LOT 12 CHRISTINE JOY

Bozeman, MT UNION, 2009 willow

9” x 19” x 14” estimated retail: $4,500

UNION originated as a deeply personal work for Christine Joy. This sculpture was made in 2009 as an anniversary gift to her husband, Al. That origin is referenced in the title of the piece. Christine and Al are generously sharing this work, and the love it represents.

Working exclusively with willow, Christine Joy cycles her work with the seasons-- cutting and gathering her material in autumn, then sorting, bundling, and storing. Throughout the year, she pulls from her cache, working branch by branch, she bends and constructs twisted and tied forms as if born by wind or water. Born in upstate New York in 1952, Joy received a BFA in Printmaking in 1976 from Rochester Institute of Technology and settled in 1980 in Bozeman, Montana, after completing a master’s program in art therapy at Vermont College. Her relationships and exchanges with willow continue today and provide a path for exploring the mystery of nature and examining our connection to the earth.

Lot 13 John Buck

Bozeman, MT

The Bull Pen, TP 1, 2022 woodblock print

36.75” x 64.5” estimated retail: $5,500

The work produced by Midwest artist John Buck (b. 1946) is enriched by a uniquely Western consciousness, funky Bay Area influences, and deep understanding of how drawn forms translate into threedimensional sculptures. After earning both a BFA and MFA, Buck would later settle in Bozeman, earning tenure with Montana State University in 1976 to teach sculpture. There, the slow and expansive landscape would continue to enrich his understanding of the mythology of the West and inherently influence his form-making. Later works produced in Montana adopt a Western sense of scale and limitless space while still working through and addressing modern socio- political issues.

Permanent Collection Artist

Lot

Roxy Paine

Red Lodge, MT

Scumak, S2-P2-DB41, 2008 low density polyethylene in black

18” x 30” x 24” estimated retail: $10,000

The work of Roxy Paine (b. 1966), American post- war and contemporary sculptor, encourages meditation on the relationship of human beings to nature with his simultaneously natural and artificial site- specific installations. The vocabulary of fungi, plants, and industrial machines become vehicles for the artist’s reflections on mechanized production and the human impulse to impose order and control over creative and natural forces. Works in stainless steel reiterate the institutional use of the material in pharmaceuticals, food, gas, and oil pipeline industries. Since 1989, his work has been internationally exhibited and is included in collections throughout California, New York, Canada, Washington, D.C., and Jerusalem, and he has permanently sited works in Seattle, D.C., Missouri, Texas, and Sweden. He has relocated from New York and now lives and works in Red Lodge, MT.

Lot 15 Ben Pease

Billings, MT

Kept in a Place and Made to Learn New Ways All While Keeping the Old Ways Alive as Best as They Were Allowed with Ignored Promises of Good Cattle, Pensions, Housing, and Fresh Food . . .

As Long as They Learned the New Ways and Gave More Land, 2022 oil, acrylic, cattle marker, oil pastel, inkjet on velvet paper, 40” x 52” estimated retail: $15,000

Inspired by a photograph of Crow elders at the Inauguration of the First Crow Indian Baptist Day School, this work by Ben Pease includes deeply personal and historical references. The story of the school intersects with Pease’s own family story as his great-grandmother was a student. In much of his artwork, Pease considers the legacy of colonization and the mistreatment of Native communities on current and future generations.

Ben Pease (b. 1989) comes from the Valley of the Chiefs District on the Crow Indian Reservation and grew up in Lodge Grass, MT. Pease is not only an artist but a contemporary storyteller, viewing creativity as one of the most important aspects of one’s education. His work often includes historical photographic references and reflects the artist’s contemplation of contemporary Indigenous issues such as cultural appropriation, exotification, racism, and stereotyping disguised as appreciation and oblivion. Pease’s work continually yet respectfully asks: how, and why?

Bozeman, MT Sancai, 2023 cast bronze with patina, 23” x 26” x 9” estimated retail: $125,000

Throughout an extensive and prolific career, the horse has remained a constant source of inspiration for Deborah Butterfield (b. 1949). Often represented as muscular, energetically charged war machines, Butterfield’s horses take on more genteel and unique personalities, animated through the artist’s use of organic materials such as mud, leaves, and sticks. Later horses become compositions of collected junk metal and pave the way for smaller, more limited editions cast in bronze. The artist has said of her process: “I always work to make the personality of each of these horses dominate and overrule the identity of its sum parts. These horses are rarely hollow shells, but are built up from within and reveal the interior space.”