olaf Wieghorst, Frank McCarthy, Charles very classic examples, particularly the Couse, which Henry Humphriss, Harry Jackson and others. depicts a Native American in a pueblo with a Charles Loloma (Hopi, 1921-1991), “What’s exciting about this [property] polychrome olla, some sort of rattle, Multi Color Stained Glass Window, 1980, 50" diameter. Estimate: $10/20,000

Frank Tenney Johnson (1871-1939), Rocky Steeps, oil on canvas, 20¼ x 14¼". From a Midwest Museum. Estimate: $40/60,000

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William R. Leigh (1866-1955), The Roper, oil on board, 28 x 22". Property from a Midwest Museum. Estimate: $100/150,000

AUCTION PREVIEW Eanger Irving Couse (1866-1936), Sacred Rain Bowl, oil on canvas, 24½ x 29¼". Property from a MidwesteMuseum. Estimate: $100/150,000

Charlie Dye (1906-1972), Brush Popping, oil on board, 17 x 23½”. Property from a Midwest Museum. Estimate: $20/30,000

Arts of the American West November 5-6, 2017 Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, 1024 Cherokee Street, Suite 200, Denver, CO 80204 (303) 825-1855, www.lesliehindman.com

Denver

a fire glowing,” says Hindman. “It’s very typical for a Couse.” In total, there will be more than 100 lots of Western art, with a number of other noteworthy items from outside the institution collection. Lots include a Fremont Ellis work titled Horses in Santa Fe Canyon (est. $25/35,000); G. Harvey’s Oil Rigs, which has an estimate of $8,000 to $12,000; Conrad Schwiering’s Spring’s Touch (est. $10/15,000); and William Sanderson’s 1979 painting Hills of Wyoming, expected to sell for $5,000 to $7,000. A collection of Thomas C. Molesworth furniture, being sold to benefit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, is also available. Highlights include a wood dining table with iron horseshoe decoration and four matching leather upholstered benches (est. $12/18,000) and a Chimayo upholstered loveseat with attached side tables, also estimated at $12,000 to $18,000. The American Indian segment of the sale will include more than 100 items from the collection of Ruth and Robert Voegele of Burr Ridge, Illinois. Their work includes pottery from Margaret Tafoya, Maria Martinez and Fannie Nampeyo, to name a few, as well as fine jewelry from Charles Loloma, Gail Bird and Yazzie Johnson. From outside the collection is a rare multi-colored stained-glass window by Loloma that was commissioned for the offices of a Phoenix collector in 1980. Possibly a one-of-a-kind item, the window was uninstalled when the building sold in 1987 and hasn’t been publically displayed since.

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AUCTION PREVIEW

A Robust Market Western and California scenes make up approximately half of the lots in Heritage Auctions’ November 3 American Art Signature Auction.

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John Marshall Gamble (1863-1957), Wild Heliotrope near San Juan Capistrano, oil on board, 20 x 30” Estimate: $40/60,000

Birger Sandzén (1871-1954), Smoky Hill River, Kanas, 1944, oil on board, 20 x 24” Estimate: $20/30,000

