04 Sep Auction Block: Masterpieces and Milestones

This summer’s premier Western and Native American art events showcased a vibrant blend of tradition, innovation, and record-breaking sales. From the historic Plaza in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to the auction floor in Reno, Nevada, and the prestigious art museum in Oklahoma City, artists, collectors, and enthusiasts gathered to celebrate the depth and diversity of American art.

The 2025 Santa Fe Indian Market, now in its 103rd year, drew approximately 1,000 Native American artists and more than 100,000 visitors to New Mexico’s capital city for a celebration of creative excellence in both traditional and contemporary forms. In Reno, the Coeur d’Alene Art Auction realized more than $22 million in sales, reaffirming its position as a premier auction powerhouse. Meanwhile, the Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition & Sale at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum marked its 53rd edition with more than $3.2 million in sales.

Together, these events captured a broad spectrum of artistic expression, highlighting cultural resilience, setting new auction records, and reinforcing the enduring appeal of the American West in the art world.

Southwestern Association for Indian Arts: Santa Fe Indian Market

August 16 and 17
Total: N/A

The 2025 Santa Fe Indian Market, presented by the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA), brought together more than 1,000 Native American artists from more than 200 tribes during its annual art exhibition and sale in mid-August.

Since 1922, the world’s largest and most prestigious art market of its kind has presented awards to exceptional Native North American artists in various juried categories. More than 60 judges and 120 volunteers, experts in various media, convened on Thursday, August 14, to review and critique this year’s entries. The award-winning artists were announced during the Best of Show Ceremony on Friday afternoon.

Chris Youngblood and Jennifer Tafoya, Clash of the Titans | Hand Dug Santa Clara Pueblo Clay, Hand-Coiled and Built, Hand Carved, Stone Polished, Traditional Firing, Hand-Etched, Natural Pigment Paints | 9 x 10 inches | Best of Pottery | Photo: Gabriella Marks

An artist new to the Santa Fe Indian Market, Regina Free (Chickasaw), earned Best of Show for Windswept, a life-sized bison sculpture crafted from foam, felt, paper towels, plaster, acrylic, air-dry clay, watercolor, fabric dye, natural and commercial dyes, reclaimed driftwood, and weathered metal sheeting. The Oklahoma-based artist sought to convey strength, resilience, and calm in her sculpture of the bison, which also won the top award in the sculpture category.

Additional classification winners of this year’s market include Janalee Valencia (San Felipe Pueblo), who won the award in the Jewelry category for an untitled reversible mosaic inlay necklace incorporating black lip mother of pearl, serpentine, Kingman turquoise, orange spiny oyster, mother of pearl, white clam, and shell lapis. Each stone in the necklace was cut, sanded, and polished individually.

Robert Albert, White Cloud Clowns Jumping off Clouds | Cottonwood Root and Acrylic Paint | 48 x 15 inches | Best of Wooden Pueblo Figurative | Carving & Sculpture | Photo: Gabriella Marks

Chris Youngblood and Jennifer Tafoya (Santa Clara Pueblo) won the award in the Pottery category for Clash of the Titans. The 9-by-10-inch pot was made with clay dug by hand from the Santa Clara Pueblo. It was coiled by hand, polished with a stone, fired using traditional methods, and painted with natural pigments.

Santiago Romero (Cochiti and Taos Pueblos) won the award in the Painting, Drawing, Graphics, and Photography category for the oil-on-canvas painting Pastel Arches, an expressionistic work depicting a mountain summit at dawn.

Regina Free, Windswept | Foam, Felt, Paper Towels, Plaster, Acrylic, Air Dry Clay, Watercolor, Fabric Dye, (Natural and Commercial Dyes) Reclaimed Driftwood, Weathered Metal Sheeting, Wood Frame | 24 x 48 inches x 8 feet | Best of Show and Sculpture | Photo: Gabriella Marks

Robert Albert (Hopi) won an award in the Wooden Pueblo Figurative Carving and Sculpture category for White Cloud Clowns Jumping off Clouds. The sculpture was created from a cottonwood root and painted with acrylic.

Lola Cody (Diné) was awarded the top honor in the Textiles category for her untitled 8-by-15-inch Two Grey Hills hand-woven rug of all-natural, undyed churro wool.Virgil Ortiz (Cochiti Pueblo) won the award in the Diverse Arts category for Aeronaut Pilot — Revolt 1680/2180. The piece, crafted from ceramic and glass, aims to draw attention to the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. The artist designed characters that represent each of the 19 Pueblos in New Mexico today, including Aeronaut Pilot.

