Strong Sales for Texas Art Gallery Auction
Nearly 200 art enthusiasts attended Texas Art Gallery’s annual auction of western and European art in Dallas, TX, in early May. In-person and telephone bidding was energetic, and the gallery’s preliminary sales totaled almost $1.8 million, including artwork sold during the previous evening’s fixed-price sale.
The top lot was John Clymer’s [1907-1989] old fort benton, a 24-by-36-inch oil painting that fetched $240,000. Other highlights of the sale included Joseph Henry Sharp’s pipe ceremony [see page 10], which earned $110,000; no place to ford by Howard Terpning, which sold for $72,500; bubbs creek by Thomas Hill at $60,000; and night herdin’ in a rainstorm, a 66-inch-tall bronze by Grant Speed, at $50,000.
Out & About
Allan Houser, Inc. opened a new gallery at 125 Lincoln Ave. in Santa Fe, NM, last month. Its sculpture garden south of Santa Fe continues to offer tours to the public….Monticello Fine Arts Gallery (formerly Evelyn Siegel Gallery, Inc.) in Fort Worth, TX, held a grand-opening celebration in March. Artists represented include Anstis Lundy and Chiara Moerschel, and the new owner is Glenna Crocker…. A 12-foot-high bronze sculpture of a bear by Dawn Weimer called northern vision was recently installed at the University of Northern Colorado…. A grand-opening reception took place at Art Song Gallery in Salado, TX, in April. Artists represented include Amado Peña, Bill Worrell, and Gail Shelton.
Tong Earns Top Award
Painter Lou Tong of Calgary, Canada, earned Best of Show honors at Greenhouse Gallery’s Salon International show in San Antonio for grandma [see page 216], a 28-by-22-inch oil painting. The artist received $8,000 for the award, which was chosen by judge Pino Dangelico. California artist Jeffrey Watts took second place for his portrait anna, and third prize was awarded to Florida-based Jeff Jamison for saints. Merit awards went to Brian Blood, Elizabeth Locke, Clayton J. Beck III, and Andrew Conklin. Total prize money added up to $22,000, and 28 paintings sold during the show’s opening weekend for a total of $65,000.
Texas Show Honors West Photographer
Chuck West won Best of Show in the art category of the 19th annual Trappings of Texas exhibition at the Museum of the Big Bend at Sul Ross University in Alpine, TX, in March. West’s photograph frank ropin’ was chosen from paintings, draw-ings, sculpture, and other photography. The exhibition features the work of artists dedicated to preserving the rich traditions and heritage of the West.
Silver Anniversary
In celebration of its 25th year, the Rendezvous 2004 show at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, OK, featured 41 of the nation’s top western artists, including the likes of Fritz White, Daniel Gerhartz, Glenna Goodacre, William Acheff, and Tim Cherry. More than 500 guests attended the gala reception and fixed-price sale, and about half of the works sold during opening night, totaling approximately $500,000. The show hangs through September 5 and may be viewed online at www.gilcreasemuseum.org.
Picasso Sale
Pablo Picasso’s painting garçon à la pipe [1905] fetched an unpre-cedented $104 million at Sotheby’s May 5 sale of 44 Impressionist and modern paintings from the Greentree Foundation. (The previous record for an auctioned painting was set by Vincent van Gogh’s 1890 portrait of doctor gachet, which sold at Christie’s in 1990 for $82.5 million.) Total sales for the auction, held in New York, rang up to nearly $190 million.
More Auction Highs
April auctions of fine-art photo-graphs at Phillips, de Pury & Company in New York set a number of world auction records. The three sales together earned an impressive $4.2 million, and an image by Diane Arbus earned the second-highest price ever achieved for a single print at $198,400. Another notable sale was Bruce Davidson’s east 100th street at $136,000.
Featured in July 2004