Heritage Auctions introduced its Art of the West sales last year and has had great success catering to the Western art market at all levels with its offerings. The next iteration of the sale will happen online on March 12, but beginning February 19 collectors can start placing bids for their chance to take home new pieces for their collectors. Featured are primarily contemporary works, but there will be notable historic items hitting the block as well.
Fritz Scholder (1937-2005), Mystery Woman, 1985, bronze with brown and green patina, ed. 2 of 12, 23½” Estimate: $6/8,000“The sale includes everything from Western bronzes—we have Allan Houser, Fritz Scholder, Dave McGary, Dan Ostermiller—to a lot of work by great cowboy artists and Native American artists,” says Alissa Ford, Heritage’s director of Western art. She adds, “I really push this sale to young collectors who are just getting started, people who have second homes…interior designers really love this sale. There are a lot of cross-category buyers who collect Native American art or in the nature and science category.”
Carlos Vierra (1876-1937), The Serenade (diptych), oil on board, 20 x 16” each. Estimate: $4/6,000
One of the major highlights of the auction is a rare bronze by Fritz Scholder that measures nearly 24 inches high. Scholder, who is highly sought after for his paintings, created a series of works titled Mystery Woman that included several bronzes. “There’s been a couple of them at auction that have done extraordinarily well, but it’s not something you see often,” Ford explains. She adds, “They have a Bay Area figurative and Native American crossover feel to them. That contemporary feel is what excites bidders and also draws in more bidders.” The piece has an estimate of $6,000 to $8,000.
Roy Andersen (1930-2019), Chief Stands and Looks Back, oil on board, 38 x 28½” Estimate: $8/12,000
A diptych by Carlos Vierra titled The Serenade (est. $4/6,000) will also cross the block. Vierra was Santa Fe’s first resident artist and a founding member of the Santa Fe Art Colony, as well as an advocate for the arts and manager of several buildings in the city. “This is a pair of paintings; it’s a gentleman serenading a woman who is up in a balcony,” shares Ford. “It’s an illustrative story.”
Other notables in the sale include the Dave McGary bronze Strikes with Thunder, works by George Phippen, George Hallmark and Edgar Payne; two by Von Hassler; and Roy Andersen’s Chief Stands and Looks Back (est. $8/12,000).
Art of the West
March 12, 2012
Online bidding begins, February 19
Auction, March 12
Heritage Auctions, 2801 W. Airport Freeway, Dallas, TX 75261-4127
(877) 437-4824, www.ha.com
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