Follow the Tracks

With $8.9 million in sales, the Jackson Hole Art Auction welcomes bidders back to Wyoming.

After a modified online-only sale in 2020, bidders were excited to return to in-person bidding at the Jackson Hole Art Auction, which was held September 17 and 18 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It was a thrilling homecoming that resulted in $8.9 million in sales, a 95 percent sell-through rate and 24 new artist world records. Howard Terpning, Vanishing Pony Tracks, oil on canvas, 60 x 40” Estimate: $700/1,000,000 SOLD $1,424,000

The top lot in the annual sale was Howard Terpning’s Vanishing Pony Tracks, a large and magnificent work showing Native American riders in front of a majestic waterfall. Consistent bidding, both in the room and on the phones, pushed the work to more than $1.4 million, well above its $1 million high estimate. Remarkably, it became the 10th Terpning piece to sell at auction above $1 million. (The Tucson artist’s world record is more than $1.9 million.)

Another artist who performed strongly, and was a dear friend of Terpning, was wildlife painter Bob Kuhn, whose painting of wolves, Stuff of Legends, sold for $480,000, well over its $150,000 high estimate. Kuhn had three works in the top 10 lots, including Heading Into the Thick Stuff (est. $100/150,000) that sold for $156,000 and Midst Flap and Clatter (est. $70/100,000) that sold for $144,000. Kuhn had three other major sales, all of which exceeded their high estimates. Bob Kuhn (1920-2007), Stuff of Legends, acrylic on Masonite, 22 x 30” Estimate: $100/150,000 SOLD: $480,000

Fred Harman (1902-1982), The Bronc, oil on canvas, 24 x 20” Estimate: $1/2,500 SOLD: $39,000

John Clymer, who lived in Jackson Hole, also had exceptional results with his paintings We Take All (est. $100/200,000) that sold for $480,000 and Buffalo Hunt (est. $100/200,000) that sold for $240,000.

Other top sellers included Carl Rungius, Oscar E. Berninghaus and G. Harvey, whose Trails in the Palo Duro sold at $168,000, nearly doubling its high estimate of $90,000. Although Harvey had some major sales in the auction, his most thrilling lots were two small watercolors from the T. Boone Pickens Collection. The works, which sold back to back, realized $36,000 on a $7,000 high estimate and $24,000 on a $2,000 high estimate. John Clymer (1907-1989), We Take All, oil on canvas, 24 x 48” Estimate: $100/200,000 SOLD: $480,000

E.S. Paxson (1852-1919), Geronimo, 1904, oil on canvas, 14¼ x 12¼” Estimate: $15/25,000 SOLD: $132,000

Other showstoppers were E.S. Paxson’s 1904 oil Geronimo, which sold at $132,000, many times over its high estimate of $25,000. Elsewhere in the sale, a Fred Harman painting titled The Bronc, was estimated at $1,500 to $2,500, but bidders took the gem of a painting up to $39,000, more than 15 times over its high estimate. Other auction records were set for John Cowan and Roy Andersen.

“With the T. Boone Pickens and Eddie Basha collections, I certainly think we continued our track record of attracting major collections to the sale,” says auction partner Roxanne Hofmann Mowery, “and then to have a 95 percent sell-through rate, having 40 percent of all lots sell above high estimates and a number of world records, I think that’s proof that the Western and wildlife market is very strong.” —

Top 10 Lots: Jackson Hole Art Auction, September 17-18, 2021 (including buyer’s premiums)
Artist Title Low /High Estimate SOLD
Howard Terpning Vanishing Pony Tracks $700/1,000,000 $1,424,000
Bob Kuhn Stuff of Legends $100/150,000 $480,000
John Clymer We Take All $100/200,000 $480,000
Carl Rungius Above the Treeline $300/500,000 $324,000
John Clymer Buffalo Hunt $100/200,000 $240,000
Oscar E. Berninghaus Taos Field of Workers $300/500,000 $216,000
G. Harvey Trails in the Palo Duro $60/90,000 $168,000
Bob Kuhn Heading Into the Thick Stuff $100/150,000 $156,000
Roy Andersen Day of the Dog Soldier $75/125,000 $156,000
Bob Kuhn Midst Flap and Clatter $70/100,000 $144,000