29 Apr Auction Block: Go West!

Spring sales of Western art brought hefty amounts for weighty works of headline artists including Charles M. Russell and Frederic Remington, and contemporary heavyweights such as Kyle Polzin and Gladys Roldan-de-Moras.

Auction organizers, museum officials, and gallerists remarked on the exuberance of the genre’s admirers and collectors and suggested a halcyon present portends a rosy future. Favor smiled on all segments of the Western art market and, as the nation advances toward its 250th anniversary, the apparent enthusiasm and proof of prices suggest that the pursuit of happiness is already well under way.

Scottsdale Art Auction

April 10-11
Total: $16.2 million+

Ed Mell, Sundown Strike | Oil on Linen | 20 x 30 inches | Sold: $102,000

A 20th century artist trained in the upper echelons of European art schools went on to become one of the most renowned painters of Native Americans in his country of choice, the United States. Nicolai Fechin, Russian by birth, went to the Western U.S. in the early years of the last century for health reasons. He stayed in Taos, New Mexico, for artistic ones.

You may ask, how is Fechin relevant to today’s Western art market? The Scottsdale Art Auction has the answer. Two of Fechin’s pictures were among the top five best-selling items at the celebrated two-day spring sale in Arizona that brought in more than $16.2 million.

Nicholai Fechin, Carmencita | Oil | 20 x 16 inches | Sold: $1.02 million

Fechin’s oil, Carmencita, 20 inches by 16 inches, captured the number one slot at $1,020,000 with fees. That compares to projections of $600,000-$900,000. Meanwhile, the same artist’s Still Life, Floral went for $396,000 to fetch the fourth highest amount at the auction.

The sale saw a multitude of pleasing — nay, energizing! — results, but perhaps none more so than the handsome sum paid for Smoky and Clint by Will James. The suspense is over. The oil, thought to be one of fewer than 50 James produced in that medium, went for $990,000 against estimates of $50,000-$75,000.

Kyle Polzin, America Endures – 250 Years of Valor and Virtue | Oil on Canvas | 64 x 33 inches | Sold: $336,000

The painting served as the cover art for Smoky Classic Edition, which was published in 1929 and which chronicled — in the aftermath of a top literary award — James’ protagonist horse, Smoky, and adventures in the U.S. West.

Leave it to Frederic Remington to follow an act that is hard to follow. The auction saw a lifetime cast of Remington’s The Broncho Buster garner $690,000 or nearly twice the high estimate of $350,000.

Will James, Smoky and Clint | Oil | 28 x 22 inches | Sold: $990,000

Finishing out the top five was Kyle Polzin’s America Endures – 250 Years of Valor and Virtue, a strikingly vertical and symbolic oil that brought $336,000 compared to pre-sale expectations of $75,000-$125,000.

Night of the Artists Exhibition and Sale

March 27-28
Total: $2.3 million+

Mark Kohler, The Slip Away | Oil on Aluminum Panel | 30 x 14 inches | Sold: $23,000

The Briscoe Western Art Museum in 2026 bumped its own record for art proceeds amid the 25th annual Night of the Artists Exhibition and Sale. The museum in San Antonio sold more than $2.3 million in works.

A painting by Gladys Roldan-de-Moras fetched the highest amount at $57,500, which represents more than twice the high estimate; the low estimate for Guardians of Tradition was $19,000. Known for her exuberant use of color and vibrant depictions of Spanish culture, Guardians shows a festively dressed woman and child, the former in a large sombrero that spills shade on the face of the sleeping girl.

Gladys Roldan-de-Moras, Guardians of Tradition | Oil | 30 x 24 inches | Sold: $57,500

She Stands Alone, an oil on linen by Todd Connor, climbed to second place among the five best-selling works at Night of the Artists, the centerpiece live auction. The picture, expected to bring between $11,000 and $15,000, found favor with contemporary Western art enthusiasts and achieved $41,000.

Connor presented everything expected in an otherwise restful Southwestern landscape. Then he went for gold in a fluid, choreographed instant: The central figure — the “she” of She Stands Alone — is a woman with a long gun. And she doesn’t stand alone. Clinging to her apron is a girl, her face pushed close against the stalwart side of a stalwart woman.

Todd Conner, She Stands Alone | Oil on Linen | 24 x 36 inches | Sold: $41,000

Sean Michael Chavez’ Still the Descent, sold for $30,000 against estimates of $15,000-$21,000. The large-scale oil depicts a lone, sombreroed rider whose horse is carefully seeking stable hoofing on uneven rock outcroppings. Still the Descent speaks, in title and illustration, to the uphill effort that must be put forth in downhill journeying through Western canyonlands.

A strongly horizontal painting by Andrew Roda brought $27,000. That compares to pre-sale expectations of $9,000-$14,000 for an oil that shows just the mid-torso of a holstered man in Western garb holding a long gun in relaxed grip.

