Top lot, record price. Achieving $1,434,000, William Herbert Dunton’s “Treed” left behind not only its $400/600,000 estimate in the dust but shattered the previous world auction record for the artist, which had stood at $881,000 since 2008. Dubbed an “outstanding example of wildlife and sporting art depicting the American West,” it perhaps is unsurprising that it is now the world record holder for the artist.
Review by Madelia Hickman Ring, Photos Courtesy Coeur d’Alene Art Auction
RENO, NEV. – Coeur d’Alene Art Auction’s (CDAA) annual “Best of the West” sale earned the moniker on July 23, when more than 94 percent of the 337 lots on offer traded successfully and the sale achieved the sizeable total of $16.4 million. Participating in the blockbuster were a near-capacity audience of almost 400 bidders at the Grand Sierra Resort, who joined phone and absentee bidders to go head to head against another 400 online competitors. Several world auction records were set for artists represented singularly or in multiple lots, with more than 30 works bringing six-figure prices.
Mike Overby, one of CDAA’s partners, said they “felt great after the sale. It was one of our best sales after five or six years.” He noted that the sale was comparable in size to previous sales and the sale welcomed new competitors, including a slightly younger demographic of bidders. While the auction house has welcomed European buyers for a while, Overby was pleased to see that the sale was attended by buyers from Australia and Taiwan.
Taos Society artist William Herbert Dunton (1878-1936) was the man of the hour when his circa 1915 painting, “Treed,” achieved $1,434,000 and sold to a long-time collector and client of CDAA who Overby said was “thrilled to have it.” Not only was the result the top lot of the day but it shattered the previous auction record for the artist, which had been set at $881,000 in 2008.
Achieving the second highest result in the sale and setting a new world auction record for artist Philip R. Goodwin was “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea,” which more than doubled the previous record and sold to one of CDAA’s top collectors, bidding in the room, for $968,000 ($150/250,000).
Art historian Michael R. Grauer, who will include “Treed” in his forthcoming catalogue raisonné on the artist, said of the work, “‘Treed’ is an excellent example of Dunton’s hunting paintings created while he still maintained his connections to Boston and New York publishers such as Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company…[It] is an outstanding example of wildlife and sporting art depicting the American West. This painting would make an exceptional addition to any collection of art of the American West or wildlife and sporting art, or both.” The connection between Dunton and the Forbes Lithograph Mfg. Co., is significant as “Treed” had belonged to the company prior to its acquisition by a private collector in Andover, Mass., who was listed among its provenance.
“Treed” was one of five works in the sale by Dunton; following “Treed” in value was “Crest of the Ridge, Grizzly,” which roared past its estimate to finish at $453,750. Done in oil on board in a small format of 8 by 10 inches, “Crest of the Ridge, Grizzly” had been included in two museum exhibitions and will also be in the forthcoming Dunton catalogue raisonné. According to Dunton biographer Julie Schimmel, “In Dunton’s wildlife art, the one subject that always dominated the picture space was the bear. The bear was a subject dear to Dunton since boyhood.”
Another artist for whom the sale raised the bar was Philip R. Goodwin (1881-1935), whose “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” was reeled in for $968,000, from a long-time CDAA collector who was bidding in the room. Considered one of Goodwin’s most significant paintings to ever come to market and from a private collection where it had resided for more than 80 years, the result more than doubled the previous record for the artist, which had been set by CDAA in July, 2021. Measuring 30 by 39 inches and depicting two sportsmen in a canoe, the title refers to the dilemma faced by the man in back, who must choose between helping his companion reel in the trophy fish or shoot the bull moose in the background.
Bob Kuhn’s “Out on a Ledge,” acrylic on board, 18 by 14 inches and one of nine works by the artist in the sale, soared to $33,275 from an estimate of $5/7,000.
Goodwin biographer Dr Larry Len Peterson declared the painting to be “a stellar example of why for over 100 years Goodwin has been recognized as America’s sporting artist,” further noting Goodwin was asked by Jack London to illustrate The Call of the Wild in 1903. A few years later, Theodore Roosevelt, the most celebrated hunter in the world, commissioned Goodwin to illustrate his African Game Trails.
Perennial Western art market darling Charles M. Russell (1864-1926) was well represented at the sale with nine works, two of which finished in third and fourth place on the leaderboard; his works earned a total that exceeded $2.1 million. Securing the third place at $847,000 was “Shooting the Buffalo,” an early circa 1892 work that perfectly captured not only the nostalgia of the American West but also the moment of reckoning by not revealing if the buffalo or hunter perished. CDAA’s catalog reads, “Early works such as ‘Shooting the Buffalo’ anticipated Russell’s rise over the next 30 years to become the most beloved and famous Western American artist.”
Earning $ 544,500 against a $400/600,000 estimate, and a fourth place finish, was Russell’s “Mexican Vaqueros Roping a Steer,” which was painted in watercolor on paper measuring 18 by 28 inches. The subject matter was first introduced to Russell in 1906, when he and his wife spent several weeks in Mexico to make a series of studies of the Mexican cowpuncher for the sporting and outdoor magazine, Outing. During their trip, an exhibition of Russell’s work took place at the Porter Hotel in Mexico City. Coverage of the exhibition in the Mexico City Daily Record was quoted, “The art exhibit at Porter’s Hotel this morning was as refreshing as the dawn itself…. The work of Mr Russell is difficult to describe. Language faintly describes the exquisite touch of his magic brush and pen, or the marvelous details of his art.” During their visit, the Russells were invited to the largest ranch in Mexico, which was outside Chihuahua and owned by a Señor Terrazas. Several paintings resulted from studies painted on that trip, possibly even “Mexican Vaqueros Roping a Steer.”
Another artist with multiple works in the sale was Edgar Payne (1883-1947), who, with ten works on offer, gave bidders several options to pursue. Though Payne frequently depicted the Navajo reservation and Canyon de Chelly, the circa 1916-19 “Canyon de Chelly” view offered by CDAA was unique in that it included an Anasazi dwelling in the background, seen cut into the vermillion cliffs. Estimated at $150/250,000, it sold to a phone bidder for $484,000, the third highest price ever reported realized for a work bythe artist at auction. All ten of Payne’s works found buyers during the sale, earning the house nearly $1.4 million.
A frequent subject of Edgar Payne, this view of “Canyon de Chelly” was unique in that it included an Anasazi dwelling in the background. A phone bidder took it for $484,000, the third highest auction result recorded for the artist ($150/250,000).
The same price of $484,000 was enough to rope “The Lost Greenhorn” by Alfred Jacob Miller (1810-1874), which was being offered on the market for the first time after 50 years in a private collection. The 18-by-24-inch oil on canvas is included in the Alfred Jacob Miller catalogue raisonné and was described by Western art historian Ron Tyler as personifying [the career of the artist], who painted it on his first trip and only expedition to the Rocky Mountains. The subject was one that Miller painted in several views but this particular painting had once been loaned to the US Treasury Department, where it had been on long-term view.
While most of the sale was of Western American art, there were some African big game paintings by David Shepherd (1931-2017), Simon Combes (1940-2004) and Bob Kuhn (1920-2007). Shepherd’s 1981 “Elephants in the Bush” brought the highest price of these, earning $102,850.
Coeur d’Alene Art Auction will conduct an online sale in November and a two-day “March in Montana” auction in March; the firm’s large annual Western auction will take place in July.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.cdaartauction.com or 208-772-9009.
