After selling more than 350 lots of art over two days of auctions, Santa Fe Art Auction recorded more than $3.3 million in sales for the 31st Annual Signature Salein New Mexico. Not only were numbers high but also consistent, with a 95 percent sell-through rate.
Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902), Study for the Great Trees (Mariposa, California), ca. 1875, oil on paper over board, 27 ½ x 18 ½ in. Estimate: $30/50,000 SOLD: $135,300
Reflecting the broadening focus of the auction house, the sale’s top lot was not from the West, or even Southwest, but from Europe: Pablo Picasso’s 1961 graphite on paper, Les déjeuners IV (d’après Manet), sold for $184,000, far surpassing a $100,000 high estimate. The sale also featured work from the East Coast from a variety of modern artists.
The Western lots that performed well were Albert Bierstadt’s Study for the Great Trees (Mariposa, California) (est. $30/50,000) that sold for $135,000, Robert Daughters’ View of Valdez (est. $15/25,000) that sold for $40,000, and two Fritz Scholder paintings that sold for a combined total of $103,000.
Robert Daughters (1929-2013), View of Valdez, oil on linen, 30 ¼ x 401 /8 in. Estimate: $15/25,000 SOLD: $39,975
Other artists represented in the sale were John Clymer, Thomas Hart Benton, Earl Biss, Rick Bartow, Tony Abeyta, Ansel Adams, Emil Bisttram, Ed Mell and many others.
“Ultimately, Santa Fe Art Auction’s 2025 Signature Annual Live Sale drew significant interest from both collectors and institutions worldwide, with almost 8,000 registered bidders from 40 different countries,” the auction notes. “There was robust bidding activity on many offerings throughout the sale, including Native American art, classic to contemporary Western art, and European modernist works.” —
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