On November 7 and 8, the Santa Fe Art Auction will present the Signature Live Sale, its largest and most comprehensive sale of the year. For Gillian Blitch, president and CEO of the Santa Fe Art Auction, the sale offers an opportunity to show what the auction house offers and to also expand it into other areas.
“The goal of this auction in recent years is to show the best of everything we have to offer throughout the rest of the year. Of course, we’re best known for Native American arts, including the best pieces of pottery, textiles, jewelry and contemporary and Indian school paintings. But then we also have works on paper, classic and contemporary Western art, great photography and so much more,” Blitch says. “We’re also expanding into more international art because those are our clients.” She adds that because Santa Fe generally attracts people from all over the world, it makes sense that they may want artwork from other parts of the country, including Europe.
Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953), Taos Mountain and Rabbit Brush. Oil on board, 15 x 18½ in. Estimate: $20/30,000
But the auction house is still very much devoted to Western and Native American art, which is reflected in the Signature Live Sale and its more than 350 lots spread out across two days and three sessions.
Early highlights from the sale include Gerard Curtis Delano’s watercolor Navajos, with estimates of $10,000 to $15,000. The work shows a trio of riders in a vast desert landscape. Also being offered is Joseph Henry Sharp’s Taos Mountain and Rabbit Brush (est. $20/30,000) and Willard Ayer Nash’s Still Life with Geraniums (est. $12/18,000).
Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902), Untitled (Night Scene with Trees). Oil on paper on canvas, 27½ x 18½ in. Estimate: $30/50,000
Willard Ayer Nash (1898-1942), Still Life with Geraniums. Oil on canvas, 16 x 20 in. Estimate: $12/18,000
A magnificent Albert Bierstadt painting, Untitled (Night Scene with Trees), is likely to cause a stir with bidders. The painting, with a lovely blue color in the evening sky and moonlight cascading on a pair of trees, is decently sized at 27 inches tall, and yet it’s also affordably estimated at $30,000 to $50,000. Bierstadt paintings of this quality typically do well at auction.
Other works that have come into the sale include pieces by Fritz Scholder, Ed Mell, Luis Jimenez, Emil Bisttram, photography by Ansel Adams, woodcuts by Gustave Baumann, etchings by Gene Kloss and much more. Additional lots come from Bert Geer Phillips, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Edward S. Curtis and potter Maria Martinez.
Bert Geer Phillips (1868-1956), Portrait of a Mexican Girl. Oil on board, 13¾ x 143/8 in. Estimate: $7/10,000
“The market seems very robust right now, so I’m excited to bring these materials to bidders,” says Blitch. “I’m especially eager to see our online sales, which grow stronger after each sale. I’m seeing registrations come in from France, Japan, Italy…all over the place. In the past, I’ve had people bidding on the same piece from four different countries. That used to never happen, and now it happens with some frequency.”
This year’s sale will also feature several prominent named collections, including the Steven and Karen Berkowitz Collection, the John P. Coolidge Collection (former director of the Fogg Museum of Art), and works from the Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts. —
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