Art buying via online platform has been a boon to auction houses around the country the last year, and that’s certainly going to continue as bidders have grown accustomed to the convenience of bidding from their homes. But nothing beats in-person bidding. Of course, the art is all right there to view and enjoy, but so are the people. Oscar E. Berninghaus (1874-1952), The Domain of Their Ancestors, 1925, oil on canvas, 25 x 30"  Estimate: $400/600,000

“We’ve seen such a pent-up demand from people who want to get out and attend auctions again, so we’re expecting a full and live crowd at our next sale,” says Coeur d’Alene Art Auction partner Mike Overby. “We’re excited to see all our friends. It’s been a long time for some of them. And there really is no substitute for seeing art in person. Over the last year we’ve proven that online sales can work, but you just can’t replicate being in a room with everyone as you experience it all live.”Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), Roping a Wolf, 1904, oil on canvas, 15 x 20"  Estimate: $1/1.5 million

The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction will return—live and online—on July 31 when it brings more than 360 lots of Western art to bidders. The sale will take place at the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino in Reno, Nevada. Overby says he expects to see lots of veteran Western art collectors at the sale, but also anticipates seeing many new faces. 

“The silver lining for the last year is that we picked up lots of new clients, many of them skewed toward younger collectors who are more comfortable bidding online. We’ll see them return to online bidding, but we also may see them show up to bid in person along with our more regular bidders,” he says. “Overall we’re seeing many new collectors, including younger collectors who are coming in for those lower- to middle-priced artworks. But then, of course, we’re also seeing some new clients who are bidding on those very high-end pieces. Everyone is after the best material.”Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902), Mount Baker, Washington, 1891, oil on canvas, 14½ x 20"  Estimate: $250/350,000

Frederic Remington (1861-1909), The Borderland of the Other Tribe, ca. 1897, ink wash on paper en grisaille, 24½ x 38”  Estimate: $200/300,000

Highlights from this year’s sale include 14 works by Charles M. Russell, with the top lot being the oil painting Roping a Wolf from 1904, estimated at $1 million to $1.5 million. “This is prime-period Russell,” Overby says. “The work was deaccessioned from the Amon Carter Museum in the early 2000s, so it’s been in private hands for more than 15 years. It’s the kind of high-action scene that Russell did so well.” Other Russell works are Cowboy on a Bronco (est. $150/250,000) and Indian on a Pinto (est. $150/250,000), both watercolors from 1898, as well as four illustrated letters.Frank Tenney Johnson (1874-1939), The Horse Thief, 1925, oil on canvas, 26 x 38"  Estimate: $300/500,000

One major work getting serious buzz is Oscar E. Berninghaus’ 1925 painting The Domain of Their Ancestors, estimated at $400,000 to $600,000. The work shows a trio of Native American figures standing in Glacier National Park with an epic landscape scene behind them. “This is one of the best works he ever painted, and it’s one of the rarest paintings we’ve ever sold,” Overby says. “Not only is it one of Berninghaus’ bests, but it is also one of the best works showing Glacier Park.”Walter Ufer (1876-1936), Greasewood and Sage, oil on canvas, 25 x 25”  Estimate: $300/500,00

Jeremy Winborg, Learning of the Past, Looking to the Future, oil on board, 38 x 40" Estimate: $20/30,000

Another painting filled with gorgeous scenery is Albert Bierstadt’s Mount Baker, Washington, an 1891 work estimated at $250,000 to $350,000. Additional landscapes include pieces by Maynard Dixon, Conrad Schwiering, Sydney Laurence, Edgar Payne, Gerard Curtis Delano and two works by the late Richard Schmid.

Besides the big Berninghaus painting, other Taos Society of Artists works represented in the sale include Eanger Irving Couse’s Moonlight Sonata (est. $200/300,000), Joseph Henry Sharp’s Storm on the Mountains (est. $50/75,000) and Walter Ufer’s Greasewood and Sage (est. $300/500,000). “When you see the Ufer in person it just takes your breath away,” adds Overby. “It’s such a grand landscape.”

The Cowboy Artists of America will have a number of major works in the sale, including a stunning cattle drive scene by Charlie Dye, the 1960 oil Taking the Tally (est. $50/75,000); Martin Grelle’s Days of the Cold Maker (est. $150/250,000); Howard Terpning’s A Sense of Danger (est. $60/90,000); Tim Cox’s God’s Gift to Man (est. $50/75,000); and several major John Clymer works, including Visitors at Fort Clatsop, estimated at $200,000 to $300,000. “The Clymer is as strong as I’ve ever seen. Some new collectors are buying his work at the highest end, so there’s some exciting new players that will be bidding on this one,” Overby says. “He was such a storyteller and he knew how to pack so much into every painting.”John Clymer (1907-1989), Visitors at Fort Clatsop, 1978, oil on canvas, 24 x 48"  Estimate: $200/300,000

Martin Grelle, Days of the Cold Maker, 2011, oil on canvas, 38 x 48”  Estimate: $150/250,000

Other cowboy works include a magnificent Carl Oscar Borg painting, The Herd (est. $80/120,000), and Frank Tenney Johnson’s The Horse Thief (est. $300/500,000).

Noteworthy single-owner collections include a grouping of Harry Jackson bronzes from a California collector, as well as selections from the John and Toni Bloomberg Collection, which left directly from an exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art to come to the auction. The Bloomberg pieces include several Couse paintings, as well as Ufer’s Greasewood and Sage.Carl Oscar Borg (1879-1947), The Herd, oil on canvas, 30 x 30” Estimate: $80/120,000

Herman Hansen (1854-1924), Attack on the Stagecoach, oil on canvas, 32 x 48”  Estimate: $80/120,000The sale always has a handful of new works made by contemporary painters, and this year is no different with important new pieces by Andy Thomas, C. Michael Dudash, Luke Frazier, Bonnie Marris, Thomas Blackshear II, Tim Solliday and a big piece from Jeremy Winborg, Learning of the Past, Looking to the Future, estimated at $20,000 to $30,000. “We must look to our ancestors and learn from them,” Winborg says of the piece. “If we know where we came from, we may better know where to go. If we know who we came from, we may better know who we are. In this painting, a granddaughter is taught generations of knowledge from her grandfather as she looks toward her future.”Eanger Irving Couse (1866-1936), Moonlight Sonata, oil on canvas, 36 x 30” Estimate: $200/300,000

In addition to a July 30 preview, this year’s sale will also feature a Friday lecture and book signing by Dr. Larry Len Peterson, whose book The American West Reimagined uses images from past Coeur d’Alene Art Auction sales. —

Coeur d’Alene Art Auction
July 31, 2021
Grand Sierra Resort & Casino,
2500 E. Second Street, Reno, NV 89595,
(208) 772-9009, www.cdaartauction.com

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