Lola Cody, Untitled—Two Grey Hills Navajo Rug | All-Natural Churro Wool and Colors Undyed | 8 x 15 inches | Best of Textiles | Photo: Gabriella Marks

Jackie Larson Bread (Blackfeet Nation) won the award in the Beadwork and Quillwork category for His Stories Became Legend. Bread’s work reflects more than 50 years of dedication to Blackfeet beadwork traditions, blending vivid colors, floral and geometric designs, and deeply personal storytelling. Historic photos often inspire her beaded portraits.

Naats Tla’a (Tlingit/Haida) won the Youth category award for Just a Kid Learning to Weave with My Ancestors in My Heart. The piece incorporated red and yellow cedar bark, black cod leather, salmon vertebrae, brain-tanned smoked caribou leather, mother of pearl, river stone, ermine tail, and tanned Alaskan black cod skin using egg yolk. The young artist harvested sockeye salmon and processed the vertebrae to use as beads.

Naats Tla’a, Just a Kid Learning to Weave with My Ancestors in My Heart | Red and Yellow Cedar Bark, Black Cod Leather, Salmon Vertebrae, Brain Tanned Smoked Caribou Leather, Mother of Pearl, River Stone, Ermine Tail, Tanned Alaskan Black Cod Skin Using Egg Yolk. Artist Harvested Sockeye Salmon and Processed Vertebrae Used as Beads, Traditional Tlingit Weaving | 5 x 3 x 3 inches | Best of Youth | Photo: Gabriella Marks

Theresa Secord (Penobscot Nation) earned the award in the Basketry category for Wabanaki Summer. The basket’s colors represent the Maine woods, with a blue sky, water, clouds, sun, and berries. The piece included hand-pounded and split ash wood, braided sweetgrass, and a traditional Penobscot barrel form woven on her great-grandmother’s form from the 1800s.

Additional artists recognized with Special Awards included: Osceola Red Shirt (Bernard Ewell Innovation Award); B.L. Tom (Trade Roots Excellence in Lapidary); Suyma Maho (Excellence in Traditional Pueblo Pottery); Xavian Suazo (Anita Da Young Potter Award); Garrett Maho (Mark Tahbo Pottery Award); Daniel Begay (Sarafina Tafoya Award); Robert Patricio (Dominique Toya Award); Robert Albert (Excellence in Contemporary Hopi Carvings); Edward Seechoma (Excellence in Contemporary Hopi Carvings); Jonathan Naranjo (Tony Da Memorial Award); Lorraine Gala-Lewis (Margaret Tafoya Memorial Award); Aydrian Day (Make Me Smile Youth Award); Emmet Navakuku (IAIA Alumni Award); and Carol Emarthle Douglas (The Native American Art Magazine Award of Excellence).

Coeur d’Alene Art Auction

July 26
Total: $22 million+

On July 26, the Coeur d’Alene Art Auction realized more than $22 million in art sales during its annual live auction in Reno, Nevada. For the past 40 years, the auction house has specialized in the finest classical Western and American art, representing historical and outstanding contemporary artists, and has sold more than $400 million worth of art in the last 20 years.

This year’s auction at Reno’s Grand Sierra Resort marked a sell-through rate of 96 percent and set multiple world records. Leading the sale were works by Maynard Dixon, Charles M. Russell, and Howard Terpning.

Maynard Dixon, Open Range | Oil on Canvas Laid on Board | 36 x 40 inches | Sold: $2,015,000

The top-selling lot was Dixon’s Open Range, which sold for more than $2 million, above its estimate of $800,000 to $1.2 million (totals include buyer’s premium). Formerly in a museum collection and featured on the cover of The Oxford History of the American West (1996), this painting has not been on the market in more than 40 years. The 2025 auction marked the second-highest price ever achieved at auction for Dixon. The record remains with The Pony Boy, which brought more than $2.1 million at the 2023 Coeur d’Alene Art Auction.

Russell remained a cornerstone of the premier event, with eight of his works selling in the six-figure range for a combined total of more than $4.5 million. Highlights included Roping a Wolf (sold: more than $1.3 million), Where the Best of Riders Quit (sold: $484,000), and Meat for Wild Men (sold: $363,000). His dramatic watercolor The Chase exceeded expectations, bringing $423,500.

Charles M. Russell, Roping a Wolf | Gouache and Watercolor on Paper | 16.5 x 24 inches | Sold: $1,325,000

Terpning, another Coeur d’Alene Art Auction mainstay, also delivered strong results. In total, works by the artist brought more than $1.2 million during the auction. Chased by the Devil realized $726,000, while Posing for Posterity brought $272,250, and The Challenger sold for $169,400.

