04 Jul Auction Block: Voices That Shape Us

Late spring auction results demonstrate the enduring appeal of Western and American art in its many forms. Institutions and auction houses reported impressive sales, with collectors responding enthusiastically to both historic masterpieces and modern reinterpretations.

In May, Heritage Auctions totaled a combined $12.18 million in sales from two auctions, setting a world record for Maurice Sendak’s original Where the Wild Things Are drawing and delivering top results for Norman Rockwell and Ernie Barnes.

John Moran Auctioneers’ Art of the American West sale was led by Charles Marion Russell’s dynamic 1919 roping scene. And its California & American Fine Art sale offered works by N.C. Wyeth, Edgar Payne, and a breakout performance by Bob Ross.

Meanwhile, Freeman’s | Hindman saw success across different collecting categories. Its Antiquities & Ancient Art sale totaled more than $2.4 million, while its Post War & Contemporary Art auction featured Fritz Scholder’s seminal Four Indian Riders and strong prices for three works by Gertrude Abercrombie, all far exceeding expectations.

And during the Phippen Museum’s 51st Annual Western Art Show & Sale, a prestigious panel of judges selected artist and art educator Holly Weisel’s watercolor for Best in Show. 

These and other events underscore the appreciation for the diverse voices shaping American and Western art.

John Moran Auctioneers: Art of the American West

June 3
Total: $880,000+

In early June, John Moran Auctioneers’ Art of the American West auction offered more than 380 lots celebrating the varied traditions of Western art, attracting bidding across a range of categories. The auction brought a total of more than $880,000 and a sell-through rate of 94 percent.

Edith Hamlin, Night Blooming Cereus (Taos) | Oil on Board | 25 x 22 inches | Sold: $60,325

Notable highlights included fine art by Charles Marion Russell, Maynard Dixon, Edith Hamlin, and Dale William Nichols; Western bronzes by Russell and John Coleman; and Navajo and Pueblo jewelry featuring James Hutchinson’s medallions. A Navajo Germantown pictorial loomer stood out in the textiles category and sold for $3,300, above its high estimate of $800, while pottery by Priscilla Namingha Nampeyo and Burel Naha, along with striking basketry from the Chemehuevi and Hupa/Yurok/Karuk, rounded out the sale’s variety of works.

The auction was led by a 1919 cowboy scene At the End of the Rope, by Russell, which brought $285,750, above estimates of $120,000 to $180,000. (Totals include buyer’s premium.) The work, created with gouache, watercolor, and pencil on illustration board, depicts a cowboy roping a steer in mid-action and was made by Russell during the height of his career.

Maynard Dixon, Road to the Mountains (Santa Catalina Range) | Oil on Canvas Laid to Artist’s Board | 16 x 20 inches | Sold: $88,900

Two 1943 desert landscapes by Dixon also drew significant attention: Road to the Mountains (Santa Catalina Range) sold for $88,900 (estimate: $50,000–$70,000), and Catalinas at Sundown realized $47,625 (estimate: $25,000–$35,000), as the second and fourth top-selling lots.

The third top-selling item was Hamlin’s 1932 painting Night Blooming Cereus (Taos), which drew considerable attention and achieved a world auction record for the artist at $60,325, surpassing estimates of $4,000 to $6,000. Painted in Taos, New Mexico, in the summer or early fall of 1932, the nocturne depicts the yellow or white blooms of Cereus cacti against a background of a Taos hillside landscape with distant adobe homes. Hamlin, who was married to Dixon in 1937, plays with ideas of natural and human-made structural coexistence in this almost surrealist composition.

Also of note, a Gerard Curtis Delano work, Navajo Boy and his Burros, sold for $28,575, above its high estimate of $25,000, for the fifth top-selling lot. The artist’s paintings are known for their bold colors, stylized realism, and heartfelt depictions of the people and culture of the Navajo Nation.