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uring Heritage Auctions’ November 3 American Art Signature Auction approximately 200 lots will cross the block, with around 80 being in the Western and California genres. There are also groupings of Golden Age illustration—including a single-owner collection of about 40 lots—and a number of 19th century American impressionist paintings. Popular names in all categories are expected to yield significant interest such as Howard Terpning, Birger Sandzén, Wilson Hurley, Norman Rockwell, J.C. Leyendecker, William Merritt Chase and more. Western art has always been a standout of Heritage’s sales, according to Aviva Lehman, head of the firm’s American art department. She adds, “There’s definitely a lot of interest [in Western art], especially in Texas and the Southwest for contemporary cowboy paintings. Anything like the Hurleys or Terpnings [we have in the sale]. That’s a market that is very strong and robust.” Terpning is represented by a small-scale piece showing a Native American on foot leading his horse. The 1993 work, titled Absaroke Trail, is evocative of the style and mood that Terpning has become known for over the years. It is estimated to achieve $60,000 to $90,000. Four pieces by Hurley will cross the auction block that range in estimate from $15,000 to $25,000 up to $40,000 to $60,000. According to Lehman, there’s “something for everyone” among the Hurleys in terms of the price points and the subject matter. Among them is Split Mountain on the Green River, from 1975, that depicts the craggy rocks of the mountain against the waterway. “The major masterwork is the Spring Light in Ancient Shadows,” says Lehman of the painting, estimated at $40,000 to $60,000. “At 60 by 60 inches—it’s massive—it almost feels like you’re looking at the actual outdoors.” There are several modestly estimated works by Sandzén in the sale, including a Santa Barbara landscape and a scene of Kansas. Both have presale estimates of $20,000 to $30,000. There also is a still life by the artist titled Zinnias that is expected to fetch between $12,000 and $18,000. “I love his still lifes,” shares Lehman, “how he applies the paint to them.”

AUCTION PREVIEW

Howard Terpning, Absaroke Trail, 1993, oil on board, 12½ x 17½” Estimate: $60/90,000

Rounding out the segment of the sale is a classic California landscape by John Marshall Gamble that shows purple and yellow wildflowers rolling along a hill that leads out to an ocean view in the distance. “It’s a nice size from a private collection in California,” says Lehman of the work that measures 20 by 30 inches. The piece has an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000. Outside the segment, there will be Rockwell’s Lazybones (est. $1/1.5 million), a painting that had once been stolen from the owners and was recovered just this year with help of the FBI, as well as his Fishes Like Neckties (est. $150/250,000), which is a study for an interior story of American Magazine in 1934. Louis Ritman’s Interior (est. $80/120,000) and William Merritt Chase’s pastel Untitled (Nude Resting in a Chair) (est. $250/350,000) are also up for auction.

American Art Signature Auction November 3, 2017

(877) 437-4824, www.ha.com

Wilson Hurley (1924-2008), Split Mountain on the Green River, 1975, oil on canvas, 30 x 36” Estimate: $20/30,000

Dallas

Heritage Auctions - Design District Showroom, 1518 Slocum Street, Dallas, TX 75207

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AUCTION PREVIEW Marjorie Reed (1915-1996), Military Escort of the Butterfield Mail, oil. Estimate $1/1,500

The Modern West Early 20th century through contemporary artwork highlights John Moran Auctioneers’ Art of the American West sale November 14.

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n November 14, John Moran Auctioneers will host a two-session sale that includes an Art of the American West segment featuring paintings and bronzes by American artists as well as Navajo weavings and Arts and Crafts furniture. The Western artwork dates from the early 20th century through contemporary and highlights an array of subjects and price points. The auction house adds, “[T]his curated auction session aims to please the most connoisseurial buyer as well as the emerging collector.” Bronzes are among the standouts in the segment. Harry Jackson’s Sacagawea is a monumental bronze depicting the 19th-century Shoshone guide. Measuring 10 feet in height, the piece is estimated to achieve $100,000 to $200,000. A number of smaller examples of Jackson’s Sacagawea have sold in recent years around the United States, while a polychrome example of the work is installed in the garden of the Buffalo Bill Center for the West in Cody, Wyoming.

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A large-scale bronze of a contemporary Hopi kachina by Dan Namingha is also available in the sale. “Namingha, of Hopi-Tewa ancestry and born into a family of potters and kachina carvers, carries his family’s master of traditional craft into his own work while experimenting beyond classical Hopi art forms and motifs,” John Moran Auctioneers shares. The piece has a presale estimate of $5,000 to $7,000. Other bronzes in the sale include Martha Pettigrew’s The Parting,, which is expected to fetch $1,000 to $1,500 and a polychromed bronze titled End of a Long Trail Home (est. $2/3,000) by Terry Murphy. A life-size sculpture titled Maria (est. $200/300,000) by Costa Rican-born Mexican artist Francisco Zuniga will be in the 20th Century and Contemporary Design session of the day’s sale. Two-dimensional works of art include Marjorie Reed’s Military Escort of the Butterfield Mail (est. $1/1,500). “A popular subject for the artist, Reed

