On March 20 and 21, March in Montana returned to Great Falls, Montana, where bidders helped the auction house realize $3.2 million in sales with a 95 percent sell-through rate.
Additionally, 33 percent of all buyers came from Montana, which reveals the importance of strong local and regional sales within Big Sky Country.
Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), Scalp Hunters, 1906, watercolor, 11¾ x 15 in. Estimate: $40/60,000 SOLD: $242,000
The top lot was Charles M. Russell’s Scalp Hunters from 1906. The watercolor was listed in the catalog as “Attributed to Charles M. Russell” and with the title of Scouts on the Trail. The work could not be 100 percent verified due to the ongoing closure of the online Russell raisonné, which stores information on all known Russell works. After the catalog was printed, but before the sale, the raisonné reopened, allowing auction specialists to confirm that Russell was the artist and the title was Scalp Hunters. That new information helped the piece sell for $242,000, well over its $60,000 high estimate.
Another Russell lot, The Bull Elk,estimated at $10,000 to $15,000, saw competitive bidding early on. As bids kicked the work up by $1,000 increments, two simultaneous online bids came in that launched it from $12,000 to $55,000, drawing applause from the audience. It eventually sold for $90,000.
Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), The Bull Elk, 1917, mixed media, 7 x 9¾ in. Estimate: $10/15,000 SOLD: $90,750
Another top lot was cast No. 182 of Frederic Remington’s The Broncho Buster (est. $40/60,000), which sold for $102,000. Other top-selling artists were Bob Kuhn, John Seerey-Lester, Charles Wysocki, Kenneth Riley, Walter Matia and Don Oelze. —
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