Freeman’s | Hindman: Antiquities and Ancient Art Auction

May 22
Total: $2.4 million+

Roman marbles led Freeman’s | Hindman’s Antiquities and Ancient Art sale to a $2.4-million day. The auction featured more than 180 works of enduring beauty and cultural significance from across the ancient Mediterranean and Near East, with a sell-through rate of 90 percent.

A Roman Marble Torso of a Youthful God | 34.5 inches | Sold: $127,500

The top-selling lot was a 1st century B.C. to 1st century A.D. life-sized torso of a young man at the cusp of adulthood, likely belonging to a young god, A Roman Marble Torso of a Youthful God, which sold for $127,500 (estimate: $120,000–$180,000). While the missing head and limbs make confirming the figure’s identity difficult, the two most likely candidates are the gods Apollo and Dionysos.

An Apulian Gnathian-Ware Calyx-Krater | 17.75 inches | Sold: $21,760

Additional top-selling items include An Egyptian Granite Torso of an Official, which sold for $114,800 (estimate: $150,000–$250,000). The 17-inch torso dates from the Ptolemaic Period, specifically from 285 to 116 B.C.

An Egyptian Granite Torso of an Egyptian | 17 inches | Sold: $114,800

Two items from the circa 2nd century A.D. were among the top-selling items — a 16-inch Roman Marble Torso of Achilles brought $108,450 (estimate: $40,000–$60,000) and A Roman Marble Cinerary Urn sold for $83,000 (estimate: $30,000–$50,000).

An Attic Black-Figured Type B Amphora | 16.5 inches | Sold: $38,400

Rounding out the top five selling items was A Roman Mosaic Panel with a Theater Mask. The approximately 26-by-25-inch panel, dating to circa the 1st century A.D., brought $76,700 (estimate: $40,000–$60,000).

A Roman Mosaic Panel with a Theater Mask | Approximately 26 x 25 inches | Sold: $76,700

Phippen Museum’s Western Art Show & Sale

May 24–26
Total: N/A

The Phippen Museum celebrated its 51st Annual Western Art Show & Sale during the 2025 Memorial Day weekend. The Courthouse Plaza in Prescott, Arizona, was filled with thousands of attendees, according to the museum, for a showcase of artwork by more than 90 Western artists.

Heather Johnson Beary, The Golden Hour | Mixed Media | 16 x 18 x 7 inches

In addition to the impressive artwork on display, the event featured a youth art tent, high-energy quick draw challenges, live art auctions, and a festive Hometown Hoedown dinner presentation, all of which contributed to a fun-filled weekend packed with creativity and community spirit. The Quick Draw Live Art Auctions were a highlight, drawing crowds of spectators and bidders and raising more than $30,000 to support the arts.

Susan Hemm Zivic, 7 Arrowheads | Acrylic | 18 x 42 inches

This year’s panel of judges — artists Bill Anton, John Coleman, and Ken Rowe — selected the winning artworks, including Best of Show, which went to local artist and art educator Holly Weisel for Hungry Hawk. The painting also won first place in the Watercolor category, with Chief by Wei Tai earning second place.

Holly Weisel, Hungry Hawk | Oil | 20 x 29 inches

Additional winners, in order of first to third, were: in the Sculpture category, Mornings Promise by Heather Johnson Beary, Hopi Butterfly Boy & Girl by Kevin Horace Quannie, and Room for One More by Sarah Phippen; in Pastel Looking for Shade by Dale Martin and North Kaibab Morning by Alison Crary; in Oil One Man Crew by Sarah Phippen, Dying of the Light by Jonathan Noon, and Dweilling in the Light by Bill Cramer; in Mixed Media The Golden Hour by Heather Johnson Beary, Misunderstood by Deborah Liszt, and Montana Pow Wow by Lydia Dillon Sutton; in Drawing Sioux Indian by Wei Tai, Warrior Poet by Jonathan Noon, and Deputy Marshall by Steve Atkinson; and in Acrylic 7 Arrowheads by Susan Hemm Zivic, Affinity by Lisa Norman, and Roaming Pronghorn by Bernie Lopez.