Francisco Zuniga (1912-1998), Maria, bronze, life-size. Estimate: $200/300,000

AUCTION PREVIEW

Maynard Dixon (1875-1946), Cowboy Sketch. Estimate $1/2,000

completed a number of works focusing on the Butterfield Overland Stage coaches, and published volumes with color reproductions of the works in the 1950s and ’60s,” explains the firm. This piece is one of three by Reed cross the block in the auction. An ink sketch of a cowboy’s profile by Maynard Dixon is also coming to market. Priced at $1,000 to $2,000, the auction house says the work “is set to make a nice addition to any burgeoning Western collection.” They add, “Approachably priced works by top-tier California artists are not always easy to find…” The Art of the American West session will begin at 4 p.m., with the 20th Century and Contemporary Design segment following. A complimentary taco truck as well as libations and other refreshments will be available during the sale. Private previews are available by appointment. The public can view the sale at the auction headquarters in Monrovia, California, on November 10 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; November 11 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; November 13 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and on the day of the sale, November 14, prior to it opening.

November Sale

(626)793-1833, www.johnmoran.com

Harry Jackson (1924-2011), Sacagawea, monumental bronze. Estimate $100/200,000

Monrovia

November 14, 2017, 4 p.m. John Moran Auctioneers, 145 E. Walnut Avenue, Monrovia, CA 91016

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AUCTION REPORT

Strong Participation Altermann Galleries’ August 11 and 12 Santa Fe sale brings in $2.2 million.

A

ugust is a big month in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and that held true for Altermann Galleries. The auction house’s two-day sale on August 11 and 12 garnered $2.2 million in sales. “I was very pleased with the overall results of the auction. It is always good to see strong bidder participation in the room. The auction takes place during the high season in Santa Fe when there are collectors in town looking to buy art,” owner Richard Altermann says

of the August event. “Altermann Galleries is very appreciative of our enthusiastic and loyal clientele who made this a successful event.” The top lot of the sale was T.C. Cannon’s Beef Issue at Fort Sill, which sold for $180,000 to a telephone buyer, just over its high estimate of $175,000. Altermann says, “It did not surprise me to see an important work by Cannon to sell at this level. I believe this sale caught the attention of the art market which is exciting.”

Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Cowboys and Indian: John Wayne 150/250, screenprint on Lenox museum board, 36 x 36". Estimate: $45/65,000 SOLD: $81,600

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Two small Fritz Scholder paintings also performed well, with Study for Indian with Shield surpassing its high estimate of $9,000, reaching $9,600. His Laughing Dog After Traube sold for $10,200, just within its pre-sale estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. Southwestern pop art proved particularly popular, with Andy Warhol’s Cowboys and Indians: John Wayne taking home $81,600, well over its estimate of $45,000 to $65,000.

James Bama, Jack Brown, oil on panel, 25 x 13". Estimate: $35/45,000 SOLD: $34,800

AUCTION REPORT

T.C. Cannon (1946-1978), Beef Issue at Fort Sill, acrylic on canvas, 55¾ x 71½". Estimate: $125/175,000 SOLD: $180,000 Martin Grelle, Through the Valley, oil on canvas, 30 x 40". Estimate: $125/175,000 SOLD: $114,000

Another Warhol piece, Campbell’s Soup 1: Black Bean, reached $31,250 (est. $15/25,000). The sale also proved successful for Altermann Galleries’ regular artists, with Ray Swanson, Frank McCarthy, Martin Grelle and George Phippen all selling works above estimate. Four Gustave Baumann woodblock prints crossed the auction block, all selling within or above estimate. Baumann’s top-selling lot was Sycamore, reaching $11,875 with a pre-sale estimate of $6,000 to $9,000. Altermann’s next sale will take place in Scottsdale, Arizona, on January 18 and 19.

