Top Western art from nearly a dozen categories—cowboy paintings and wildlife bronzes to Western still life to Pop Art screenprints—will be offered to bidders on October 28 at the Lone Star Art Auctionin Dallas. The second annual sale, put on by Phil Berkebile Jr., owner of the Great American West Gallery, is expected to draw considerable interest as it offers more than 250 lots.
Frank Tenney Johnson (1875-1939), The Lawless Frontier, oil, 25 x 30¼” Estimate: $250/350,000
Oscar E. Berninghaus (1874-1952), A Camp in the Aspen Forest, oil, 20 x 16” Estimate: $150/250,000“It’s been fun watching the material show up. You never know what you’re going to see,” Berkebile says of the sale. “I am seeing a lot of opportunity for Western art collectors, that’s for sure. The mood in the market is positive and optimistic. New bidders have already expressed an interest in bidding and returning bidders have promised to come back. There seems to be a lot of comfort within the market.”
Howard Terpning, Proud Men, oil, 12 x 13” Estimate: $150/200,000
While the artwork will appeal to a broad base of collectors, the auction will also try to appeal directly to Texans. “When it comes to new consigners and bidders, we are focusing on the Texas market,” Berkebile says, adding that he estimates 75 percent of the consignors are from the Lone Star State. “Our marketing is all around the nation, but there is considerable interest in Texas and what it can bring to the table for Western collectors.”
Standout works among the lots include two significant Frank Tenney Johnson paintings, both of which show the artist’s strengths—action and nocturne. The Lawless Frontier is surely to excite collectors, with its two riders in brilliant noon light. One rider swings a lasso while another reaches for his holstered gun. The work is estimated at $250,000 to $350,000. The second Johnson piece is Night Sentinel,a moonlit scene showing a single Native American rider holding a coup stick atop a white horse. The painting is estimated at $90,000 to $120,000.
Kyle Polzin, Keeper of the Plains, oil, 31 x 26” Estimate: $100/200,000
“The Lawless Frontier is special because it is new to the market. It’s been in the same family since it was acquired from Frank Tenney Johnson’s Los Angeles gallery, the Biltmore Galleries, in 1930. It’s a great piece,” Berkebile says. “Night Sentinel is also a special piece because it’s a great nocturne. These are very popular; half of all Johnson’s top-10 auction pieces are nocturnes.”
Another image featuring Native Americans is Howard Terpning’s Proud Men, showing two figures in profile against a loosely painted white background. The painting is only 12 by 13 inches large, but it should draw considerable attention due to its placement on the cover of Don Hedgepeth’s 2001 book on the artist, Howard Terpning: Spirit of the Plains People.The work is estimated at $150,000 to $200,000.
Melvin Warren (1920-1995), Snow on the Bosque, oil, 24 x 36” Estimate: $50/75,000
Images from Taos and Northern New Mexico are also well represented in the sale. Several highlights include Oscar E. Berninghaus’ A Camp in the Aspen Forest (est. $150/250,000), Joseph Henry Sharp’s Evening Council (est. $150/200,000) and Laverne Nelson Black’s Autumn at Taos Pueblo(est. $40/60,000). “It’s a great representation for the sale and all are very high-quality images,” the auction owner says.
Frank Tenney Johnson (1875-1939), Night Sentinel, oil, 16 x 12” Estimate: $90/120,000
With the sale in Texas, it’s fitting that Lone Star Art Auction will have a number of impressive paintings by G. Harvey, the famous Texas painter who created romantic images of lantern-lit streets and cowboys riding through landscapes. One highlight among the Harveys is Enough Till Spring, showing a group of riders making their way through snow-covered streets in a Western town. Harvey would often connect the Old West to modern inventions from the early 20th-century, and he does it here in this painting by showing electricity running down the street on wires and early automobiles parked in front of stores. The work is estimated at $175,000 to $225,000. “At 30 by 50 inches, and with these subjects, this is a special painting,” Berkebile says. “It has almost everything you could want in a G. Harvey painting. All that’s missing are some oil derricks.”
G. Harvey (1933-2017), Enough Till Spring, oil, 30 x 50” Estimate: $175/225,000
Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Custer, screenprint, 36 x 36” Estimate: $90/120,000
Two rare and very collectible Andy Warhol screenprints will be available to bidders. The images come from Cowboys and Indians, one of Warhol’s final portfolios, created in 1986, a year before the artist died. The portfolio consisted of 10 images (as well as four images that were never published). Two of the 10 will be offered at the Texas sale: Custer (est. $90/120,000) and Sitting Bull (est. $70/90,000).
Charles Schreyvogel (1861-1912), The Last Drop, bronze, 12 x 18½ x 5” Estimate: $90/120,000
Other notable works in the sale include Kyle Polzin’s Keeper of the Plains (est. $100/200,000), Melvin Warren’s Snow on the Bosque (est. $50/75,000), Charles Schreyvogel’s famous bronze The Last Drop (est. $90/120,000) and an important William Aiken Walker painting, The Cotton Plantation(est. $300/400,000), which shows a Southern cotton farm after the abolishment of slavery. Additional artists represented in the sale include Elbridge Ayer Burbank, Tom Lovell, Martin Grelle, Logan Maxwell Hagege, Leon Gaspard and John Coleman.
Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953), Evening Council, oil, 25¼ x 30¼” Estimate: $150/200,000
Berkebile also wants bidders to know that the auction festivities start the day before the sale, on October 27, when there will be a reception and cocktail party that will include a Texas swing band. The party is free to everyone who registers for the sale. Then, prior to the October 28 sale, there will be a pre-auction breakfast.
For more information on the sale and the various events, visit the auction’s website at www.lsartauction.com. —
Lone Star Art Auction
October 27-28, 2023
Renaissance Dallas Hotel
2222 N. Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, TX 75207
(469) 608-7600, www.lsartauction.com
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