During the height of summer, about a month before Santa Fe Indian Market takes the city by storm, Santa Fe Art Auction will invigorate the art market with its New Mexico Now sale. The two-day auction features a unique combination of Hispanic and pueblo works that draw on the region’s rich stylistic dialogue and religious history. It also runs concurrently with Santa Fe’s famous Spanish Market.
Gisella Loeffler (1902-1977), Untitled (Madonna and Child with Angel), tempera on panel in hand-painted artist’s frame, 18 x 14 in. Estimate: $1,500/2,500
Collectors will be able to delve into close to 350 lots, including large-scale bronzes, Spanish Colonial furniture, straw appliqué crosses, bultos, retablos, wooden folk art carvings and devotional prints in stamped tin frames.
“The auction focuses on works from throughout the world that complement the modern or traditional New Mexico home,” says Gillian Blitch, Santa Fe Art Auction president, citing the aforementioned works, “as well as a large collection of nichos and Mexican folk art carvings and ceramics.”
Eliseo Rodriguez (1915-2009), Straw Applique Cross, 1994, straw applique, painted wood, 48⅛ x 25 x ¾ in. Estimate: $1.5/2,500
She continues, “There is a beautiful Straw Appliqué Cross that will be on offer by Eliseo Rodriguez, an important artist who was integral to the revival of this traditional folk art form—which had almost become a lost art by the time Rodriguez revived it at the behest of the Federal Works Project. Often referred to as ‘poor man’s gilding,’ the straw imitates gold leaf commonly used in the devotional art of churches and was originally introduced to the region by the Spanish in the late 1700s. Eliseo and his wife, Paula Rodriguez, were both named [National Endowment for the Arts] National Heritage Fellows in 2004, and his work is in numerous public collections, including the National Gallery of Art.”
Felipe Benito Archuleta (1910-1991), Bear, 1982, carved and painted wood, 10¼ x 5 x 16 in. Estimate: $2/4,000
Other highlights include a three-tier intricately carved and painted scene depicting the Life of Christ (and featuring multiple figurines) by Marie Romero Cash. “Cash is an important New Mexico Santera, writer and scholar with a career spanning over 50 years. Her highly sought-after folk art carvings are in various public and private collections, including the Museum of International Folk Art, the Smithsonian Institute, the Vatican and the Albuquerque Museum,” Blitch explains.
“Another major highlight is an original complete Portfolio of Spanish Colonial Design in New Mexico,published in 1938. The portfolio consists of 50 hand-colored woodblock prints that catalog the history of Spanish Colonial arts and devotional works in New Mexico. The Federal Art Project to document Spanish Colonial design was a grand and culturally historic project, and E. Boyd was famously appointed to run it. She was a brilliant artist but also a historian and documentarian who created the images and then hired many of the important regional artists of the day to hand color them. Only around 200 editions of this portfolio were ever produced, and it is quite rare to have a complete set of this highly significant and historic work,” says Blitch.
Ford Ruthling (1933-2015), Love All out of Doors (No. 13), 1986, punched tin, 30½ x 45 in. Estimate: $1,200/1,800
Collectors should also look out for works like Nicholas Herrera’s painted wooden carving In Memory of 9/11, estimated at $1,000 to $2,000; a Spanish Colonial Vargueño writing chest (est. $7/10,000) from the late 17th century; a carved and painted wood bear from 1982 by Felipe Benito Archuleta (est. $2/4,000); and Gisella Loeffler’s Untitled (Madonna and Child with Angel), estimated at $1,500 to $2,500, among many others.
New Mexico Now will be held on July 21 and 22. —
Santa Fe Art Auction’s New Mexico Now sale
July 21-22, 2026
Santa Fe Art Auction
932 Railfan Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(505) 954-5858
www.santafeartauction.com
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