Top 10 Lots: Altermann Galleries’ August Sale, August 11-12, 2017 (with buyer’s premium) Title

Low /High Estimate

SOLD

Artist

Title

Low /High Estimate

SOLD

T.C. Cannon Martin Grelle Unknown Andy Warhol Unknown

Beef Issue at Fort Sill Through the Valley Diamond and sapphire ring Cowboys and Indians: John Wayne 150/250 Art deco diamond ring

$125/175,000 $125/175,000 $100/125,000 $45/65,000 $50/70,000

$180,000 $114,000 $106,250 $81,600 $46,800

Martin Grelle Curt Walters James Bama Andy Warhol George Phippen

Warrior Alone Moran Point Jack Brown Campbell’s Soup 1: Black Bean Arizona Rock Hoppers

$20/30,000 $22/32,000 $35/45,000 $15/25,000 $15/20,000

$36,000 $34,800 $34,800 $31,250 $24,375

Santa Fe

Artist

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AUCTION REPORT

Bob Kuhn (1920-2007), Closing the Distance, 1977, acrylic on Masonite, 24 x 48” Estimate: $100/150,000 SOLD: $409,500

Wildlife Reigns Works by wildlife master Bob Kuhn produce stellar results at the Jackson Hole Art Auction in Wyoming.

E

xamine the auction records of wildlife painter Bob Kuhn from the past decade and you start to see a pattern: Fire Storm, with estimates of $180,000 to $220,000, sold for $657,000. Leopard in Light and Shade, with estimates of $180,000 to $250,000, sold for $601,000. The Spawning Run hit more than double its high estimate when it sold for $497,250. Jaguar and Cattle Egrets went more than seven times over its high estimate when it sold for $41,600. The takeaway here: don’t underestimate a wildlife piece by Bob Kuhn. The artist’s estimateshattering streak continued September 16 during the Jackson Hole Art Auction when a lion piece from 1977, Closing the Distance, sold for $409,500, nearly three times its high estimate of $150,000. The piece, now the fifth top-selling Kuhn work, lit up the room—and bidders. “We had people on the phone, people online, bids all over the room…it was amazing. In the end it was a battle between two different people in the room, and they both really wanted to go home with it,” auction partner Roxanne Hofmann Mowery says. “When you’re in the

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W.H.D. Koerner (1878-1938), Sheriff and Citizens of the Law, 1932, oil on canvas, 30 x 36” Estimate: $75/125,000 SOLD: $175,500

AUCTION REPORT Bob Kuhn (1920-2007), Onward and Upward, acrylic on board, 22 x 28” Estimate: $75/125,000 SOLD: $152,100

W.H.D. Koerner (1878-1938), New Horizons, 1932, oil on canvas, 37 x 32” Estimate: $75/125,000 SOLD: $175,500

room with auctions like this you just never know what’s going to happen.” Kuhn not only had the top lot, his works had an exceptional auction: of 12 pieces available, 11 sold, generating more than $688,000 in sales for Kuhn alone. And the works ranged from small conte crayon sketches and gouaches on paper to major easel works, like Onward and Upward, a bighorn sheep scene that sold for $152,100, clearing its $125,000 high estimate with room to spare. Other top lots included three major works from illustrator W.H.D. Koerner: Sheriff and Citizens of the Law (est. $75/125,000) that sold for $175,500, New Horizons (est. $75/125,000) that sold for $175,500, and Fly Fishing (est. $60/90,000) that exceeded expectations when it

