On November 16, John Moran Auctioneers in Monrovia, California, presented its seasonal Art of the American West sale, which offered 169 lots of art from many of the prominent names familiar to Western collectors.
Walter Ufer (1876-1936), Pueblo cooking scene with figure, oil on waxed lined canvas, 20 x 26” Estimate: $3/5,000 SOLD: $8,125
One key element among the standout lots: size. Several of the top-selling works were small, which did not soften the bidding among collectors. Case in point, the top lot was Logan Maxwell Hagege’s 13-by-8-inch painting Dry Air, showing a Native American subject standing in the sun wrapped in a magnificent weaving. The piece was estimated at $4,000 to $6,000, but sold for $22,500.
David Manuel, John Wayne, Hondo, Lane, and Sam, 1986, patinated bronze on a wood base, 28 x 12 x 12” Estimate: $7/9,000 SOLD: $10,625
Other artists represented in the sale by small works were Len Chmiel, whose 12-by-16-inch painting Early (est. $1/1,500) sold for $7,500; Mian Situ’s 12-by-16-inch Night Watch (est. $4/6,000) that sold for $5,000; and Edward Borein’s 8-by-10-inch drypoint etching Grass Hunter, No. 1 (est. $1/2,000) sold for $4,063.
Logan Maxwell Hagege, Dry Air, 2012, oil on linen on artist board, 13 x 8” Estimate: $4/6,000 SOLD: $22,500
Harry B. Wagoner (1889-1950), Desert Landscape, oil on canvas, 24 x 30” Estimate: $3/5,000 SOLD: $8,125
Elsewhere in the sale was David Manuel’s bronze John Wayne, Hondo, Lane and Sam, estimated at $7,000 to $9,000, that sold for $10,625, and a Walter Ufer painting, Pueblo cooking scene with figure, estimated at $3,000 to $5,000, that sold for $8,125.
Other works in the top 10 lots were Fred Machetanz 1956 polar bear painting Monarch of the Arctic (est. $1/2,000) that nearly quadrupled its high estimate when it sold for $7,500; W.H.D. Koerner’s Saturday Evening Post illustration (est. $7/9,000) that sold for $6,250; and Kathryn Leighton’s Portrait of a Native American Man (est. $5/7,000) that fell within estimates at $5,313. —
Top 10 Lots John Moran Auctioneers’ Art of the American West, November 16, 2022 (including buyer’s premiums)
Artist Title Low /High Estimate SOLD
Logan Maxwell Hagege Dry Air $4/6,000 $22,500
David Manuel John Wayne, Hondo, Lane, and Sam $7/9,000 $10,625
Walter Ufer Pueblo cooking scene with figure $3/5,000 $8,125
Harry B. Wagoner Desert landscape $3/5,000 $8,125
Fred Machetanz Monarch of the Arctic $1/2,000 $7,500
Len Chmiel Early $1/1,500 $7,500
W.H.D. Koerner Saturday Evening Post Illustration $7/9,000 $6,250
Kathryn Leighton Portrait of a Native American man $5/7,000 $5,313
Mian Situ Night Watch $4/6,000 $5,000
Edward Borein Grass Hunter, No. 1 $1/2,000 $4,063
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