Sarah Phippen, One Man Crew | Oil | 24 x 36 inches

The People’s Choice Award went to Carl G. Wolf; Art of the West Award of Excellence to Golden Saguaros by Greg Heil; Southwest Art Award of Excellence to Navajo Bridge by Bethany Stephan; Phippen Foundation Award to In Balance by Richard Rodriguez; Western Art Collector Award of Excellence to Boot Scootin by Dan Abernathy; Montgomery Frames Award of Excellence to Wild Horse Wildness by John Morey; and the Phippen Family Award to Rebeka McLain.

Heritage Auctions: American Art and Property from the BSA Settlement Trust

May 16
Total: $12.18 million+

On May 16, Heritage Auctions presented back-to-back sales: the American Art sale and an auction of Property from the BSA Settlement Trust, which brought a cumulative total of more than $12.18 million.

The American Art auction, anchored by significant works by Norman Rockwell, Maurice Sendak, and Ernie Barnes, saw more than 40 lots sell for over $5.1 million. Following Heritage’s second session of Property from the BSA Settlement Trust  — led by works by Rockwell, Dean Cornwell, and Joseph Csatari — more than 180 lots brought $7.08 million. Both had high sell-through rates, at 97.6 and 99.9 percent, respectively.

Norman Rockwell, Marionettes | Oil on Canvas | 34 x 28 inches | Sold: $900,000

The auction set records for Charles Wysocki, Auldwin Schomberg, Peter Fillerup, James Lewicki, Bill Morrison, and Jeff Segler. A record was also set for Maurice Sendak for his original and first drawing for 1963’s Where the Wild Things Are. Sendak’s piece sold for $625,000, nearly twice his previous record.

The two sessions also included the sale of 13 Norman Rockwell paintings, including his elegant 1932 Saturday Evening Post cover art Marionettes, which sold for more than $900,000; his 1972 painting for a Brown & Bigelow calendar painting Can’t Wait, brought more than $1.3 million; and his 1958 Brown & Bigelow artwork Mighty Proud sold for more than $1.12 million. Also of note, a 1935 Saturday Evening Post cover by Rockwell’s peer Joseph Christian Leyendecker titled Diving In sold for $325,000.

Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are | Watercolor and Ink on Board | 6.25 x 20.375 inches | Sold: $625,000

Seven works by painter and former professional athlete Ernie Barnes sold, including a handful from the sports-themed collection of John Mecom Jr., the one-time owner of the NFL’s New Orleans Saints. Barnes’ Sandlot Saints (1983), with its depiction of an informal and joyous football game that’s broken out in an abandoned city lot, sold for $450,000; his Opening Ceremonies (1984), with its triumphant panorama of communal elation at the start of the Olympic Summer Games, sold for $237,500; and his Anchor Leg (1983), which captures the climactic moment of a group of relay-race sprinters’ last explosive burst across the line, sold for $225,000.

Joseph Christian Leyendecker, Diving In | Oil on Canvas | 31 x 24 inches | Sold: $325,000

In addition to Sendak’s work, others that set records include: Peter Fillerup’s 1984 bronze figure Trail to Manhood ($175,000); Charles Wysocki’s charming oil-on-canvas New England Skating Party ($112,500); Auldwin Thomas Schomberg’s bronze baseball figure Right Field Bleachers ($2,187); 1960 Saturday Evening Post cover by James Lewicki ($3,250); a mural-like, acrylic-on-canvas work by Bill Morrison titled A Century of Values 1910-2010 ($23,750); and a 1984 Boy Scout fieldbook cover by Jeff W. Segler ($6,875).