Logan Maxwell Hagege, Desert Meeting, oil on linen, 30 x 50”. Artist World Auction Record. Estimate: $30/50,000 SOLD: $58,500

sold for $99,450. A total of seven Koerner works were available, all from the same collection, and all seven sold, generating nearly $550,000. “The Koerners did phenomenal, including Sheriff and Citizens of the Law, which was the highest-selling work by the artist in 20 years. The only one that has sold more was one that sold at Sotheby’s in 1998,” Mowery says. “All of our illustrators in the sale performed well and are trending upward, especially when we have exemplary works like these. They are being collected by a host of new collectors.” Other top lots included Edgar Payne’s Navajo Scouting Party (est. $400/600,000) that sold for $304,200 and Blue Shadows, as well as Arnold Friberg’s action scene with a train and stagecoach, Uncertain Odds (est. $60/90,000),

which sold for $93,600, just barely missing an artist world record by less than $4,000. Artist world records that were set include Mark Maggiori in his auction debut, wildlife artist Dustin Van Wechel and Logan Maxwell Hagege, whose Desert Meeting blew past its high estimate by more than $8,000 and by his most recent record by more than $11,000. The auction itself realized more than $5 million in sales, with 77 percent of the lots sold. “Overall, we’re feeling very good with this sale. We had great attendance, lots of online bidding and lots of new clients—and even repeating clients—who we haven’t seen in a while,” says Mowery. “We did very good with some younger artists, and the illustrations did wonderful, but we really shined with our signature works, wildlife art.”

Title

Low /High Estimate

SOLD

Artist

Title

Low /High Estimate

SOLD

Bob Kuhn Edgar Payne W.H.D. Koerner W.H.D. Koerner Bob Kuhn Edgar Payne

Closing the Distance Navajo Scouting Party Sheriff and Citizens of the Law New Horizons Onward and Upward Blue Shadows

$100/150,000 $400/600,000 $75/125,000 $75/125,000 $75/125,000 $150/250,000

$409,500 $304,200 $175,500 $175,500 $152,100 $105,300

W.H.D. Koerner Arnold Friberg Carl Rungius Charlie Dye Tucker Smith Frederic Remington

Fly Fishing Uncertain Odds Moose in a Landscape Sun Up Packer Creek The Cheyenne

$60/90,000 $60/90,000 $100/150,000 $50/75,000 $60/90,000 $80/120,000

$99,450 $93,600 $93,600 $87,750 $87,750 $87,750

Jackson Hole

Top 10 Lots: Jackson Hole Art Auction, September 15-16, 2017 (with buyer’s premium) Artist

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EVENT PREVIEW

Tour de Force The annual Hidden in the Hills brings collectors into private studios throughout the Desert Foothills communities in Arizona.

Hal Stewart flames on the patina of one of his works during a past Hidden in the Hills studio tour.

F

Painter Lucy Dickens in her studio.

or the past 20 years, the Sonoran Arts League has hosted a unique self-guided tour throughout the hills of Cave Creek, Carefree and North Scottsdale, Arizona, where art enthusiasts can experience the creation of a work firsthand. During Hidden in the Hills 174 artists in 44 studio locations throughout the Desert Foothills communities display and sell their work over the last two weekends of November. Featuring nationally known and emerging artists, thousands of patrons will pass through their private studios on November 17 through 19 and 24 through 26. Collectors will find a variety of mediums, styles and price points, with everything from paintings and sculpture to glass and woodworking on display. The artists who participate—including Carlos Page, Joe Netherwood, Curt Mattson, Hal Stewart, Francine L. Kavanaugh, Beth Zink, Lucy Dickens and more—are all members of the nonprofit Sonoran Arts League. “Being in Hidden in the Hills is a great experience for me; it offers me the opportunity to welcome many friends and collectors that I

118

have had the privilege of knowing and coming close to over the years,” says Netherwood. “Also, I am able to meet a great number of new art enthusiasts who share with me many of the same interests and experiences. When they all come to visit with me, I am able to discuss my work and what drew me to want to do each painting.” As a Western artist, Netherwood is inspired by the people, animals and landscapes of the Western states. He enjoys showing the diversity of the groups that have populated the West and stories of their interactions, as well as the beauty of the vast terrains including deserts, mountains, lakes, rivers and valleys. When collectors arrive in Mattson’s studio, which is on a horse property in Cave Creek, he says they are “welcomed into the world of the horse and the cowboy.” As a sculptor and painter, visitors will be able to ask questions about both mediums. “I will be working on a new sculpture that they can see and ask questions about,” Mattson says. “I can go into the entire process of sculpture and the stories of the West that

