“Wow.” It was the only word James Morgan could muster after accepting the Prix de West Museum Purchase Award at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. When he returned to the podium later that night for a more formal speech, he echoed his first speech. “Wow,” he told the audience.
James Morgan, White on White, oil on linen, 24 x 36 in.
It was a sentiment shared by many artists and attendees about the opening weekend for the Prix de West in Oklahoma City. “Wow” for the $3.1 million in sales. “Wow” for the redesigned exhibition space. “Wow” for the spectacular attendance. And “wow” for the quality of the artwork.
Morgan’s piece, White on White, won the museum purchase award, and his body of submitted work won the Robert Lougheed Award. Other top winners were Steve Kestrel for the wildlife award, Joseph Bohler for the award for works on paper, Bruce Greene for the Great American Cowboy Award, John Encinias for the landscape award, Curt Walters for the buyer’s choice award and Huihan Liu for the painting award.
Huihan Liu, Eagle’s Witness, oil on linen, 40 x 20 in.
The sale portion of the opening weekend included many highlights, like the sold-out results for artists Tony Abeyta, William Acheff, Eric Bowman, Sean Michael Chavez, C. Michael Dudash, Dan Friday, Martin Grelle, Abigail Gutting, Logan Maxwell Hagege, Oreland Joe, Brett Allen Johnson, Ron Kingswood, Bonnie Marris, Don Oelze, Andrew Peters, Kyle Polzin, Grant Redden, Kyle Sims, Daniel Smith, Curt Walters, Morgan Weistling and Kim Wiggins. For a number of those artists, including Bowman and Wiggins, they had multiple bids for each piece, and yet all their works sold on the first round.
Joseph Bohler, Ancient Story Tellers, transparent watercolor, 24 x 34 in.
The Prix de West also gave the stage to Dudash, Thomas Blackshear II, among several other artists, and held painting demonstrations from Gutting and Daniel F. Gerhartz.
The exhibition will remain on view through August 3. Any unsold works will be available throughout the run. —
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