The Yturria Collection, consigned by the late Fausto Yturria, Jr. — a Texas rancher, philanthropist, and businessman — grossed over $1 million. Notable pieces from the 30-work collection included Bob Kuhn’s Rhino and Cattle Egrets (sold: $272,250), Two Jumps from Forever (sold: $229,900), The Huntress (sold: $108,900), and Kudu Along the Chobe (sold: $84,700). Overall, Kuhn’s works totaled nearly $2 million in sales, with 11 of 16 lots topping $100,000.

Charles M. Russell, The Chase | Watercolor on Paper | 10 x 15 inches | Sold: $423,500

Sporting art beyond Kuhn also attracted enthusiastic bidding. Philip R. Goodwin’s An Interrupted Duel realized $363,000, and A Call to Action brought $266,200. David Shepherd’s Tsavo in Dry Season, a stately painting of elephants, attracted international interest while selling for $84,700.

The Taos Society of Artists continued to be well-represented at the Coeur d’Alene Art Auction. Joseph Henry Sharp’s Tales of the Warbonnet achieved $423,500; Old War Chief and Son fetched $121,000; The Artist’s Studio, New Mexico sold for more than double its high estimate at $114,950; and Pipe Ceremony realized $96,800. E. Martin Hennings’ Riding Through the Aspens sold for $393,250. Two works by Nicolai Fechin, Niña and The Sycamore Tree, brought over $350,000 combined. Other highlights included: Walter Ufer’s The Washerwoman (sold: $217,800); Eanger Irving Couse’s Indian with Blanket (sold: $193,600); and Bert Geer Phillips’ A Taos Pueblo Man and His Pony (sold: $157,300).

Howard Terpning, Chased by the Devil | Oil on Canvas | 40 x 34 inches | Sold: $726,000

Works by Native American artists Oscar Howe, Earl Biss, and Tony Abeyta garnered considerable attention, reflecting the growing interest in Indigenous perspectives in Western art. Howe’s Dancer, a modernist painting that captures the dynamic energy of a Native American dancer, led the group at $229,900, contributing to a total of more than $750,000 for his works. Biss’ Warriors on the Sweet Grass sold for $27,225, and Abeyta’s Cottonwoods brought $22,990.

Paul Pletka, renowned for his surreal portrayals of Native American traditions and the spirit of the American West, set a world record with General Custer, which sold for $72,600 against a $30,000 to $50,000 estimate. His four paintings totaled nearly $190,000 overall.

The Wyeth family legacy continued with strong results. N.C. Wyeth’s The Fight in the Peaks, a high-action scene depicting a railroad mail carrier being set upon by a pack of wolves in the Rocky Mountains, sold for $363,000, while Jamie Wyeth’s Gulls of Monhegan, #2 brought $84,700.

Several fine selections of California landscape paintings found new homes: Edgar Payne’s masterpiece The Topmost Sierra fetched $332,750; while Thomas Hill’s View of Yosemite Valley and Yosemite Valley each sold for $169,400, and Yosemite Valley (Falls) brought $157,300.

Works by famed East Coast landscape artists Wolf Kahn and Rockwell Kent achieved stellar results. Kahn’s Nantucket Summer, 5:30 am sold for $102,850, while Waiting for Warm Weather saw fervent bidding before finally settling at $78,650. Kent’s Blackhead, Monhegan Island, Maine, a picturesque coastal scene, generated significant pre-sale buzz that extended onto the bidding floor, shattering its high estimate of $30,000 and ultimately selling for $102,850.

Exceptional bronzes included Alexander Proctor’s The Buckaroo (sold: $121,000), Rembrandt Bugatti’s Petit Buffle Anoa (sold: $84,700), and Solon Borglum’s Pushing Ahead — Washington, 1753 (sold: $57,475). Marjorie Reed, a 20th-century California and Arizona painter known for her portrayals of stagecoaches and the Old West, achieved a world record when her Changing the Team at Vallecito sold for $30,250 — more than triple its high estimate.

The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction also offered a selection of contemporary Western art. Highlights included: Mark Maggiori’s Going Home Before Dark (sold: $78,650); Don Oelze’s They Struck and Were Gone (sold: $66,550); Logan Maxwell Hagege’s When the Clouds Change Color (sold: $48,400); Rachel Brownlee’s Sentinel (sold: $27,225); Phil Epp’s On the Open Plains (sold: $27,225); Jeremy Winborg’s Try Me (sold: $21,780); Billy Schenck’s Strays Everywhere (sold: $20,570); and Kim Wiggins’ The Gatherers at Taos Pueblo (sold: $16,940).

