After a successful summer season in Santa Fe, New Mexico—during which visitors and collectors triumphantly returned to art events all around the city—the Santa Fe Art Auction is welcoming back bidders to its popular Annual Signature Live Sale from November 5 through 7.
The sale, being held across two sessions and featuring nearly 450 lots, will include major works from many categories, including historic and contemporary Western art, modern and abstract art, Southwest modernism and works on paper, including woodblock prints and etchings.
Gordon Snidow, Vince, 1970, oil on canvas, 30 x 50” Estimate: $30/50,000
Gerard Curtis Delano (1890-1972), Sunlight and Shadow, 17½ x 19½” Estimate: $30/50,000
“After a difficult year in 2020, during which many events were canceled or held online, we’re excited to bring bidders once again into our annual signature sale,” says Gillian Blitch, president and CEO of the Santa Fe Art Auction. “This past year people have been coming back to Santa Fe, whether it is for Spanish Market or Santa Fe Indian Market, and they feel more confident being out and being comfortable in public spaces again. It’s encouraging for us, and we’re excited to welcome them back.”
Will Shuster (1893-1969), Vallecito, ca. 1947, oil on pressed board, 235/8 x 295/8” Estimate: $15/25,000
James Reynolds (1926-2010), Cowboy, oil on board, 16 x 20” Estimate: $10/15,000
Due to the pandemic and events of 2020 and early 2021, Santa Fe Art Auction, like many auction houses around the world, saw increased interest from online bidders and they don’t anticipate those bidders going elsewhere. “Now that sales are happening in person again, we’re not seeing those online bidders lose interest. Bidding has been robust, and even strong as ever,” Blitch says. “We always exhibit the artwork like an exhibition here in Santa Fe, and we’ve seen continuous interest from buyers who come in to take a look. So, whether it’s online or in person, buyers are growing more and more comfortable in their bidding.”
Olaf C. Seltzer (1877-1957), Indian Woman with Travois, watercolor, 5½ x 8¾” Estimate: $8/12,000
Alyce Frank, Canyon de Chelly, oil on canvas, 30 x 40” Estimate: $3/5,000
Josh Rose, senior vice president at Santa Fe Art Auction, adds that the Annual Signature Live Sale is the marquee event for the auction house. “It’s the only event we have a live auctioneer in the room for and the only one we print a catalog for—our November signature sales are always a good time for us to offer some really great artwork,” he says. “This year, we will again offer a mixture of classic and contemporary Western art from some of the great modernists, the Transcendentalist Painters and Los Cincos Pintores, as well as pieces by prominent Native American artists.”
Kim Wiggins, Village of San Jose Landscape - New Mexico, 1992, oil on canvas, 30 x 40” Estimate: $6/9,000
Edna Bradley Stevenson (b. 1887), Ranchos Church from Talpa, New Mexico, oil on canvas, 17½ x 19½” Estimate: $3/5,000
In addition to the sale, the auction house will also offer programming around the event. “This sale is part of the circuit of Western auctions, and so we like to turn it into a full weekend of events, including receptions, lectures and discussions, brunches and more,” Rose adds. “These artists have such a connection to Santa Fe, so we like to educate and inform our bidders while they’re here.”
Highlights from the Annual Signature Live Sale include several major collections, including additional works from June’s Chris Cardozo Collection of Edward S. Curtis materials, as well as items from the collection of Georgia Loloma, the wife of Native American jeweler Charles Loloma, who collected major works from Fritz Scholder, Kevin Red Star and others.
Other noteworthy lots include Gordon Snidow’s 1970 oil Vince (est. $30/50,000), a large 30-by-50-inch work showing a cowboy in a red jacket kneeling next to a wood fence; a rare 1986 George Carlson pastel on paper titled Colors in Movement (est. $8/12,000), from his series on Tarahumara Indians; and a lovely fall scene with horses and figures cooking over a campfire in Will Shuster’s Vallecito (est. $15/25,000).
George Carlson, Colors in Movement, 1986, pastel on paper, 171/8 x 235/8” Estimate: $8/12,000
Barbara Latham (1896-1989), Indian Women, oil on board, 15 x 8½” Estimate: $6/9,000
Among the living artists who will be represented in the sale, a number of them are prominent modernist painters who are pushing the boundaries of what Western art can be. Some examples are Dan Namingha, Tony Abeyta, David Bradley and Kim Wiggins, whose 1992 oil Village of San Jose Landscape - New Mexico (est. $6/9,000) will be offered. Other important artists in the sale include John Nieto, Billy Schenck, Leon Polk Smith and T.C. Cannon, who will be represented by two phenomenal color woodblocks, each estimated at $4,000 to $6,000.
More traditional Western scenes will also be offered, including Raphael Lillywhite’s Looking Down to Shiprock (est. $8/12,000), James Reynolds’ Cowboy (est. $10/15,000) and Gerard Curtis Delano’s Sunlight and Shadow (est. $30/50,000) that shows a moody canyon scene with two riders and a dog. Other artists that will be offered in the sale include Marsden Hartley, Emil Bisttram, Gustave Baumann and Leon Gaspard.
John Nieto (1936-2018), Matachine Dancer, pastel, 19 x 25” Estimate: $10/15,000
Billy Schenck, Evening Hours, 2011, oil on canvas, 123/8 x 10¼” Estimate: $4/6,000
Blitch is also excited to present a strong grouping of women artists that includes works by Beulah Stevenson, Edna Bradley Stevenson, Emmi Whitehorse, Susan Hertel, Janet Lippincott, Gene Kloss, Barbara Latham, Pablita Velarde, Roseta Santiago and Helen Green Blumenschein, daughter of Taos Society of Artist founder Ernest L. Blumschein.
“What’s great about this sale is it’s a cross section of our other sales—an aggregation of our calendar year. You’re going to see all the categories and a great diversity among our materials,” Blitch says. “When you talk about diversity in art, that’s the story of New Mexico, especially throughout the 20th century. The artists from the east discovered the light and set up homes here, and they joined the artists who were living and working here. What you see in Santa Fe, and our sales, is the essence of the Southwest.” ‚
Annual Signature Live Auction
November 5-7, 2021
Santa Fe Art Auction, 932 Railfan Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(505) 954-5858, www.santafeartauction.com
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