A decade ago, the common thinking among auction houses was to host a big annual sale with all the highest-quality works. Put everything available in a single sale—one and done. Then came “mid-season” sales staggered between the big annual auctions. These could not only serve collectors with money in their pockets, but also consigners who didn’t want to wait a full year to sell artwork. These sales are proving to be a hit, with Coeur d’Alene Art Auction’s November 9 sale as further proof that buyers and sellers want more options, not fewer.
Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), The Rattlesnake, 1897, oil on board, 12¼ x 183/4 in. Estimate: $250/350,000 SOLD: $1,028,500
The sale, held online with a live auctioneer, realized more than $3.8 million with a 99.6 percent sell-through rate across 241 lots. Only a single lot didn’t sell. The auction house’s big annual event is held in July in Reno, Nevada, but this November sale is growing. “This is a real competitor for a show that people need to tune in for. This is our fourth year doing an online auction and it’s turned into a main-event sale,” says auction partner Mike Overby, who points to the cover lot, Charles M. Russell’s The Rattlesnake. It had a high estimate of $350,000, but sold nearly three times over that after fierce bidding drove it just over $1 million. “We had very intense bidding on that one. It was the first painting to sell over $1 million in any of our online sales. These auctions are fun to watch.”
Edgar Payne (1883-1947), Navajos on Horseback, ca. 1930, oil on canvas, 27½ 33½ in. Estimate: $100/150,000 SOLD: $157,300
Other top lot included Thomas Hart Benton’s White Bluffs, Buffalo River (est. $150/250,000) that sold for $423,000, and William R. Leigh’s Riding Cowboy (est. $80/120,000) that sold for $121,000. Other top lots were spread across several categories, including landscapes, cowboys, classic American illustration, sporting art, bronzes and imagery depicting Native American subjects.
Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953), Winter on the Crow Reservation, 1904, oil on canvas, 18 x 27 in. Estimate: $60/90,000 SOLD: $96,800
Other artists that had works perform well were Maynard Dixon, Andrew Wyeth, Frank Tenney Johnson, Edgar Payne and Joseph Henry Sharp. Alaskan art also sold well, with works by Sydney Laurence, Fred Machetanz and Eustace Paul Ziegler hammering at high prices.
Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009), Blueberry Hay, 1904, oil on canvas, 18 x 27 in. Estimate: $30/50,000 SOLD: $66,550
The $3.8 million sales total brings Coeur d’Alene Art Auction up to a total of $24.6 million for all of 2024. Overby says he is already looking at work for the July sale in Reno. —
Top 10 Lots
Coeur d’Alene Art Auction’s Live Online Auction
November 9, 2024 (including buyer’s premium)
Artist Title Low/High Est. SOLD
Charles M. Russell The Rattlesnake $250/350,000 $1,028,500
Thomas Hart Benton White Bluffs, Buffalo River $150/250,000 $423,500
Edgar Payne Navajos on Horseback $100/150,000 $157,300
William R. Leigh Riding Cowboy $80/120,000 $121,000
Joseph Henry Sharp Winter on the Crow Reservation $60/90,000 $96,800
Maynard Dixon Where’s Them Hosses? $80/120,000 $96,800
Frederic Remington Two Bits $80/120,000 $90,750
Frank Tenney Johnson Trail of the Paleface $80/120,000 $72,600
Andrew Wyeth Blueberry Hay $30/50,000 $66,550
Thomas Moran The Grand Teton $40/60,000 $66,550
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