the pieces tell...we will have as our guest artist Watson hats as well. Eric Watson will have a variety of hats for people to purchase as well as taking orders for custom hats just for them.” Patrons who attend Hidden in the Hills also can purchase the annual Artist Directory for $5, which also serves as a collector’s item as it includes information on all the participants as well as images of their work. This year an untitled wall sculpture by Cave Creek artist Carlos Page was selected for the cover of the catalog from more than 80 pieces of artwork that were submitted. Measuring 59 inches tall and 24 inches wide, the piece is made from steel and a 200-year-old wood beam Page reclaimed from a building in New York City.

Hidden in the Hills November 17-19 and 24-26, 2017, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily 44 studios throughout Cave Creek, Carefree and North Scottsdale, AZ (480) 575-6624, www.hiddeninthehills.org

EVENT PREVIEW

Joe Netherwood, I Was Told There Would Be Cake, oil on canvas, 10 x 8”

Curt Mattson, Pickup Team, watercolor on paper, 13 3/8 x 12¼”

Curt Mattson, Catchin’ A Quitter, bronze on walnut wood base, limited ed. of 9, 15 x 18¼ x 6"

Cave Creek, Carefree & Scottsdale

Hal Stewart, Lawman, bronze

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LOOK FOR VIDEOS IN THIS ISSUE

Artists in this issue Acheff, William

78

Dunton, W. Herbert

Aldrich, Edward

91

Dye, Charlie

59 109

Koerner, W.H.D.

116

Red Star, Kevin

80

Kuhn, Bob

116

Rogers, Julia

95

Bama, James

114

Eckman, Allen

90

Lanier, David

Been, Joshua

93

Elliott, Teresa

76

Leigh, William R.

34

Farny, Henry

Bell, Julie Berninghaus, Oscar E.

89, 107

105

Fawcett, John

Blumenschein, Ernest L.

106

Frazier, Luke

Cannon, T.C.

115

Gamble, John Marshall

Cotton, Brent

62

Couse, Eanger Irving

105, 109

108

Liang, Z.S.

34, 78

Loloma, Charles

61

MacIntosh, Rob

110

95

48

Mattson, Curt

Rowe, Ken

86

Rungius, Carl

58

Russell, Charles M. Sandzén, Birger

110

36

Sauerwein, Frank

40

119

Schenck, Billy

Gaul, William Gilbert

89

Maxwell, Logan Hagege

Goodwin, Philip R.

56

McCarthy, Frank

103

42, 115

McGrew, James

93

Shinabarger, Tim

Monroe, Lanford

38

Stewart, Hal

89

Terpning, Howard

Crotty, Thomas

101

Grelle, Martin

Dasburg, Andrew

102

Griffing, Robert

77

Datz, Stephen

82

Haskell, William

34, 91

Dello-Russo, Patrice

36

Hennings, E. Martin

106

Moran, Thomas

Denman, Andrew

36

Higgins, Victor

107

Moyers, John

Desatnick, Mike

84

Hurley, Wilson

111

Netherwood, Joe

Dixon, Maynard

106

77

Duncan, Robert

84

Johnson, Frank Tenney

108

Dunphy, Kathleen

85

Jonson, Raymond

100

Joe, Oreland

Moran, Peter

88

108

52, 117

Sharp, Joseph Henry

90 101, 105

Sheeter, Cathy

95 60 119 30, 101, 111

Untiedt, Michael Ome

78

Usibelli, Michele

93

119

Venditti, Jerry

87

Parsons, Sheldon

102

Waldroup, Joe

95

Phillips, Bert Geer

103

Warhol, Andy

114

Phillips, William S.