Sean Michael Chavez, Still the Descent | Oil | 40 x 30 inches | Sold: $30,000

The Slip Away by Mark Kohler finished out the five best-selling items by fetching $23,000. The oil-on-aluminum panel is a nocturne in which the presence of cowboy and mount at the edge of a steep, rocky ledge is so spellbinding that the observer nearly neglects the image of a mountain lion lurking below. The painting had been projected to bring $4,000-$10,000.

Briscoe officials hailed the 25th anniversary of the museum’s mix of sales and events. “The record-breaking response we’ve seen this year is a powerful testament that Western art is not only enduring — it is evolving, relevant and deeply resonant with audiences and collectors today,” Briscoe President and CEO Liz Jackson said in a statement.

C.M. Russell Museum, The Russell

March 19-21
Total: $5.7 million

Charles M. Russell, The Rattlesnake | Oil on Board | 12.25 x 18.5 inches | Sold: $1.5 million

Charles M. Russell likely needs no introduction to Western art aficionados. The C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Montana, each spring salutes its dedication to spreading the word and showing the works of the cowboy-cum-artist in an eponymous celebration.

The multi-day Russell is the chief fundraiser for the museum and another genius of an excuse to gather Western art collectors, scholars and artists — among many others — to mark the legacy of a painter and sculptor widely considered to be a giant in the genre.

Luke Frazier, The Beginning of the End | Oil | 40 x 60 inches | Sold: $72,800

Historic works that topped sales began with The Rattlesnake, an oil that demonstrates Russell’s increasingly painterly style and which packs action into two dimensions. The smallish-sized piece sold for more than $1.5 million. That compares to a 2024 sale price of $1 million-plus when the oil on board was offered at an online sale by the Coeur d’Alene Art Auction.

Russell’s The Run, depicting mounted Native American hunters and galloping bison, garnered $877,500 while The Bolter went for $819,000. The Bolter is in the minority of Russell paintings in which the artist employed watercolor and gouache. The results are spellbinding: Never have a man’s muscles — the central hunter’s, in this case — appeared so distinctly in a media mix known for producing the oppositional effects of transparency and opacity.

Charles M. Russell, Finger That Kills Wins His Squaw | Watercolor and Gouache | Size Unknown | Sold: $210,600

Watercolor and gouache similarly are applied, but to very different effect, in Finger That Kills Wins His Squaw, a Russell painting that fetched $210,600. The piece projects a ghostly overlay that emphasizes the stern visage of the winning warrior, whose horse likewise lays a determined eye in the direction of the pageant’s ultimate destination: the halls of history.

Contemporary stand-outs, according to museum officials, included Luke Frazier’s The Beginning of the End, a heroic portrait of a bull bison, which sold for $72,800 and was designated Best in Show at the centerpiece live auction on March 21. Montana Memories by Gary Lynn Roberts brought $61,600 at the same sale and People’s Choice went to W. Steve Seltzer for Pleasurable Pastimes.

W. Steve Seltzer, A Pleasurable Pastime | Oil | 30 x 36 inches | Sold: $10,080

At the First Strike Friday Night event on March 20, Best in Show was awarded to Colt R. Idol for Emerald and Ember, picturing a center-lit tipi, backlit by sky.

March in Montana

March 19-21
Total: $3.2 million

Charles M. Russell, Bull Elk | Mixed Media | 7 x 9.75 inches | Sold: $90,750

A painting by Charlie Russell headlined yet another premier sale amid Western Art Week in Great Falls, Montana, by fetching $242,000 or roughly four times the top amount expected.

March in Montana, in its 39th edition, saw Russell’s Scalp Hunters, one of a modest number of the painter’s watercolors, so outstrip its pre-sale estimates of $40,000-$60,000 that auction officials singled it out as “one of the most notable results of the weekend.”

Charles M. Russell, Scalp Hunters | Watercolor | 11.75 x 15 inches | Sold: $242,000

Russell was — once again — on a roll, with Bull Elk achieving $90,750 against projections of $10,000-$15,000 and bringing the mixed media to the number three position among the event’s bestsellers.

A bronze by Frederic Remington, who, like Russell, is considered all but unparalleled in his depictions of a Western frontier that ended before the paint dried on certain canvases, sold for $102,850. That compares to pre-sale projections of $40,000-$60,000 for a cast of The Broncho Buster that came with strong provenance and authentication, according to sale officials. The statue ranked second among bestsellers.

Frederic Remington, The Broncho Buster | Bronze | 22.75 x 19 x 12 inches | Sold: $102,850

A John Armstrong flintlock Kentucky long rifle brought $60,500, nicely topping its high-end estimate of $50,000, to nudge out Bob Kuhn’s Cheetah on a Kill for the number four slot. Cheetah, an acrylic by the late, acclaimed wildlife artist, realized $57,475 to finish out the top five performers.

