The Santa Fe Art Auction will present one of its most important annual sales, the Live Signature Sale, on November 4 and 5 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. At least two sessions will be offered, featuring more than 400 works of art. The sale will reflect both the contemporary art coming out of the Southwest today as well as the historical works from the past, so bidders can expect to see a great deal of material that speaks to the city, the state and the entire region from a wide period of time. 
Melvin Warren (1920-1995), Trail to Eagle Nest, oil on canvas, 22 x 36” Estimate: $20/30,000
The auction house has been expanding for a number of years, but the Live Signature Sale is the longest-running sale in its growing arsenal of auctions. “We are now offering 10 to 12 sales per year, from such diverse categories as Native American art, contemporary art and design, prints and multiples, Spanish Colonial and historic and contemporary Western art,” says Gillian Blitch, president and CEO of the auction house. “But our November sale brings in the best of all these categories. It is one of two Annual Signature Sales that are live in the room and includes our renowned print catalog.”
Martin Grelle, Through the Valley, oil on canvas, 30 x 40” Estimate: $90/120,000
Important Western lots in the sale include a stunning Martin Grelle work, Through the Valley, a 30-by-40-inch image showing a Native American riding a horse and leading another horse through a snowy landscape. The work is estimated at $90,000 to $120,000. An artist who was important to Grelle as he was coming up in the Western world, Melvin Warren, will have a work in the sale as well. Warren’s Trail to Eagle Nest, another snow scene, is estimated at $20,000 to $30,000.
John Moyers, Temperature Falling, oil on canvas,40 x 60” Estimate: $20/40,000
Billy Schenck, The Girl From Chinle, oil on canvas, 30 x 36” Estimate: $15/25,000
Another Western great with work among the offerings is John Moyers, whose 40-by-60-inch oil painting Temperature Falling will be offered with estimates of $20,000 to $40,000. Moyers’ work, like Grelle’s painting, shows a single Native American rider in a snowy scene. Where Grelle’s work is filled with detail, Moyers paints looser and with prominent brushstrokes. The works will contrast with each other in pleasing ways and will surely impress collectors of all kinds.
Showing the more contemporary side of the West will be Billy Schenck’s The Girl From Chinle, estimated at $15,000 to $25,000, and Kim Wiggins’ Storm Over Ranchos Church, estimated at $20,000 to $40,000. The Wiggins painting shows the iconic San Francisco de Asís Mission Church, which has been painted for more than a century. Another modernist work is Chloé Marie Burk’s L’ Epopee, estimated at $6,000 to $9,000.
Chloé Marie Burk, L’ Epopee, oil on canvas, 24 x 30” Estimate: $6/9,000
Charles Loloma (1921-1991), Turquoise, Coral, Lapis, Gold + Mixed Stone Inlay Cuff, 14k gold Estimate: $65/95,000
Three Glenna Goodacre bronzes will be available to bidders, including Pueblo Dancer, a multiple-patina bronze that is a one of one—only one edition exists. The work is expected to sell between $12,000 and $18,000. Specialists at the auction also expect at least seven Gustave Baumann woodblock prints and nearly a dozen Gene Kloos prints.
Santa Fe Art Auction typically offers works by prominent Native American artists, and this year’s sale is no exception. Some of the key lots consigned to the November sale include a stunning Apache polychrome olla from around 1910 to 1920, estimated at $40,000 to $60,000, and the 1995 Roxanne Swentzell sculpture Sale (Koshare), estimated at $6,000 to $9,000. The Swentzel piece will be joining a number of other works from the Georgia and Charles Loloma Collection, the bulk of which was sold in June at the Santa Fe Art Auction. Works by Loloma include an untitled abstract colored pencil work on paper (est. $2/4,000) and a turquoise, coral, lapis and gold bracelet estimated at $65,000 to $95,000. The bracelet has never been up for sale and has been in a single collection for the last 40 years.
Apache Polychrome Olla, ca. 1910-20, 18 x 20½” Estimate: $40/60,000
Tony Abeyta, At the Mouth of the River, 2017, oil on canvas, 16 x 16” Estimate: $8/12,000
Paintings by Native American artists will also have a strong presence at the November auction with great examples from several iconic artists, including David Bradley’s Scene from a Western Movie (est. $8/12,000), Earl Biss’ Yellowstone (est. $20/25,000) and three works by Tony Abeyta, including At the Mouth of the River (est. $8/12,000).
The sale will also offer a Fritz Scholder bronze work, Diogenes (est. $3,500/5,500); a rare collection of historic pueblo pottery, including fine examples of 19th-century pottery from the CJ Wallace Collection; and other works by Jaune Quick-to-See-Smith, John Nieto, Kevin Red Star, T.C. Cannon and Nocona Burgess. 
David Bradley, Scene from a Western Movie, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 40” Estimate: $8/12,000
Roxanne Swentzell, Sale (Koshare), 1995, fried clay, glazes, 10 x 11 x 9½” Estimate: $6/9,000
Finally, the sale will also offer more photogravures by Edward S. Curtis from the Chris Cardozo Collection, as well as Curtis works from the Oklahoma collection of Daniel Brackett. The auction has seen exceptional results for Curtis and his photography. 
Kim Wiggins, Storm Over Ranchos Church, oil, 48 x 60” Estimate: $20/40,000“People have been coming to our November sale for years,” says Blitch. “It is a much-anticipated event and we will include activities throughout the weekend. We will host a reception and a lecture on Friday, November 4, and the live sale is Saturday, November 5. As our frequent guests will attest to, there is no prettier place to be than Santa Fe in the heart of its fall season.” —
Santa Fe Art Auction’s Live Signature Sale
November 4-5, 2022
Santa Fe Art Auction, 932 Railfan Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(505) 954-5858, www.santafeartauction.com
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