The Modern West

The Santa Fe Art Auction achieves $1.8 million in sales with important works from the Southwest

Santa Fe is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the United States, and while tradition is certainly important there, looking back into the past also creates opportunities for looking ahead into the future, which is what countless artists did throughout the 20th century. Many of those artists’ works were offered at the November 9 Santa Fe Art Auction, which realized $1.8 million. Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953), Untitled (New Mexico Portrait). Oil on canvas, 16 x 20 in. Estimate: $50/80,000 SOLD: $40,950

Fritz Scholder (1937-2005), Untitled (Buffalo Spirit). Acrylic on canvas, 80 x 70 in. Estimate: $80/120,000 SOLD: $146,250“Santa Fe Art Auction was delighted to open the new doors to its massively expanded permanent facility at the Baca Railyard to a packed house on November 9, with well over 200 registered bidders in attendance and more than 1,100 registered online across 20 countries,” says Gillian Blitch, president at Santa Fe Art Auction. “While the auction house launched a new website with its own proprietary online bidding platform this year, allowing santafeartauction.com internet bidders the same preferential buyer’s premium as floor bidders, it continues to be available on major online platforms Invaluable, LiveAuctioneers and Bidsquare, and saw remarkable internet sales of some 60 percent of gross, sales of $1.8 million and a sell-through rate, including post-auction sales, of 90 percent.”Janet Lippincott (1918-2007), New Mexico Landscape, ca. 1969. Oil on canvas, 48 x 48 in. Estimate: $15/25,000 SOLD: $35,100

Susan Hertel (1930-1992), Untitled (Interior with Dogs). Oil on canvas, 48 x 59½ in. Estimate: $20/25,000 SOLD: $33,345Lots from this year’s sale came from an assortment of private collections as well as the Patricia Janis Broder Collection, which achieved auction records for American Indian artists including Pop Chalee and Oscar Howe, whose abstract work Medicine Man sold within estimates for $29,250. The sale also featured a substantial group of Western American women artists, of which Janet Lippincott’s New Mexico Landscape broke an artist world record when it sold for $35,100, above a high estimate of $25,000.Alyce Frank (b. 1932), Realm of Arroyo Hondo. Oil on canvas, 41 x 93 x 1½ in. Estimate: $8/12,000 SOLD: $21,060

The top lot was Fritz Scholder’s Untitled (Buffalo Spirit), estimated at $80,000 to $120,000, that sold for $146,250. It is now the second-best selling piece for Scholder at auction.

Other top lots were Joseph Henry Sharp’s Untitled (New Mexico Portrait) (est. ($50/80,000) that sold for $40,950 and Bob Wade’s C-print color photograph Pancho Villa. The 1988 photograph was expected to sell between $500 and $1,000, but sold for $38,025. Other top-selling lots were by Susan Hertel, George Carlson and Russell Chatham. —

Top 10 SALES

Santa Fe Art Auction, November 9, 2019 (INCLUDING buyer’s premium)

Artist, Title, Low/High ESt., SOLD

Fritz Scholder, Untitled (Buffalo Spirit), $80/120,000, $146,250
Joseph Henry Sharp, Untitled (New Mexico Portrait), $50/80,000, $40,950
Bob Wade, Pancho Villa, $500/1,000, $38,025
Janet Lippincott, New Mexico Landscape, $15/25,000, $35,100
Susan Hertel, Untitled (Interior with Dogs), $20/25,000, $33,345
Oscar Howe, Medicine Man, $25/35,000, $29,250
George Carlson, Stillness in Moonlight, $50/70,000, $29,250
Russell Chatham, Evening Near Springdale, $8/12,000, $29,250
Joseph Henry Sharp, Chizchile, Navajo, 1905, $40/60,000, $26,325
Janet Lippincott, Summer, $8/12,000, $23,400