From the Wild

Wildlife and cowboy work lead a strong collection of work at the Jackson Hole Art Auction.

Major works from many of the top Western artists will be available to bidders September 16 during the Jackson Hole Art Auctionin Wyoming. The 300-lot sale will have a special focus on wildlife paintings and bronzes, with many of the iconic names represented in the sale.

Bob Kuhn (1920-2007), Stairway to the Stars, 2003, oil on board, 24 x 28” Estimate: $100/150,000“Wildlife has always been our stronghold within the sale. Wildlife consistently comes to us, whether that is Carl Rungius, Bob Kuhn, Ken Carlson, Wilhelm Kuhnert or many others, our sales are typically well represented by many of the greats,” says the auction’s managing director Kevin Doyle. “We bring out all the big guns, and always with very high-quality pieces.”

Bill Anton, Emerald Oasis, oil on canvas board, 36 x 48” Estimate: $15/25,000

For this year’s sale, all eyes will be on Rungius’ Caribou,a 49-inch-tall work that has been with an East Coast family since 1930. It has never been exhibited publicly. The work is estimated at $500,000 to $700,000, which could put it among the highest-selling Rungius paintings ever brought to auction—his auction record is $952,000, followed by $642,000. “It’s definitely leading the way at this year’s sale,” Doyle says. “The National Museum of Wildlife Art has a caribou painting, but this one has these really beautiful pinks and blues. The size and scale of the work are also impressive. And it’s basically been untouched since it was created—it’s in the original frame and everything.”

Charlie Dye (1906-1973), A Top Hand, oil on board, 23¼ x 35¼” Estimate: $50/75,000

Seven Rungius pieces will be offered at the sale, although Caribouis the only oil. The other six are his treasured drypoint etchings that are chased down by passionate collectors.

Kuhn will also be heavily represented in the sale with 13 lots, including the fox painting A Universe of Smells, which appears in the book Wild Harvest: The Animal Artof Bob Kuhn. “This painting is the sort I really love to do,” Kuhn writes about the work. “It gives me a wonderful opportunity to play with textures and to establish a strong pattern within which all the various elements have their say. More than once I’ve made the comment that red fox are very paintable little critters. Having a young vixen as a boarder one summer many years ago, I feel I have an understanding of their vivacious, complex character. The traits that give them prominence in folklore make them great subjects for the likes of me.”

Edward Borein (1872-1945), Untitled (Cowboy Herding Horses), watercolor on paper, 8 x 9” Estimate: $10/15,000

Howard Terpning, Status Symbols, 1982, oil on canvas, 34 x 26” Estimate: $200/500,000

Other wildlife works include Robert Bateman’s Grizzly and Gulls (est. $50/75,000), Ken Carlson’s Lofty Terrain (est. $18/24,000) and Carl Brenders’ Lookout Tower, Timberwolves (est. $60/90,000).

Howard Terpning will have two works in the sale: Blackfeet Regalia (est. $100/200,000) and Status Symbols (est. $200/500,000), which appears in Elmer Kelton’s book The Art of Howard Terpning.“What the plains warrior wore or carried often told much about his life,” writes Kelton. “Here a Crow, haughty in his status, has wrapped himself in a buffalo robe painted with the scenes of his triumphs on the hunt and in warfare. His lance is decorated with feathers. Many men adorned lances, war shields, or even their horses’ bridles with scalps taken from their enemies. The shield here carries the warrior’s depiction of a buffalo. Almost certainly it is made from the thickest part of a buffalo bull’s hide, stretched across a hoop and braces made of willow or other pliable woods and stuffed out with buffalo hair or other materials which will give it strength.”

Donald Teague (1897-1991), The Middle and the Low, watercolor on paper, 13¼ x 24” Estimate: $7/10,000

John Clymer (1907-1989), Last of the Buffalo (Buffalo Killers), oil on board, 24 x 36” Estimate: $175/275,000

Other works showing Native American subjects include pieces by Richard Lorenz, Martin Grelle, Harold von Schmidt and Frederic Remington, whose piece Feeding the Dogs (Hunting Musk Ox: Feeding Sledge Dogs in the Barren Grounds) originally appeared in an 1896 issue of Harper’s Monthly. The work is listed as No. 2030 in the Remington catalogue raisonné.

John Clymer will have one work available, Last of the Buffalo (Buffalo Killers),showing two hunters using rifles to bring down buffalo amid a snowy scene. The work is estimated at $175,000 to $275,000.

Ken Carlson, Lofty Terrain, oil on board, 18 x 36” Estimate: $18/24,000

In the category of cattle and cowboys are a number of terrific examples, including two Bill Anton paintings, a small Edward Borein watercolor, a Donald Teague watercolor, three terrific images of cowboys by Jim Norton, two Wyoming paintings by Conrad Schwiering and an exceptional Charlie Dye work, A Top Hand, showing a rider roping a calf amid a chaotic round-up scene. The Dye painting is shown in Paul Weaver’s book on the artist, Charlie Dye: One helluva western painter. The painting is also listed in Dye’s personal studio journal as No. 162 (out of 257) and dated to 1965.

Robert Bateman, Grizzly and Gulls, 2005, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 48” Estimate: $50/75,000

Frederic Remington (1861-1909), Feeding the Dogs (Hunting Musk Ox: Feeding Sledge Dogs in the Barren Grounds), oil on grisaille on canvas, 22 x 20” Estimate: $80/120,000

The entire sale will take place over one session on September 16 at the Center for the Arts, a short walk from the Jackson Hole Town Square. A preview will be held nearby prior to the sale. Refer to the website for additional information. —