The mood was high in the Reno, Nevada, banquet hall where the Coeur d’Alene Art Auctionwas held on July 15. “Today’s a good day to buy art,” auctioneer Troy Black told the assembled crowd of bidders. Nearly six hours later, he was right, when the sale closed at more than $21.2 million in sales.
Howard Terpning, Paper That Talks Two Ways – The Treaty Signing, 2008, oil on canvas, 57 x 70” Estimate: $2/3 million SOLD: $2,360,000 World Auction Record“It’s the biggest sale we’ve had in more than 10 years. We are extremely pleased with the outcome,” auction partner Mike Overby says. “Our consigners are quite happy as well. We even had several who called in just to make sure they were seeing the numbers right.”
Not only did the sale achieve high results, it also had a high sell-through rate at nearly 94 percent, exceeding that roughly 90 percent sell-through most auction houses look for in a sale.
Maynard Dixon (1875-1946), The Pony Boy, 1920, oil on canvas, 36 x 72” Estimate: $2/3 million SOLD: $2,130,000 World Auction Record
The top lot was Howard Terpning’s 70-inch-wide Paper That Talks Two Ways – The Treaty Signing (est. $2/3 million) from 2008. The painting, with dozens of figures and faces, broke Terpning’s auction record when it sold for $2.36 million. It surpassed a 2012 record of $1.9 million that held strong for more than a decade.
Another top lot and record breaker was Maynard Dixon’s iconic The Pony Boy, estimated at $2 million to $3 million. The painting sold for $2.13 million, topping a 2005 record of $1.6 million. Interestingly, Dixon’s third-best auction record, at $1.3 million, is The Pony Boy when it sold in 2000.
Other strong sellers were William Herbert “Buck” Dunton’s action-packed A Race for the Chuckwagon (est. $500/750,000) that sold for $786,500; Henry Farny’s The Trail Over the Pass (est. $400/600,000) that sold for $665,000; Gerard Curtis Delano’s Evening (est. $300/500,000), which closed at $786,500; and Philip R. Goodwin’s Blazing the Trail (est. $250/350,000), which saw consistent bidding that pushed it well over its estimates to $574,750.
William Herbert “Buck” Dunton (1878-1936), A Race for the Chuckwagon, oil on canvas, 34 x 51” Estimate: $500/750,000 SOLD: $786,500
The fireworks started early in the auction when an Edward Borein watercolor, the 27th lot of the 324-lot sale, sold for $90,000, well over a high estimate of $30,000. That marked the beginning of a cascade of high sales from Martin Grelle, Goodwin, Frank Stick, Joseph Henry Sharp and world records for Morgan Weistling ($145,000) and Nick Eggenhofer ($96,800).
Mark Maggiori had a particularly strong showing with Morning Above the Canyon (est. $40/60,000) selling for $332,000 and Night Chase(est. $8/12,000) selling for $78,650. These two sales were the ones that initiated curious calls from the consigners to Overby to double-check the sales figures.
Philip R. Goodwin (1881-1935), Blazing the Trail, 1911, oil on canvas, 24 x 33” Estimate: $250/350,000 SOLD: $574,750
Other artists that performed strongly in the sale were Edmund Osthaus, Carl Rungius, Fritz Scholder, W.H.D. Koerner, Edgar S. Paxon, William R. Leigh, Alfred Jacob Miller and Charles M. Russell, who was represented by several small drawings and bronzes.
Overby adds that he was pleased with the attendance in the room and also the growing number of bidders who participated online. “We are up about 20 percent from last year,” he says. “Initially online bidders were more interested in lower-priced pieces, but that has totally changed as they are growing comfortable bidding online. We’ve seen $500,000 and up being spent through online purchases.” —
Top 10 Lots: Coeur d’Alene Art Auction, July 15, 2023 (including buyer’s premium)
Artist Title Low/High Est. SOLD
Howard Terpning Paper That Talks Two Ways $2/3,000,000 $2,360,000
Maynard Dixon The Pony Boy $2/3,000,000 $2,130,000
William Herbert “Buck” Dunton A Race for the Chuckwagon $500/750,000 $786,500
Gerard Curtis Delano Evening $300/500,000 $786,500
Henry Farny The Trail Over the Pass $400/600,000 $665,500
William Herbert “Buck” Dunton Two Braves $300/500,000 $574,750
Philip R. Goodwin Blazing the Trail $250/350,000 $574,750
Edward Hopper Shoshone Cliffs, Wyoming $400/600,000 $574,750
Thomas Moran The Rock of Acoma, New Mexico $400/600,000 $423,500
Joseph Henry Sharp The Young Chief $300/500,000 $423,500
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