Joint Auction Report

N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945), The Guardians (War or Peace?) (“Nothing would escape their black, jewel-like, inscrutable eyes…”), 1911, oil on canvas, 46⅞ x 37⅞”. Courtesy Christie’s. Estimate: $600/800,000 SOLD: $750,000

Christie’s
May 18
American Art Sale
$9 million
Christie’s seasonal American art sale saw strong results across many categories on May 18 in New York. Although the sale leans more toward classic American painters, there is usually a small contingency of prominent Western works, and this year was no exception. The top Western lot was N.C. Wyeth’s The Guardians (War or Peace?), estimated at $600,000 to $800,000. It finished at $750,000. Other top Western lots were Charles Schreyvogel’s bronze The Last Drop (est. $40/60,000) that sold for $97,500, Thomas Hill’s Yosemite (est. $120/180,000) that sold for $137,500, and Joseph Henry Sharp’s Spring, The Desert and Mt. San Jacinto at Palm Springs, California (est. $12/18,000), which closed at $35,000.

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John Clymer (1907-1989), Zion Canyon, Utah , oil on panel, 34 x 27”. Courtesy Sotheby’s. Estimate: $40/60,000 SOLD: $163,800

Sotheby’s
May 19
American Art Sale
$14.9 million
Though the Western offerings during Sotheby’s spring American art sale were limited, the ones that were available exceeded expectations, including a magnificent John Clymer painting titled Zion Canyon, Utah (est. $40/60,000) that sold at $163,800. A Dorothy Brett painting, Bareback Riders, sold for $69,300, well over its $25,000 high estimate. Elsewhere in the sale, a Nicolai Fechin still life, Floral with Daisies (est. $120/180,000), sold for $478,800, and another Fechin, Portrait of Anna May Wong (est. $200/300,000), also sold for $478,800. Other works that performed well were pieces by Frederic Remington, Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran and John James Audubon.

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Birger Sandzén (1871-1954), Aspens, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, 1930, oil on canvas, 40 x 30”. Courtesy Heritage Auctions. Estimate: $100/150,000 SOLD: $225,000

Heritage Auctions
May 7
American Art Signature Auction
$10.7 million
Heritage Auctions’ annual American Art Signature Auction saw strong results from many categories during its May 7 sale in Dallas. Noteworthy lots include Gustave Baumann’s Processional (est. $10/15,000) that sold for $37,500. A classic scene by Eanger Irving Couse, The Pictograph (est. $100/150,000), closed at $125,000. Six paintings by Birger Sandzén were in the sale, with all of them finding new buyers. The top lot from the grouping was Aspens, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado (est. $100/150,000), which sold for $225,000. The fireworks in the sale came when J.C. Leyendecker’s Beat-up Boy, Football Hero sold for an astounding record of $4.12 million against a presale estimate of just $150,000 to $250,000.

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Eve Van Ek Drewelowe (1899-1989), Reflected Range, 1944, oil on canvas, 24 x 29”. Courtesy Hindman. Estimate: $2/4,000 SOLD: $46,875

Hindman
May 6
Western Paintings & Sculpture
$1.6 million
Modernist Western painters, including several women artists, performed strongly at Hindman’s Western Paintings & Sculptures on May 6. One of the big highlights was Eve Van Ek Drewelowe’s Reflected Range (est. $2/4,000), which climbed well past its presale estimates to sell for $46,875. Other noteworthy lots include Louisa McElwain’s Anvil IV (est. $20/30,000) that achieved $43,750, and Dorothy Brett’s Practice of the Relay Race (est. $2/4,000) realized $22,500. Ed Mell’s Red Rock (est. $15/25,000) sold for $37,500.—