Bob Kuhn, Cheetah on a Kill | Acrylic on Board | 18 x 26 inches | Sold: $57,475

A Montana collector purchased the picture that led the auction, Scalp Hunters, in a gathering that saw 33 percent of participating buyers hailing from the Big Sky State, officials said, adding that the showing reflected “the importance of local collectors alongside a strong national audience.”

Western Horizons Exhibition and Sale

February 27-28
Total: $1.8 million+

Contemporary Navajo artist Tony Abeyta can boast mastery of styles from Cubism to Abstract Expressionism. Yet his outsized painting, Dancing Grounds, which led an evening sale during Western Horizons Exhibition and Sale in late February, exhibits mastery of the interplay between circles and angles rarely seen outside the most playful of Pablo Picasso’s oeuvre.

Mark Boedges, Through the Valley of the Shadow | Oil | 40 x 60 inches | Best of Show

The 50-by-70-inch picture, an unabashed paean to Modernism, went for $75,000 at Western Horizons, a two-day event in Scottsdale, Arizona, presented by Legacy Gallery in partnership with Western Spirit: Scottsdale Museum of the West.

The third annual event set new benchmarks for sales and attendance, according to officials who also hailed the resurgent strength of the Western art market. Referring to the sales floor, Legacy owner Brad Richardson said in a statement, “The energy in the room was incredible; there were collectors from across the country engaging with artists and acquiring important works.”

Tony Abeyta, Dancing Grounds | Oil | 50 x 70 inches | $75,000

And there were awards.

The museum voted to give its Western Spirit honor to Kyle Polzin for The Cowboy’s Call, a vertical still life composed of cowboy gear, poster and painted photograph of a cowboy on horseback. Polzin, whose works sold out, garnered Best Body of Work based on artists’ votes.

Kyle Polzin, The Cowboy’s Call | Oil | 43 x 24 inches | Western Spirit Award

Artists also voted to award Best of Show to Mark Boedges for Through the Valley of the Shadow, a landscape that applauds — a la the Romantic period — nature in its grandeur.

The piece demonstrates an interplay of light and dark that is so striking that it borders on tenebrism. In fact, let us demur no more and, arguably, claim that Boedges’ deftness in creating contrasts mimics that of the 17th century Baroque master, Michaelangelo Caravaggio.

Patron’s Choice went to Rachel Brownlee for her drawing, Tree of Life. Against a winter landscape, a so-called wolf tree, one that likely existed in a given area long before other trees came to share the same ground, extends bare but protective branches toward a small band of horses. Brownlee was among more than a dozen artists whose entire offerings for the show were snapped up by buyers.

Jackson Hole Art Auction

February 11-12
Total: $1 million+

Malcolm Furlow, Warrior on a Galloping Horse | Oil | 43 x 24 inches | $21,600

A table-top bronze from the Jackson Hole, Wyoming, ranch and residence of Laurance S. Rockefeller and John D. Rockefeller IV easily ascended estimates to lead works in a pair of sales in February by the Jackson Hole Art Auction.

The cast, edition No. 92, of Cyrus Edwin Dallin’s Appeal to the Great Spirit, had been projected to bring $1,000-$2,000 but extravagantly defied expectations by fetching $48,000 with fees. The figure of a mounted Native American, arms skyward, captures the spirit of American artists who in the early 20th century resisted the modernist excesses that plagued some segments of European art.

Bill Anton, Where the Old Ways are the Best Ways | Oil on Board | 24 x 30 inches | $33,000

The bronze sold during the live online auction on February 12, a sale that came the day after a separate auction entitled “Attainable Art for the Emerging Collector.” Both events showed strong interest and prices for works featuring Indigenous subjects, auction officials said.

Another Shot, a 1906 gouache on paper by John Hauser, provided evidence for the trend, with the depiction of two Native Americans on horseback going for $33,000 against estimates of $15,000-$20,000.

John Hauser, Another Shot | Gouache on Paper | 13.5 x 9.5 inches | $33,000

An oil on board by Bill Anton, Where the Old Ways are the Best Ways, backed up its title by garnering $33,000, overtopping expectations of $10,000-$20,000. The painting shows a wrangler roping a calf in a sprawling corral where dust rises like mist and the odor of acrid earth is palpable.

John Bye, Winter in the West | Oil on Canvas | 30 x 40 inches | $24,000

British-born artist John Bye’s Winter in the West, an ode in oil and on canvas to realism, was among bestsellers at $24,000 or twice the high estimate.

Cyrus Dallin, Appeal to the Great Spirit | Bronze | 22.25 x 22 x 13.75 inches | $48,000

And, rounding out the sales’ highs, Warrior on a Galloping Horse, by Malcolm Furlow, fetched $21,600. That compares to estimates of $8,000-$12,000 for the acrylic and oil on canvas that features a tri-saturated backdrop against which advances a brightly colored rider and mount.

Laura Zuckerman is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in magazines such as Cowboys & Indians and Country Living.