Western art is alive and well in New York City. A recent sale at Christie’s, 19th Century American and Western Art, realized $12.4 million with exceptional work in several Western categories.
Leading the sale was Martin Johnson Heade’s Magnolias on a Shiny Table (est. $700/1,00,000) that sold for $1.5 million. That painting, not a Western work, was followed by seven lots that all came from or were inspired by the American West. The first was Thomas Moran’s Grand View Trail,one of the painter’s famous Grand Canyon paintings. The piece sold for $1.1 million, well over its $800,000 high estimate.
Thomas Moran (1837-1926), Grand View Trail, 1904, oil on canvas, 14 x 20 in., signed with initials in monogram and dated in lower left: ‘TMoran. 1904.’ Estimate: $600/800,000 SOLD: $1,134,000
Below the Moran were two Albert Bierstadt paintings, A Rest on the Ride (est. $800/1,200,000) that sold for $1.1 million and Dawn in the Rockies (est. $500/700,000) that sold for $529,000, and an exceptional Henry Farny painting, Nest of Rattlesnakes (est. $300/500,000) that closed at $567,000.
Among the top 10 lots were two Frederic Remington bronzes: The Mountain Man, which soared to $630,000, well over its $250,000 high estimate, and a 1908 cast of The Broncho Buster, selling for $504,000, over a high estimate of $300,000.
Also selling exceptionally well was Joseph Henry Sharp’s An Insurgent. The outdoor scene with four figures had a high estimate of $350,000, a number it would clear with room to spare when it sold for $403,000.
Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953), An Insurgent, 1922, oil on canvas, 30 x 36 in., signed and dated. Estimate: $250/350,000 SOLD: $403,200
Artists missing the top 10 lots, but still selling well, were Henry Shrady, Thomas Hill, Charles Schreyvogel, Edgar Payne, William R. Leigh and Arnold Friberg.
“[The sale] was an exciting moment for American art,” says Tylee Abbott, head of American art at Christie’s. “Rare and important paintings and sculpture by our nation’s leading artists invigorated collectors both old and new, driving impressive results. We are delighted once again to achieve the highest sale total for this sale platform.” —
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