The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction has specialized in the finest classical Western and American art since 1985. The auction’s next sale will be its annual live online auction, scheduled for November 8, where additional works from the Yturria Collection — featuring artists such as Kuhn, Kenneth Riley, Dan Mieduch, and many others — will cross the block.

Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition & Sale

June 20 – 21
Total: $3.2 million

The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum hosted the 53rd Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition & Sale June 20 and 21, generating more than $3.2 million during the weekend. The annual event is the museum’s largest fundraiser, supporting exhibitions and educational programming.

Each year, the Prix de West committee selects one exceptional artwork to purchase for the museum’s permanent collection. This year’s purchase award was presented to Utah-based artist James Morgan for his 24-by-36-inch oil on linen White on White. Morgan received a $5,000 award and the Prix de West medallion, sponsored by Roberta M. Eldridge Miller, in addition to the $18,000 purchase price for the piece. Morgan also received the Robert Lougheed Memorial Award and $3,000 for the best display of three or more works, as chosen by fellow Prix de West artists. His recognized collection includes: White on White, Capitol Reef National Park / Geology 101 (sold: $4,500), The Seed Store (priced: $14,500), and Dappled (priced: $14,500).

Joseph Bohler, Ancient Story Tellers | Transparent Watercolor | 24 x 34 inches | Sold: $9,700

A participant at the Prix de West for 34 years, Morgan is celebrated for his impressionistic wildlife and landscape paintings inspired by the canyons, marshes, and mountains of his home state, Utah. In a heartfelt acceptance speech, the artist said, “I haven’t talked this much in years,” before paying tribute to his wife, Ruth. “Without her, I don’t know where I’d be. Actually, I’d probably be a professional golfer… and I’ve never played golf in my life.” Reflecting on the honor, he added, “This award is the high-water mark of my life, along with my two best creations — our sons, Cody and Andrew. I’m so proud to have my work hang in the hallowed Prix de West gallery just down the hall.”

Additional artists recognized during the Saturday evening award ceremony include Curt Walters, who received the Jackie L. Coles Buyers’ Choice Award for Thunderous Resound: Plateau Point, which sold for $155,000. The $3,000 award, sponsored by the estate of Jackie L. Coles, is presented to the most popular work of art as voted on by attending patrons.

James Morgan, White on White | Oil on Linen | 24 x 36 inches | Sold: $18,000

Steve Kestrel received the Major General and Mrs. Don D. Pittman Wildlife Award for Over the Rainbow, which sold for $6,000. The $3,000 award recognizes exceptional artistic merit for a wildlife painting or sculpture and is sponsored by the estate of the late Major General and Mrs. Don D. Pittman.

Joseph Bohler received the Donald Teague Memorial Award for his 24-by-34-inch transparent watercolor painting Ancient Story Tellers, which sold for $9,700. Sponsored by the Scottsdale Art Auction, the $3,000 award is presented for an exceptional work of art on paper, in memory of Western illustrator and watercolorist Donald Teague.

Steve Kestrel, Over the Rainbow | Bronze | 2.5 x 37 x 9 inches | Sold: $6,000

Huihan Liu received the Frederic Remington Painting Award for Eagle’s Witness, which sold for $29,500. The $3,000 award is given for exceptional artistic merit in a painting and is sponsored by Lenny and Linda Sadler in loving memory of J.D. and Betty Sadler and Russ and Dortha Sadler.

John Coleman received the James Earle Fraser Sculpture Award for Victory! Plenty Coups, which was priced at $198,000. The $3,000 award recognizes outstanding artistic merit in sculpture and is sponsored by the Charlie Russell Riders in honor of longtime member Steve Rose.

Bruce R. Greene earned the Express Ranches Great American Cowboy Award for The Horseman’s Loop, a 23-by-8-inch bronze sculpture, which sold for $8,500. The $3,000 award celebrates the finest portrayal of cowboy subject matter and is sponsored by Robert A. Funk Sr. and Express Ranches.

John Encinias received the Wilson Hurley Memorial Award for Landscape for On a Winter’s Day, an oil painting which sold for $23,000. The $3,000 award, sponsored by Rod Moore Financial, honors exceptional artistic merit in landscape painting and is named for the late Western landscape artist Wilson Hurley.

The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum has hosted Prix de West since 1973. The 53rd annual event showcased nearly 300 original works by the finest contemporary Western artists working today. Guest artists Sean Michael Chavez, Tony Hochstetler, Denis Milhomme, and Joshua Tobey attended for the first time, each bringing two original works to their debuts.