Artists and collectors descended on Oklahoma City’s National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum on June 9 and 10 for the annual Prix de West sale weekend. Now in its 51st year, the sale is considered by many to be the most important Western art show of the year with hundreds of people in attendance to view and purchase artwork from many of the best artists working today.
This year’s show realized more than $3 million during the sale weekend, including $230,000 from a live auction component during the awards ceremony and gala. Nearly 300 works were available to purchase—the show is so large that it begins in the grand hall at the museum and then fills numerous galleries deeper in the building.
Walter Matia stands next to Molly is a Working Girl after winning the Prix de West Museum Purchase Award.
In addition to several new artists—Daniel Keys, Gladys Roldan-de-Moras, Peregrine O’Gormley, Don Oelze—there were a number of new faces leading the Prix de West this year, including Susan Roeder, chair of the Prix de West Committee. Additionally, with the 50th anniversary in the show’s rearview mirror, the Prix de West seemed to take large strides into its new generation of bringing high-quality artwork into the museum.
Artists who performed strongly were Eric Bowman, Brent Cotton, Martin Grelle, Logan Maxwell Hagege, Oreland Joe, Jeremy Lipking, Kyle Polzin, Roldan-de-Moras, Curt Walter, Morgan Weistling and George Hallmark, who sold all four of his submitted works, including a large piece titled West of the Pecos.
Gladys Roldan-de-Moras, Chinas Poblanas, oil on Belgian linen, 48 x 36”
John Coleman had an especially strong showing, which resulted in the sale of two oils, a lifesize charcoal work on paper and Warrior Spirit, Crazy Horse, a monumental bronze figure. The Arizona artist also won the buyers’ choice award and the James Earle Fraser Sculpture Award, both of which were given to Warrior Spirit, Crazy Horse.
“Whenever I have the opportunity to show my work in that context, where all the heavy hitters go to show their work, it’s always rewarding having your work recognized in that setting,” he says. “Overall the show was a great success, and I’m happy that Susan [Roeder] and her team have done a great job putting it all together.”
Tim Cherry, Against the Wind, bronze, 55 x 44 x 10”
Other award winners include Roldan-de-Moras, who was given the Frederic Remington Painting Award; Tim Cherry was given the wildlife award; Blair Buswell was awarded the Express Ranches Great American Cowboy Award, given for cowboy subject matter; Joseph Bohler won the Donald Teague Memorial Award for his work on paper; Len Chmiel won the Wilson Hurley Memorial Award for outstanding landscape; and Huihan Liu won the Robert Lougheed Memorial Award for his display of artwork.
The top award, the Prix de West Museum Purchase Award went to Walter Matia for his hunting dog bronze Molly is a Working Girl. “The West is a lot of things to a lot of people. To me, the West has always been behind a bird dog or in a stream with a fly rod or in some marsh looking at birds with binoculars,” Matia says. “This is a part of what the modern West is. When the committee chose this piece, I was really happy because it spoke to a part of the West that I don’t think is always acknowledged: the role of hunters and fishermen, who opened up the West and are now conserving it.”
The awards marked a significant milestone for the Prix de West, with many going to bronze artists—Coleman, Buswell, Cherry and Matia. —
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