Jackson Hole Art Auction featured in Western Art Collector Magazine, September 2013

As seen in the September 2013 issue of

Wildlife and more Maynard Dixon’s Remuda is one of many Western masterpieces available at the 7th annual Jackson Hole Art Auction September 14.

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hile the Jackson Hole Art Auction has throughout its existence been known as one of the premier venues for quality historic and contemporary wildlife art, this year’s sale also features wonderful examples of classic Western art, including important paintings by artists such as Eanger Irving Couse, Charles M. Russell, Henry Farny, Maynard Dixon, Gerard Curtis Delano, and John Clymer. The Jackson Hole Art Auction will take place Saturday, September 14, at the Jackon Hole Center for the Arts.

“Since our first auction in 2007, the Jackson Hole Art Auction has defined itself by quickly becoming the premier art auction to buy and sell classic and contemporary wildlife art and this year’s sale will be no exception,” says Roxanne Hofmann, managing partner of the seven-year-old auction house. “We will have works by historic masters Carl Rungius, Friedrich Wilhelm Kuhnert, and Bob Kuhn, as well as leading contemporary masters such as Ken Carlson, Carl Brenders, Tucker Smith, Ralph Oberg, and Bonnie Marris. This year we will also have work from rising stars Kyle Sims, Dustin Van Wechel, and Adam Smith.”

Dixon’s Remuda (est. $250/450,000) is a very important painting for the artist created during a significant moment in his life. According to renowned Dixon expert Don Hagerty, Dixon began the painting as such: “Suffering from recurring asthma and exhausted after completing a major mural for a steamship company in San Francisco, Dixon decided to reinvigorate himself and his art in the spring of 1921, staying from April until the end of June at Refuge, the Madera County ranch operated by his uncle, George Washington Mordecai.”

Oscar Berninghaus (1874-1952), Harvest Season, oil on canvas, 25 x 30" Estimate: $500/700,000

Jackson

Eanger Irving Couse (1866-1936), The Lesson, 1902, oil on canvas, 26 x 32" Estimate: $250/350,000

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Maynard Dixon (1875-1946), Remuda, oil on canvas, 25 x 30" Estimate: $250/450,000

Bob Kuhn (1920-2007), Lookout Rock-cougar, acrylic on board, 8 x 14" Estimate: $40/$60,000

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John Clymer (1907-1989), Visitors at Fort Clatsop, oil on canvas, 24 x 48" Estimate: $300/500,000

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Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), Untitled, gouache en grisaille, 12 x 18" Estimate: $75/150,000

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Gerard Curtis Delano (1890-1972), Quiet Waters, oil on board, 22¼ x 40" Estimate: $125/175,000

During this time, Dixon rode horseback over the rangeland and “camping at scarce waterholes, Dixon created numerous drawings and small oil sketches of horses, semi-wild cattle herds, dry arroyos, alkali sinks, working cowhands and the faraway horizon shadowed by drifting clouds.” Dixon brought these pencil sketches back to his San Francisco studio where he created Remuda.

According to Hagerty, “With an almost minimalist perspective Dixon painted the horse herd profiled against the late afternoon sky. Summer arrives early and hard in this part of the San Joaquin Valley. The grasses turn yellow-brown, heat obscures the line between sky and horizon and dusk whirls in the air. Dixon eliminated the non-essential in the painting, only the bold forms of the horses, the parched earth and the burning sky are included.”

Hagerty believes that Dixon kept Remuda in his personal collection. Then, in 1945, he signed the painting again after possibly reworking elements of the composition and canvas. Remuda hasn’t been on the market since it was purchased from Dixon’s last commercial exhibition at Gump’s in San Francisco.

This year’s auction will also include offerings of classic Western paintings from a Wyoming estate coming to market for the first time. The estate includes works by Henry Farny, Olaf Seltzer, E.S. Paxon, and Charles M. Russell. From another important Wyoming estate the auction has secured two quality paintings by Gerard Curtis Delano: Quiet Waters ($125/175,000) and Desert Dust ($50/75,000).

Another important painting in the auction is John Clymer’s Visitors at Fort Clatsop ($300/500,000).

“Jackson Hole was home to John Clymer, renowned for his accurate historical portrayals of the American West and in particular the Lewis and Clark expedition,” says Hofmann.

“For the first time since the painting was purchased directly from the studio of Clymer, the Jackson Hole Art Auction will be selling Visitors at Fort Clatsop. Fort Clatsop was Lewis and Clark’s far northwestern fort near present-day Astoria, Oregon. This painting depicts a band of Chinook Indians stopping by to trade, offering fish and other food to Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery during the winter of 1806.”

According to the auction house, “As so

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Henry Farny (1847-1916), Untitled, gouache, 13¼ x 20¾" Estimate: $350/550,000

Walter Ufer (1876-1936), The White Pack, oil on canvas, 12¼ x 16¼" Estimate: $225/350,000

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Kenneth Riley (b. 1919), The Recruiter, oil on board, 40 x 32" Estimate: $70/90,000

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Carl Rungius (1869-1959), Feeding Time, oil on canvas, 12 x 16" Estimate: $40/60,000

many history painters before him, Clymer has achieved in Visitors at Fort Clatsop not an exact document but a fine art interpretation grounded in the aesthetics of his day. Thus, it was John Clymer’s continual commitment to a combination of historical narrative, intricate design, a high level of artistry and his identifiable popular Western American aesthetic that has resulted in his recognition as one of the foremost history painters in the modern American West.”

Other important lots come from a quality Arizona estate, including three major works

by Kenneth Riley: The Recruiter ($70/90,000), In Mysterious Lodges ($80/120,000), and Chiricahua Sentinels ($70/90,000). Other significant works by contemporary Western masters come from artists such as Roy Andersen, Clyde Aspevig, Richard Schmid, Morgan Weistling, Carl Brenders, Jim Norton, Bill Owen, Z.S. Liang, Mian Situ, Howard Terpning, and Martin Grelle.

For the first time since 2009, Grelle has directly consigned a new painting to the auction—a 40-by-48-inch piece titled Scouts on the Buffalo Fork. The waterway is part of the Snake River and is located northeast of Jackson Hole.

Jackson Hole Art Auction

When: Saturday, September 14, 2013 Where: Center for the Arts, 265 S. Cache, Jackson, WY 83001 Information: (866) 549-9278, www.jacksonholeartauction.com

Jackson

Morgan Weistling (b. 1964), Beauty Parlor, oil on canvas, 32 x 40" Estimate: $50/75,000

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