Shady Grove by Jeremy Lipking |
Weistling wins top prize at Prix de West
The June Prix de West Invitational at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City set a new record, with opening night sales totaling $2.4 million. Morgan Weistling’s The Dance won the Prix de West Award as well as the Buyer’s Choice Award. A Dan Gerhartz painting, also called The Dance, received the Frederic Remington Painting Award. The Robert Lougheed Memorial Award, for the best display of three or more works, went to Christopher Blossom. Tim Cherry’s Snake in the Grass received the James Earle Fraser Sculpture Award, and the Wildlife Art Award went to Ken Carlson’s High Plains Pronghorn. The works are on display at the museum through September 9.
Harmsen Collection donated to Denver Art Museum
The Denver Art Museum’s collection is experiencing some pleasant growing pains, thanks to the recent donation of more than 3,000 pieces of western and Native American art by longtime Colorado residents Bill and Dorothy Harmsen. The Harmsens, founders of the Jolly Rancher Candy Company, have been collecting art for more than four decades, and their collection features works by such artists as Frederic Remington, Charles M. Russell, George Catlin, and members of the Taos Ten. The collection also includes an extensive array of Native American rugs, textiles, baskets, pottery, clothing, and more. Selected works will be on display at the museum this fall, and plans are underway to build a gallery in the Harmsens’ honor.
Lipking honored at Gold Medal Exhibition
Jeremy Lipking [who is featured in the 21 Under 31 article in this issue] won the best painting award for his work Shady Grove at the California Art Club’s 91st Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition held at Zantman Art Galleries in Palm Desert, CA, in May. The painting also won the Director’s Award for best small painting. Béla Básci’s Driver of the Wheel was named best sculpture, and Shuqia Zhou’s The Sisters won the Museum Acquisition Award. Rounding out the list of top prize winners was Marsha Gertenbach-Butman’s The Fourth Angel, which won best small sculpture.
The Dance by Morgan Weistling. |
Out & About
Vanier Galleries of Scottsdale, AZ, has opened a new gallery in Tucson; a grand opening event is planned for November…. Galeria Bellas Artes has opened in Cave Creek, AZ. The gallery features the works of Sergio Ladron de Guevara and several other artists…. Forum Gallery of New York City opened a Los Angeles gallery in May…. After 27 years, the original Old Town location of Mariposa Gallery closed in May. The new gallery is located at 3500 Central SE in Albuquerque, NM…. Duley-Jones Gallery in Scottsdale opened the doors of its new gallery at 7100 E. Main Street in July…. Chuck Jones Studio Gallery has opened a new location at 128 W. Water St. in Santa Fe…. The owners of Thomas Ingerick Gallery in Aspen, CO, have opened a second gallery, Spotted Horse of Aspen, located at 525 East Cooper Avenue in the Aspen Grove Building…. Loch Vale Fine Art has opened in Estes Park, CO.
Record-setting art sales
Who says the economy’s slowing down? Patrons at the May Collectors Sale at Altermann Galleries in Dallas paid no heed to sluggish economic forecasts, spending more than $5.1 million.
The auction portion of the sale brought in more than $4.4 million, and the set-price portion fetched $689,500. James Earle Fraser’s sculpture The End of the Trail sold for $561,750, and other top items included The Horse Rustler by Herbert Dunton ($330,750) and R. Brownell McGrew’s Miles to Go ($333,750).
Also breaking old records was the May Roundup sale at the Cowboy Artists of America Museum in Kerrville, TX. Opening night sales brought in more than $376,000, with more than 95 paintings and bronzes by CA members selling.
Vance wins Collector’s Choice Award
Origins of Spring, an oil painting by Colorado artist Karen Vance, won the Collector’s Choice Award at April’s 10th annual Colorado Governor’s Invitational Art Show and Sale in Loveland. The show is sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Loveland and raises money for local scholarships and youth programs.
Featured in September 2001