Collectors with a keen eye on the American West will once again descend on the Coeur d’Alene Art Auction July 31 when it returns to Reno, Nevada. The annual sale—with categories that include the American cowboy, wildlife, sporting art, the Taos Society of Artists and many others—will mark a return to normalcy for many bidders. 
Oscar E. Berninghaus (1874-1952), The Domain of Their Ancestors, 1925. Oil on canvas, 25 x 30 in., signed lower right. Estimate: $400/600,000
“We’ve seen such a pent-up demand from people who want to get out and attend auctions again, so we’re expecting a full and live crowd at our next sale,” says Coeur d’Alene Art Auction partner Mike Overby. “We’re excited to see all our friends. It’s been a long time for some of them. And there really is no substitute for seeing art in person. Over the last year we’ve proven that online sales can work, but you just can’t replicate being in a room with everyone as you experience it all live.”
Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), Roping a Wolf, 1904. Oil on canvas, 15 x 20 in., signed and dated lower left. Estimate: $1/1.5 million
Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) Mount Baker, Washington, 1891. Oil on canvas, 14½ x 20 in., signed lower right. Estimate: $250/350,000
Major lots in this year’s sale include 14 works by cowboy artist Charles M. Russell, with the top lot being the oil painting Roping a Wolf from 1904, estimated at $1 million to $1.5 million. “This is prime-period Russell,” Overby says. “The work was deaccessioned from the Amon Carter Museum in the early 2000s, so it’s been in private hands for more than 15 years. It’s the kind of high-action scene that Russell did so well.” Other Russell works are Cowboy on a Bronco (est. $150/250,000) and Indian on a Pinto (est. $150/250,000), both watercolors from 1898, as well as four illustrated letters.
Walter Ufer (1876-1936), Greasewood and Sage. Oil on canvas, 25 x 25 in., signed lower right. Estimate: $300/500,000
Frank Tenney Johnson (1874-1939), The Horse Thief, 1925. oil on canvas, 26 x 38 in., signed and dated lower right. Estimate: $300/500,000
Another work getting serious buzz is Oscar E. Berninghaus’ 1925 painting The Domain of Their Ancestors, estimated at $400,000 to $600,000. The work shows a trio of Native American figures standing in Glacier National Park with an epic landscape scene behind them. “This is one of the best works he ever painted, and it’s one of the rarest paintings we’ve ever sold,” Overby says. “Not only is it one of Berninghaus’ bests, but it is also one of the best works showing Glacier Park.”
Leon Gaspard (1882-1964), A Street in Peking, 1936. Oil on board, 20 x 40 in., signed and dated lower left. Estimate: $80/120,000
Western landscapes usually perform strongly at the Nevada sale, and this year is no exception. One of the pieces is Albert Bierstadt’s Mount Baker, Washington, an 1891 work estimated at $250,000 to $350,000. Additional landscapes include paintings by Maynard Dixon, Sydney Laurence, Edgar Payne and Gerard Curtis Delano, who painted small figures in his works to show the epic qualities of the Southwest.
Besides the big Berninghaus painting, other Taos Society of Artists works represented in the sale include Eanger Irving Couse’s Moonlight Sonata (est. $200/300,000), Joseph Henry Sharp’s Storm on the Mountains (est. $50/75,000) and Walter Ufer’s Greasewood and Sage (est. $300/500,000). “When you see the Ufer in person, it just takes your breath away,” adds Overby. “It’s such a grand landscape.”
Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma” Moses (1860-1961), The Church in the Hills, 1944. Oil on board, 19¾ x 25¼ in., signed lower right. Estimate: $150/250,000
Sydney Laurence (1865-1940), Mount McKinley, Alaska, 1928. Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 in., signed lower right. Estimate: $30/50,000
Other works include a magnificent Carl Oscar Borg painting, The Herd (est. $80/120,000), Frank Tenney Johnson’s The Horse Thief (est. $300/500,000), Leon Gaspard’s A Street in Peking (est. $80/120,000), Frederic Remington’s ink wash The Borderland of the Other Tribe (est. $200/300,000) and Grandma Moses’ 1944 oil The Church in the Hills (est. $150/250,000).
In addition to the July 30 preview, this year’s sale will also feature a Friday lecture and book signing by Dr. Larry Len Peterson, whose book The American West Reimagined uses images from past Coeur d’Alene Art Auction sales. —
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