For art dealer Brian Lebel, there are many kinds of art collectors. And no two are ever identical. To prove his point, he offers up any one of his sales or events from the last several decades. Some collectors show up for fine art paintings and sculptures. Others for the historic Native American material. Others for the parade saddles or bits and spurs. Even more show up looking for combinations of materials: Navajo weavings and Acoma pottery, or Edward Borein etchings and vintage saddle equipment, or Colt firearms and beaded gauntlets.
To Lebel, it’s all Western art, which is why he offers all of it.
Goldberg & Staunton Juan Estrada Spurs Estimate: $8/10,000“Art brings strange bedfellows together sometimes, and it’s surprising because you’ll never know who you’ll meet,” Lebel says. “The only common ingredient in the mixture is their love of art.”
Lebel’s Old West Events and Morphy Auctions are returning to Santa Fe, New Mexico, for the Old West Show & Auctionon June 21 and 22 at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. The two-part event will have a dealer show with many of the top experts in their respective fields and then also a live auction.
R. Farrington Elwell (1874-1962), Looking West, oil on canvas, 40 x 28 in. Estimate: $5/7,000
Like many auction owners these days, Lebel has been closely watching other Western sales and also talking to top collectors. While there is certainly some anxiety in the larger economy, Western art has shown a great deal of resilience. “I’m seeing a lot of strength in the market and I think that’s because people want something tangible. They want something they can hold and look at and own. And art is what they are looking for, which is why we’re seeing a lot of stability in the art market,” he says. “I firmly believe that by offering great material, the buyers will be there. They won’t pass up a chance to own something. Many times you only get one chance, so you have to take it when it comes up.”
The Old West Show & Auction kicks off on June 21 with the dealer show from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. After the show closes for the day, collectors move to the nearby auction room, where more than 450 lots will be offered in a live sale. Bidding starts at 5 p.m. The following day, June 22, the dealer show returns from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. An early session for VIP ticketholders is available on June 20 for collectors who want first dibs on all the material being offered by dealers.
Edward H. Bohlin (1895-1980), Crash Corrigan’s Bohlin saddle, 34 x 17 x 23½ in. Estimate: $30/40,000
Auction highlights include Western actor Crash Corrigan’s Edward H. Bohlin saddle (est. $30/40,000), a pair of Goldberg & Staunton Juan Estrada spurs (est. $8/10,000) and a rare pair of Cañon City prison-made spurs. Lebel says Cañon City prison spurs are highly sought after due to the workmanship of the inmates who were incarcerated in the Colorado prison. “Many were too dangerous to have sharp tools so they made horsehair bridles and things like that. Others could make spurs, and many were taught the skills to do it right there in the prison,” Lebel says.
Harvey Johnson, The Westerner, oil on canvas, 18 x 24 in. Estimate: $6/9,000
Two noteworthy memorabilia lots are both related to Clayton Moore, the actor who portrayed the Lone Ranger on TV and in films. The first is a pair of Colt single-action revolvers used by Moore, and the second is one of Moore’s Lone Ranger masks. Lebel knows of only four masks that have surfaced since the Lone Ranger days, and one is at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. The guns will be sold as a pair, and the mask by itself. Estimates are still to be determined.
Rare and atypical Cañon City prison-made spurs Estimate: $8/12,000
Highlights in the area of fine art include Harvey Johnson’s The Westerner, estimated at $6,000 to $9,000. The image, a moody nocturne with firelight, shows a group of soldiers sitting around a campfire as one figure seems to regale the others with a story. One gem comes from R. Farrington Elwell titled Looking West, estimated at $5,000 to $7,000. The image shows a pair of riders, one of them pointing into the unseen distance.
Lebel has had recent success with works by Till Goodan, and this sale will again feature a work by the 20th-century artist. The piece is The Protector, estimated at $7,000 to $9,000. The painting features a man sitting in front of his horse, a rifle at the ready. The painting has a humorous element: the horse seems to be looking intensely right at the viewer. Lebel set the Goodan world auction record in 2024 when a piece by the illustrator and artist brought in $24,000 against a $9,000 high estimate.
Till Goodan (1896-1958), The Protector, oil on canvas, 24 x 30 in. Estimate: $7/9,000
Other artists represented in the sale include Nick Eggenhofer, Nick Firfires, Will James, Wayne Baize, Tom Lovell, William Henry Jackson, Edward Weston and many others.
Finally, the Santa Fe sale will also feature a collection of some of the finest Western movie posters. About 50 posters, including one-sheets and three-sheets, from the silent film era to True Grit,will be available to bidders. Posters include early films with John Wayne, Tom Mix, Bucks Jones and many others. Lebel notes that the collection has “some of them most colorful and highest-quality lithographs to come to the market.”
Frank Hoffman (1888-1958), Untitled, watercolor/mixed media, 12 x 13 in. Estimate: $3/4,000
To learn about more auction lots, visit Old West Events website or Morphy Auctions to see a preview and the show schedule. —
Old West Show & Auction
June 21-22, 2025
Show, June 21, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.; June 22, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Live auction, June 21, 5 p.m.
Santa Fe Community Convention Center
201 W. Marcy Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501
(765) 225-1239 www.oldwestevents.com
www.morphyauctions.com
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