Scottsdale Art Auction kicks off its annual sale on April 9 with the first of two sessions of Western art from many categories—from landscapes and wildlife to sporting art and cowboy images. The auction house has typically held both sessions in one day, but for the 2021 sale it has been split across April 9 and 10, which will open up the sale and make it more accessible to bidders. 
Billy Schenck, Blood on the Horizon, oil on canvas, 40 x 50” Estimate: $15/25,000
The live auction will have in-person bidding, as well as a full array of online, telephone and absentee bidding for those who are not yet traveling. And, as is the case in many of the auction house’s first-session sales, many lots will have no reserve, which could create some bidding opportunities.
William Acheff, The Potter Wore Blue, oil on canvas, 28 x 16 in. Estimate: $16/24,000
“We’re always happy with the variety of work we get year after year, and this year is no exception as we have artwork from many different areas within Western art,” says auction partner Brad Richardson. “Certainly the wildlife and landscape categories always get some great works, and this year that is certainly the case, but our pieces with cowboys and Native Americans are also exceptional.”
Works in Session I include the catalog cover, Billy Schenck’s Blood on the Horizon, a stunning example from 2014 that shows a larger-than-life horse and rider galloping against a landscape. The horse and figure are so immense their shadows appear on the clouds behind them. The work is estimated at $15,000 to $25,000.
Ray Swanson (1937-2004), The Team at Granada, oil on board, 36 x 48” Estimate: $20/30,000
Ray Swanson has several noteworthy paintings in the sale, including a big cowboy painting, Takin’ No Shortcuts (est. $15,25,000), and The Team at Granada (est. $20/30,000), which was inspired by his travel to Spain. In a similar work, even featuring the same cart, Swanson explained the appeal of the city and its people. “When I went to Spain, I searched for the fine old carts with the huge wooden wheels. They had been banned from the streets because their narrows rims cut into the pavement on hot days,” he writes in The Art of Ray Swanson. “…One year later, I returned to Granada and found the same man doing the same job with the same cart.”
Frank McCarthy (1924-2002), From the Pinnacles They Watched, oil on canvas, 34 x 24” Estimate: $12/18,000
Gary Lynn Roberts, Montana Horse Wranglers, oil on canvas, 30 x 40” Estimate: $12/18,000
Other works include William Acheff’s still life The Potter Wore Blue (est. $16/24,000), Gary Lynn Roberts’ Montana Horse Wranglers (est. $12/18,000), G. Harvey’s A Nation Together (est. $12/18,000) and Frank McCarthy’s From the Pinnacles They Watched (est. $12/18,000).
Elsewhere in the sale will be Joe Beeler watercolors and drawings, Bill Nebeker bronzes, several Michael Coleman gouache works, and Kyle Polzin’s One Warrior’s Medicine (est. $30/40,000), which shows a Native American shield and spear. —
Scottsdale Art Auction: Session I
April 9, 2021, 1:30 p.m.
7176 Main Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85251
(480) 945-0225,
www.scottsdaleartauction.com
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