Mark Maggiori’s 2024 oil on canvas titled “The Prophecy” attained a world-record $1.3 million ($300/500,000).
Review by Andrea Valluzzo
JACKSON, WYO. — Jackson Hole Art Auction presented two live auctions at the Center for the Arts September 18-19 leading off with Mark Maggiori’s solo exhibition, Rise of the Western Lights, and followed the next day with the 20th Annual Jackson Hole Art Auction. The combined auction sales totaled $18.3 million with a 94 percent sell-through rate. The weekend realized the highest sale total in the auction’s history.
The Maggiori exhibition comprised 31 artworks and was presented throughout the Center’s lobby, where visitors had the opportunity to view the collection in an immersive setting before the auction. The white-glove sale achieved $9.3 million in sales, with fast-paced, competitive bidding unfolding before an at-capacity audience in the theater. Multiple works surpassed the artist’s previous auction record, and ultimately the new world record was set by “The Prophecy,” an oil on canvas that realized $1.3 million against an estimate of $300/500,000.
“Mark Maggiori has an extraordinary gift for making the West feel both timeless and immediate,” said Kevin Doyle, managing director of Jackson Hole Art Auction. “We are honored by the exceptional response to Rise of the Western Lights and grateful to everyone who joined us in celebrating this remarkable body of work.”
Selling in the second session was Mark Maggiori’s “The Trackers,” oil on canvas, 20 by 20 inches, that earned $480,000 ($25/45,000).
Following the Maggiori session, the Annual Auction also realized strong selling prices for contemporary artists. Among the contemporary highlights were “The Call of the Canyon” by Logan Maxwell Hagege that sold over its high estimate at $102,000, as did Ed Mell’s “Valley Tower, “an oil on canvas, that sold for $90,000.
The auction set a new world auction record price for Jonathan Noon with his compelling oil on panel portrait “My Way,” which brought $78,000, more than four times its $18,000 high estimate. Four of the five works offered by Western Pop artist Bill Schenck sold over their high estimates: “Drive to Coyote Creek” at $39,000, “Rodeo Queen No. 3” at $33,000, “Cowboy on Horse” at $28,125 and “Many Cows Ranch” that brought $13,750.
Western works, spanning both historic and modern traditions, ranked among the sale’s strongest results. The firm continued to demonstrate robust demand for paintings by G. Harvey, led by “Rawhide and Roughnecks,” an oil on canvas that sold just under its high estimate at $480,000; “Morning Glow on Powder Snow,” an oil on canvas, achieved $240,000; and “Thinking of Spring” realized $204,000.
This G. Harvey oil on canvas, “Morning Glow on Powder Snow,” 1988, brought $240,000 ($150/250,000).
Historic Western works were led by William R. Leigh’s oil on canvas “Looking for Bighorn” that brought $204,000. W. H. D. Koerner’s oil on canvas “Bunch Quitters” sold within estimate at $66,000, while Charles M. Russell’s watercolor “Buccaroos from the N–N Outfit on the Big Dry in Montana” brought $288,000.
Wildlife art was another standout category, led by the fresh-to-market, catalog cover lot, “October Aspens” by W. Herbert Dunton that sold for $390,000. Works by celebrated artist Bob Kuhn also drew strong competition: “Leopard” achieved $180,000; “Cacophony — Cougar & Hounds” realized $96,000; and “On the Prod — Moose” brought $72,000. Rounding out the category was Ken Bunn’s monumental bronze “Striding Grizzly” that bested its high estimate to realize $66,000.
Additional sale highlights include Eanger Irving Couse’s “The Artist (Painting of the Skin),” an oil on board that sold for $120,000; Ansel Adams’s gelatin silver print image “The Teton Range and Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming” that fetched $78,000; Scott Christensen’s “Deep Lake” at $66,000; and Ogden Minton Pleissner’s watercolor “Windfall Pond” for $68,750.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.jacksonholeartauction.com or 307-734-9739.