Freeman’s | Hindman: Post War and Contemporary Art

May 13
Total: Undisclosed

Fritz Scholder, Four Indian Riders | Oil on Canvas | 60 x 72 inches | Sold: $476,750

Headlining the sale of Freeman’s | Hindman’s spring auction of Post War and Contemporary was a significant oil painting by celebrated Native American artist Fritz Scholder, Four Indian Riders. Painted in 1967, the groundbreaking work shattered conventions and redefined Indigenous representation in American art. The work was painted the same year that Scholder first approached the subject of the American Indian, and it draws influence from Abstract Expressionism and Color Field painting. Four Indian Riders was prominently featured in the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian’s landmark 2008–2009 retrospective Indian/Not Indian, appearing on the exhibition’s catalogue cover. The 60-by-72-inch painting sold for $476,750, amid estimates of $400,000–$600,000. (Totals include buyer’s premium.)

Gertrude Abercrombie, Set for the Night | Oil on Masonite | 5 x 7 inches | Sold: $267,200

Other highlights of the sale include works by Modern and Contemporary artists, including Frank Stella, Gertrude Abercrombie, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Tom Wesselmann, and Lois Dodd.

Gertrude Abercrombie, Moonlight and Landscape with Tree (Tree Lady) | Oil on Masonite | 8 x 10 inches | Sold: $222,750

Three oil-on-masonite works by Abercrombie, a leading figure of Chicago’s Hyde Park arts scene in the mid-20th century, sold beyond estimated values: Set for the Night realized $267,200, above its high estimate of $70,000; Moonlight and Landscape with Tree (Tree Lady) sold for $222,750, above its high estimate of $80,000; and Landscape with Giraffe, brought $165,600, above its high estimate of $80,000.

Gertrude Abercrombie, Landscape with Giraffe | Oil on Masonite | 9 x 12 inches | Sold: $165,600

Rounding out the top highlights was Ensemble by American artist Osvaldo Mariscotti. The oil painting sold for $108,450, above estimates of $15,000 to $25,000.

Alice Baber, Light Ladder | Oil on Canvas | 31.5 x 39 inches | Sold: $165,600

John Moran Auctioneers: California & American Fine Art

May 6
Total: $1.3 million+

Edgar Alwin Payne, The Orange Sail (Concarneau, France) | Oil on Canvas | 29 x 29 inches | Sold: $69,850

Maurice Braun, California Vista | Oil on Canvas Laid to Board | 34 x 34 inches | Sold: $76,200

This May, John Moran Auctioneers’ California & American Fine Art auction featured 195 works by significant American and California artists from private collections across California, the Western states, and beyond. The sale surpassed $1.3 million, including premiums, with 87 percent of lots sold.

Bob Ross, Lake in a Mountain Landscape, circa 1989 | Oil on Canvas | 16 x 12 inches | Sold: $44,950

Newell Convers Wyeth, Rose of Torridge | Oil on Canvas Laid to Board | 34 x 34 inches | Sold: $114,300

Highlights of the sale included works by Newell Convers Wyeth, Maurice Braun, Edgar Alwin Payne, Albert Bierstadt, Emil Carlsen, Agnes Pelton, Sergei Bongart, and renowned artist and television personality Bob Ross.

Albert Bierstadt, “The Alps from Visp” (Switzerland) | Oil on Paper Laid to Panel | 14 x 19 inches | Sold: $44,450

Sergei Bongart, Draped Shawls on a Fence | Oil on Canvas | 36 x 46 inches | Sold: $8,255

The top-three selling items included Wyeth’s circa 1920 oil painting Rose of Torridge, which led the auction at $114,300 (estimate: $100,000–$200,000), and Braun’s California Vista, which realized $76,200 (estimate: $30,000–$50,000). Payne achieved strong results with The Orange Sail (Concarneau, France), selling for $69,850, above its pre-sale estimate of $30,000 to $50,000. (Totals include buyer’s premium.)

Emil Carlsen, Still Life with Black Jug | Oil on Panel | 15 x 15 inches | Sold: $39,600