A Pursuit of Quality

Rick Gates’ quest for great art has led him deeper into the myth and magic of the West.

By John O’Hern | Photography by Daniel Nadelbach

Rick Gates says, “I’ve been a collector all my life, acquiring various things depending on my finances. I’m just a sod buster from Idaho and I started out with minor contemporary art just to hang in my house. In 1995 Steve Rose introduced me to higher-end Western art.” The late Steve Rose owned the Biltmore Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona, which had been started by Charlie Russell and Frank Tenney Johnson in California in 1924.Above the mantel in the living room is an oil by Freemont Ellis (1897-1985).

“I graduated to collecting fairly significant pieces that I’ve sold over time while upgrading my collection as most collectors do,” he says. “I’ve always felt privileged to be the temporary custodian of what I consider to be really fine art. I went for quality, the best of its kind, and most of the time the price was not the main consideration. I haven’t deviated from that in anything I collect.”Rick Gates' home has works that show the myth and magic of the West.

Today he lives with the best of his collections including a “fairly decent vintage watch collection that I put together recently. I started collecting vintage watches to share an interest my son has in collecting watches. I got carried away as usual.”

He has recently had his home redecorated by the Scottsdale design firm of Kitchell-Brusnighan.Above the fireplace is a watercolor by Victor Higgins (1884-1949).

“The quest for finding good art has been really fun,” he explains. “It’s been a constant effort to find really good and fresh things. I have friends with similar interests and we would fly around to different museums and went to New York on many occasions for the auctions. Many dealers will tell you that most collectors are addicts.

I looked at a lot of art and consulted with people whose opinions I respected before I purchased a significant piece of art. A lot of it is innate.

“Steve Rose was a good mentor,” he continues. “I’m partial to Leon Gaspard’s Russian scenes over his other subject matter. Steve always sold the best work to his collectors but he kept two small Gaspards for himself.I bought them from him before he passed away. The large one I owned, sold and then bought it back again.

“The fun of collecting is the chase. I spent a lot of time looking for great Victor Higgins paintings. I think he and Buck Dunton were the best of the Taos founders. I collected more paintings by Victor Higgins than any other Taos artist and have sold off all but one great watercolor that I still have. I bought the Berninghaus from a fellow collector because I wanted a great example of his early work.In the hall are three winter scenes by Leon Gaspard (1882-1964).

“The collection has been part of my life. However, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve found it necessary to sell off a great part of my collection.

“Among the things that I have kept are the red Margaret Tafoya bear paw jar. It makes such a statement in such a subtle way. There are two great Maria Martinez and Popovi Da gunmetal pots in the living room. Denny Lyon told me the smaller pot was the first one he ever collected. It took me awhile to talk it out of him.”

The late Dennis Lyon and his wife Janis assembled a large collection of Native American, Spanish Colonial and southwestern art. “I could have bought the tall gunmetal pot back in the ’90s but didn’t. Denny told me who owned it. I called the owner and told him I had to buy the pot that Denny told me he owned. I think these gunmetal gray jars are just the best. I doubt that I’ll ever sell them.”

Popovi Da had developed the method of firing his mother Maria’s black on black pots by firing them at a higher temperature for a longer time resulting in the high gunmetal luster. Da also added turquoise to his own work. Gates owns a fine pot by Popovi’s son, Tony Da, in red clay with turquoise inlay, which he also bought from Denny.

In his pursuit of quality, Gates acquired an unusual bronze ashtray by Charlie Russell, Smoking to the Spirit of the Buffalo. “It’s a cast from before his death,” he explains. “They’re the most sought-after. Rick Stewart, who was director of the Amon Carter Museum, wrote that he thought this is the best of the 12 or so of this image that were cast.”A painting by Oscar E. Berninghaus (1874-1952) hangs above the fireplace.

Gates isn’t interested in only big names. “When my girlfriend drug me into a second-hand store on Cerrillos Road in Santa Fe, I saw a couple of pictures on the wall that caught my eye. I took them down and looked at the back and saw the name Jack Dunn and thought ‘I’ve never heard of this guy.’ I took a picture and sent it to Carlos Acosta at Acosta Strong Gallery in Santa Fe and being a local artist, I told him he should get ahold of him to see what else he had done. Subsequent to that Jack is represented by Acosta Strong and has done very well over the last couple of years. I’m glad I was a part of getting Jack exposed to the collecting public. When I met him, he gave me the painting I now have in my collection. Another artist at Acosta Strong is Evelyne Boren. She’s vastly undervalued.”

Gates and his pals have engaged in friendly (and sometime expensive) competition over the years. In addition to the fun of the hunt they were all after one thing—quality. The view from Rick Gates' home.