84

104 96

Weistling, Brittany

79

Advertisers in this issue Altermann Galleries & Auctioneers (Santa Fe, NM) 8

Legacy Gallery (Jackson, WY)

Booth Western Art Museum (Cartersville, GA)

22

Maxwell Alexander Gallery (Culver City, CA)

Brinton Museum, The (Big Horn, WY)

37

Medicine Man Gallery (Tucson, AZ)

13

C.M. Russell Museum (Great Falls, MT)

37

Modern West Fine Art (Salt Lake City, UT)

12

Sotheby’s (New York, NY)

Cast Art Studio (Victoria, BC)

24

Mountain Oyster Club (Tucson, AZ)

25

Southeastern Wildlife Exposition (Charleston, SC) 29

Christopher Cardozo Fine Art (Minneapolis, MN) 17

Museum of Northern Arizona (Flagstaff, AZ)

16

Stapleton Gallery (Billings, MT)

David Ruimveld Studios (Vicksburg, MI)

Nedra Matteucci Galleries (Santa Fe, NM)

Safari Club International (Tucson, AZ)

7

Scottsdale Art Auction (Scottsdale, AZ)

Cover 2

Settlers West Galleries (Tucson, AZ)

Cover 4

6

11

9

21

SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market (Santa Fe, NM)

20

Gerald Peters Gallery (Santa Fe, NM)

5

Obrzut, Kim (Flagstaff, AZ)

35

Trailside Galleries (Scottsdale, AZ)

Gibby, Raymond (Spanish Fork, UT)

2

Peet, Darcie (Tucson, AZ)

10

Venditti, Jerry (Sebastopol, CA)

27

Great American West Gallery (Grapevine, TX)

3

Roski, Gayle Garner (Toluca Lake, CA)

10

Zohi Gallery (Santa Fe, NM)

18

Rowe Fine Art Gallery (Sedona, AZ)

23

Grevich, Kristin (Medina, MN)

120

35

1

12

Cover 3, 19

A VIEW TO THE WEST NOVEMBER 1 - NOVEMBER 15, 2017 | OPEN HOUSE: SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11TH | SCOTTSDALE, AZ

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS W I L L I A M AC H E F F C Y R U S A F S A RY BILL ANTON S T E V E AT K I N S O N J E R E M Y B ROW N E RO S S B U C K L A N D S H AW N C A M E RO N BRUCE CHEEVER JENNESS CORTEZ JOHN DEMOTT PAT R I C I A D O B S O N RO B E R T D U N C A N D E B O R A H F E L LOW S V E RY L G O O D N I G H T Z. S. LIANG Z.S. Liang, In the Morning Mist, oil, 24 x 30 inches (sold by draw)

DA N M I E D U C H J AY M O O R E S.C MUMMERT B R E N DA M U R P H Y BILL NEBEKER J OA N N P E R A LTA WILLIAM PHILLIPS WILLIAM PICKERD CLARK KELLEY PRICE CYNTHIA RIGDEN A L F R E D O RO D R I G U E Z H OWA R D RO G E R S MIAN SITU M AT T S M I T H T I M S O L L I DAY W I L L I A M S U YS RICHARD THOMAS M O RGA N W E I S T L I N G J E R E M Y W I N B O RG

Robert Duncan, Waiting and Watching, oil, 24 x 30 inches

TO VIEW ADDITIONAL WORKS BY THESE ARTISTS VISIT WWW.TRAILSIDEGALLERIES.COM

SCOTTSDALE 7330 E. Main Street, Suite 100, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 (480) 945.7751 JACKSON HOLE PO Box 1149, 130 E. Broadway, Jackson, WY 83001 (307) 733.3186 WWW.TRAILSIDEGALLERIES.COM

[email protected]

The Great American West 11.18.17 settlerswest.com Kenny McKenna

C. Michael Dudash

Her Life was the Cowboy Life

Morning Rest

oil 32 x 48

oil 30 x 28

$20,500

SETTLERS WEST GALLERIES 6420 North Campbell Tucson Arizona 85718

tel 520.299.2607 [email protected]

$10,950