Painted in 1971, “The Trader” by John Clymer (1907-1989), oil on canvas, 20 by 40 inches, set a new world record for the artist and led the auction at $1,119,250 ($250/300,000).
Review by Carly Timpson
RENO, NEV. — The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction’s 2026 summer sale, conducted on July 25, realized $17,023,557 and achieved a 97 percent sell-through rate in front of a packed house.
“The sale went tremendously — we did about a little over $17 million in the sale and we had a sell-through rate over 95 percent, which is always good,” shared auction partner Mike Overby. “We had a huge crowd — about 350 people in the crowd and double that bidding online and through the telephones. So, it was a real successful sale, and we were happy with it.”
Michael Eric Scott, creative director, added, “We saw a 20 percent uptick in registrations on the internet this year and had over 1,000 registered bidders between internet, in-the-room, telephone and absentee.”
The highlight of the auction was when John Clymer’s “The Trader” sold for a world-record $1,119,250, far surpassing its $350,000 high estimate and selling to a bidder in the room on behalf of a client. The oil on canvas, painted in 1971, depicted a trader and his helper leading a pack of animals into an Oglala Sioux winter camp. “It was a quintessential Clymer. Just a beautiful image, really well painted,” explained Overby. “It came down to two very determined bidders that both wanted it. Neither was willing to give up, and we like when that happens. The buyer who got it was very happy to take it home in the end.” The work had provenance to the collection of James and Augusta Silver (Tulsa, Okla.) and was featured in several texts, including the deluxe edition of John Clymer: An Artist’s Rendezvous with the Frontier West, a copy of which, with an original pen and ink drawing by the artist, was sold with the lot.
The artist record for Mark Boedges (b 1973) was set at $84,700 for his 2026 oil on canvas “The Glittering World,” 40 by 60 inches ($30/50,000)
Additional artist records were set in this auction with the $84,700 achieved by Contemporary Missouri artist Mark Boedges’ “The Glittering World” ($30/50,000) and Harry Adamson’s “Autumn Reverie – Greenheads” being bid to $51,425 ($15/25,000).
Another standout result was Frederic Remington’s “The Broncho Buster,” lifetime cast number two, which brought $968,000. This figure was a world record for a Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company casting of “The Broncho Buster.” According to Michael D. Greenbaum in Icons of the West, Frederic Remington’s Sculpture, the work was considered “a technical triumph,” and it became “the most successful single statuette produced in America during the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.” This example, cast in 1895, had provenance to Edward Morrell and Louise Bouvier Drexel Morrell of Philadelphia (1939 or 1945), Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans (1970), Adam A. Weschler and Son Galleries, Washington, DC (1970) and the estate of James A. Ruppe of Houghton, Mich. Of the bidding war, Overby said, “That was fun to watch as well. That bidder was also in the room and very happy to get it.”
While not quite a record, “The Law of the Wilderness,” which sold for $847,000, marked the second-highest price ever achieved for a work by Philip R. Goodwin. The painting, depicting a family of bears raiding a nearby hunter’s canoe, exhibited the “law” that one should never leave food unattended where wildlife can get to it. As the momma bear stands on her hind legs watching over her young, the hunters know attempting to retrieve their food would be a dangerous endeavor.
Going out at $847,000 was “The Law of the Wilderness” by Philip R. Goodwin (1881-1935), oil on canvas, 24 by 36 inches ($200/300,000).
A Charles M. Russell painting titled “Pablo-Allard Buffalo Drive” also sold well above its high estimate, and Overby noted that it and the Goodwin were both “tremendous pieces and they sold accordingly.” The 1909 watercolor on paper, sold for $484,000 with a set of eight Norman A. Forsyth stereograph cards depicting the Pablo Buffalo Roundup, had extensive exhibition history throughout the United States and Canada.
“There were some good Taos Founders paintings, too. There was an Eanger Irving Couse called ‘The Duck Hunter,’” Overby shared. “He was one of the original Taos Founders back in the early 1900s. We had that painting at $200/300,000, and it sold for $453,750 in the end, so that was good.” The oil on canvas painting depicted Jerry Mirabal, or Tuena (Elkfoot), who was one of Couse’s favorite models, peering around a large rock formation to get a view of ducks on the bright blue water.
While the auction was primarily focused on Western art, as most Coeur d’Alene Art Auctions are, there was a good showing for John George Brown, who Overby noted is “very popular out East.” The 1881 painting, “Watching the Train” depicted a group of young girls hanging along a fence, watching for passing trains, as the title suggests. “It was not really our traditional Western fare, but Brown is nationally an extremely well-collected artist, and in the end it sold for $363,000, over its high estimate,” Overby reported.
“Watching the Train” by John George Brown (1831-1913), 1881, oil on canvas, 28 by 44 inches, earned $363,000 ($200/300,000).
Native American arts and artists were popular with bidders as well, “especially works by Oscar Howe,” Overby shared. “He’s considered to be one of the most important Native painters that ever painted. We had three works of his and they all sold over the high estimates. In fact, two of them sold for the same price.” Those two works, “Herakawin (Elk Woman)” and “Horse Dancer,” had high estimates of $150,000 and were bid to $272,250. The third example, “Sioux War Dancer,” went out at $217,800.
“We’re just, really thrilled to see the continued success and strength of the Western art market. It’s been building up to this over the last couple of years, for sure. One thing we’re seeing that I think aids that is the real influx of new buyers into the market. It is nice to see younger buyers — really seeing new people getting interested in Western art is always a positive, and I think it’ll continue that way,” reported Overby in closing. “Western art has a really wide collector base, and we see interest from a wide variety of people all over the country because it is accessible. It’s fun art to collect and it maybe isn’t quite as intimidating as something like an Old Masters painting or a contemporary modern piece or something in New York or London. We’re a little more accessible and we keep things a little more fun, I think!”
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction’s next sale will be its annual live online auction, scheduled for November 7. For information, www.cdaartauction.com or 208-772-9009.
