On July 23 the Coeur d’Alene Art Auction will present the 2022 edition of its hit sale, which has achieved more than $300 million in sales over the last 15 years. This year’s auction will feature more than 300 works of art across many genres. Harvey Dunn (1884-1952), The Homesteaders, 1942. Oil on canvas, 40 x 60 in. Estimate: $150/250,000

“What’s really exciting for us is that the market is as strong now as it’s been in 10 years. We watch a lot of auctions, including the recent spring sales, and we’re seeing growth everywhere, not just at our own sale,” says Mike Overby, one of the partners of the Coeur d’Alene Art Auction. “It’s remarkable because the Western market seems largely insulated from macro events happening in the world, whether it’s the larger market or even what’s happening with Russia. Western art occupies an interesting place within the art world. And it’s doing very well.”Edgar Payne (1883-1947), Land of the Navajo. Oil on canvas, 40 x 50 in. Estimate: $300/500,000

Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953), Blackfeet Sun Dance, 1903. Oil on canvas, 12 x 18 in. Estimate: $200/300,000

Overby adds that he’s not only seeing strength in the market, but also growth, particularly as bidders become more comfortable with bidding online and as huge numbers of people are spending more time at home. “One of the benefits of working from home during the pandemic was that people started looking at what was on their walls,” he says. “Some people moved out West, maybe to Montana or Wyoming, and they wanted to get artwork for their homes. Many of them are younger collectors who are seeing an opportunity to buy great artwork.”

Noteworthy lots in the sale include four stellar Edgar Payne paintings: Desert Sky (est. $150/250,000), Fourth Lake, Big Pine Canyon (est. $100/150,000), Canyon de Chelly (est. $150/250,000) and Land of the Navajo (est. $300/500,000), an impressive painting of five figures on horseback under puffy clouds against a blue sky. “We really have an embarrassment of riches with four Payne paintings, each one better than the one before it,” Overby says. “All of them come from private collections, but several were part of major exhibitions. When people see these things in person they’re going to be blown away.”Philip R. Goodwin (1881-1935), Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. Oil on canvas, 30 x 39 in. Estimate: $150/250,000

Victor Higgins (1884-1949), Adobe House – Taos. Oil on canvas, 24 x 27 in. Estimate: $150/250,000

Charles M. Russell not only has four works available, but will be represented by three mediums: oil, watercolor and bronze. The Russell that is already generating some buzz is the 1925 watercolor Mexican Vaqueros Roping a Steer (est. $400/600,000), a lightly painted action scene that captures an intense moment between a rider and his target. The Russell oil is Shooting the Buffalo (est. $400/600,000), an 1892 work of a close encounter, and the bronze is To Noses that Read, a Smell That Spells Man (est. $50/75,000). Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), Mexican Vaqueros Roping a Steer, 1925. Watercolor on paper, 18 x 28 in. Estimate: $400/600,000

Birger Sandzén (1871-1954), Once a Home (Kansas Landscape), 1952. Oil on board, 20 x 24 in. Estimate: $30/50,000

Works from the Taos Society of Artists include marvelous examples by Eanger Irving Couse, Victor Higgins, E. Martin Hennings, Bert Geer Phillips and two gems by William Herbert “Buck” Dunton that originally hung next to each other. Crest of the Ridge, Grizzly shows what might be the “before” picture with a bear on a snowy mountainside, while The Hunter’s Return could easily show the “after” with the hunter returning to camp with a bundle draped over a pack horse. Both works are 8 by 10 inch and both are being offered with estimates of $200,000 to $300,000 each. Another work representing Taos is Blackfeet Sun Dance (est. $200/300,000) by Joseph Henry Sharp. Gerard Curtis Delano (1890-1972), Misty Morning. Oil on canvas, 30 x 40 in. Estimate: $300/500,000

Other historic works include Harvey Dunn’s magnificent 1942 pioneer scene The Homesteaders (est. $150/250,000), Gerard Curtis Delano’s canoe painting Misty Morning (est. $300/500,000) and two exceptional pieces by Henry Farny, one being A Sioux Camp, a 7-by-10-inch work estimated at $150,000 to $250,000. “We’re watching the Dunn very closely. It could do really well. It comes from a collection in South Dakota and it came directly from the artist—it’s the most major Dunn to come to auction in a very long time,” Overby says. “[Dunn] did a prairie series, but donated almost all of the paintings to a museum in South Dakota. These are rarely in private hands, so this is a great opportunity. It’s a transcendent piece.”

Other artists represented in the sale, some with more affordable entry points, are Frank Schoonover, Philip R. Goodwin, Peter Hurd, Ogden M. Pleissner, Carl Rungius, Birger Sandzén, Frank McCarthy, William R. Leigh, Bob Kuhn and many others.  —

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