Get ready for the annual Scottsdale Art Auction, where works by C.M. Russell, the Taos Society of Artists, Cowboy Artists of America, and Glenna Goodacre are just some of the Western treasures on offer.
The Scottsdale Art Auction is one of the largest and most successful art auctions for the Western market. This year’s auction — April 12 – 13 at Legacy Gallery in Old Town Scottsdale, Arizona — is led by a rare Charlie Russell oil painting titled The Broken Rope, which is estimated to bring $5 million to $7 million. One of only a handful of Russell oils to come to market over the last decades, the 1904 painting depicts a horse and rider knocked down by a maverick steer with two other cowboys approaching on horseback, capturing the danger and drama of the cowboy life as only someone who had lived that life would know. Produced during one of Russell’s most active and important moments of his career, “The Broken Rope represents one of Russell’s notable periodic advances in technical skill and confidence,” as Russell expert Joan Carpenter Troccoli writes.
Charles Russell, The Broken Rope, 24×36 inches, Oil on canvas.
The auction also boasts an important Russell bronze, A Bronc Twister, which carries an estimate of $200,000 – $300,000. Another important bronze, Frederic Remington’s The Cheyenne, will also cross the auction block with an estimate of $100,000 – $150,000.
On the historic side of the market, the auction has an extensive offering of material from the Taos Society of Artists, including multiple pieces from Joseph Sharp and Eanger Irving Couse. One Couse, The Sculptor (1914), is expected to fetch $90,000 – $120,000. Staying in Taos, Nicolai Fechin’s oil Carmelita is expected to bring $300,000 – $500,000, while Walter Ufer’s A Singer is estimated at $50,000 – $75,000.
E.I. Course, The Sculptor, 1914, 24×20 inches, Oil on canvas, Estimated: $90,000 – 120,000.
Other historic paintings of note include Maynard Dixon’s Pima Indian, Arizona, 1940 ($55,000 – $75,000), William R. Leigh’s Pack Trip ($250,000 – $450,000), and Winold Reiss’ Indian Madonna ($25,000 – $35,000).
The Scottsdale Art Auction has always found success in paintings by members of the Cowboy Artists of America, and this year should be no different. Included in this year’s sale are pieces from early members of the group, such as John Ford Clymer’s Clearing the Palo Duro ($175,000 – $275,000), Tom Lovell’s Cottonwood Gazette and oil study ($200,000 – $300,000), and Frank McCarthy’s Warriors Return ($20,000 – $30,000.) Also on offer will be works by current members of the CA, including a pair of Martin Grelles: Distant Signal ($150,000 – $200,000) and The Challenge ($150,000 – $250,000.)
Tom Lovell, “Cottonwood Gazette,” Oil on canvas, Estimated: $200,000 – 300,000.
Martin Grelles, “Distant Signal,” Estimated: $150,000 – 200,000.
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The auction will also include works by some of the most in-demand Western artists working today, among them Mark Maggiori, Logan Hagege, and Kyle Polzin. Maggiori’s The Crossing ($75,000 – $100,000) is a large action scene depicting covered wagons crossing a mountainous western landscape. Hagege is represented by two paintings; his Pursuit of Happiness, a 52” x 54” oil of blanketed figures and riders at the Taos pueblo, has an estimate of $80,000 – $120,000. Kyle Polzin’s work is represented by Buffalo Shield ($65,000 – $95,000) and the smaller painting Spirit of the Plains ($18,000 – $28,000).
The auction is also known for its wonderful annual selection of works by G. Harvey. This year, Tracks Below the Rim and Boot Top Crossing are estimated at $75,000 – $100,000 each, while a rare New York scene, Memories of Manhattan is estimated at $20,000 – $30,000.
Mark Maggiori, “The Crossing,” Estimated: $75,000 – 100,000.
Logan Hagege, “Pursuit of Happiness,” 52” x 54” inches, Oil on canvas, Estimated: $80,000 – 120,000.
G. Harvey, “Tracks Below the Rim,” Estimated: $75,000 – 100,000.
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Two important sculptures by Glenna Goodacre will also be available: Banished and First Bath. Banished is cast 6 of 21 and was produced by Goodacre out of her original Boulder, Colorado, studio in 1977. It is sometimes referred to as Banished From His Land and is a maquette for Goodacre’s masterwork, a 10-foot tall monumental work titled He Is They Are. From the front, the Native American subject looks peaceful and serene, seemingly in silent prayer. But the back side shows his hands are bound, altering the mood and symbolism of the piece. “[Native Americans] were left helpless to lead any kind of life as they knew it,” Goodacre wrote in 2009.
The sculpture appears in Goodacre’s 1995 book, Glenna Goodacre: Sculpture, and also appears in the book Glenna Goodacre: The First 25 years (Museum of Texas Tech University). The auction has placed a preauction estimate of $10,000 – $15,000.
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[1] Glenna Goodacre, Banished, Bronze, Estimated: $10,000 – 15,000. [2] Glenna Goodacre, First Bath, Bronze, Estimated: $2,500 – 4,500.
The second Goodacre sculpture set to cross the auction block at the Scottsdale Art Auction is titled First Bath, from her very popular series of children. The work features a young child wrapped head to foot in a towel, shining and luminescent from the water. It carries an auction estimate of $2,500 – $4,500. First Bath is finished with an early example of opaque oxide patina, now much in use in Western bronze.
SCOTTSDALE ART AUCTION
Session I – April 12th
Session II – April 13th
Registration & Preview – 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Auction Begins – 11:00 a.m.
7178 E. Main St., Scottsdale, Arizona 85251
480.945.0225
For more information and works, visit scottsdaleartauction.com. Scottsdale Art Auction is pleased to still offer only 17 percent buyer’s premium.
For more information on Goodacre, including a complete biography and chronology of her life and work, visit glennagoodacre.com.
