Santa Fe, NM
Santa Fe Art Auction, November 8-9
Joseph Henry Sharp, Untitled (Pueblo Woman), oil, 16 x 20. Estimate: $50,000-$60,000.
This story was featured in the November 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art November 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
With the arrival of fall comes crisp, cooler weather and brilliant autumn foliage around Santa Fe, NM. Change is palpably in the air, and that’s also true for the Santa Fe Art Auction. Previously divided between two locations, with its annual live auction hosted at Peters Projects in downtown Santa Fe and the auction offices situated nearby, both the auction showroom and offices recently relocated to a “major new facility,” says SFAA president Gillian Blitch. The new venue—a 12,800-square-foot warehouse located at 932 Railfan Road in Santa Fe’s Baca District—houses the auction’s executive offices, climate-controlled storage space, and a roomy 3,000-square-foot showroom, all of which are up and running just in time for the 26th annual sale.
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- E.A. Burbank, Red Woman, Southern Cheyenne, 1899, oil, 12 x 10. Estimate: $5,000-$8,000.
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- Maynard Dixon, Untitled (Cowboy on Horseback), 1945, watercolor, 10 x 10. Estimate: $15,000-$25,000.
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- Janet Lippincott, New Mexico Landscape, ca. 1969, oil, 48 x 48. Estimate: $15,000-$25,000.
The auction commences on Saturday, November 9, at 1:30 p.m., with in-person, absentee, phone, and online bidding all available. Those wishing to preview the sale’s 350 lots beforehand can stop by on Friday, November 8, between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., with a reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., or on Saturday morning from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Well known for its strong offerings in western and southwestern fine art, this year’s auction includes stand-out paintings by American masters like Albert Bierstadt, Frank Paul Sauerwein, and Joseph Henry Sharp, as well as heavy hitters in contemporary western art such as G. Russell Case, George Carlson, and Donna Howell-Sickles.
Blitch is especially thrilled to offer a “wonderful Maynard Dixon” created in 1945, when the artist was struggling with emphysema, an illness that took his life the following year. Dixon’s watercolor, an untitled portrayal of a rider who seems to be waving to a friend beyond the picture plane, is expected to fetch up to $25,000. “Many of Dixon’s pieces from that period are figures who are waving or saying goodbye,” says Blitch, hinting that this poignant piece may be one such farewell. Another highlight of the sale is a massive acrylic work by Fritz Scholder (1937-2005), UNTITLED (BUFFALO AND INDIAN), which is estimated to sell for up to $120,000. The work portrays a native figure lying before a buffalo painted in all white, symbolizing the spirit of the creature, which may be appearing to the figure in a dream, says Blitch. “It’s Scholder at his best.”
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- Fritz Scholder, Untitled (Buffalo and Indian), acrylic, 82 x 72. Estimate: $80,000-$120,000.
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- Gustave Baumann, Ranchos de Taos, 1930, woodblock print. Estimate: $15,000-$20,000.
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- Dorothy Brett, Jet and Moon, 1959, oil/seashell/crystal, 36 x 13. Estimate: $10,000-$15,000.
The sale also boasts a large number of selections with modern aesthetics, many of which were created by female artists like pioneering painter Janet Lippincott (1918-2007), an abstract expressionist from New York who established a studio on Santa Fe’s Canyon Road in the mid-1950s. Among Lippincott’s works up for sale is the vivid oil NEW MEXICO LANDSCAPE, circa 1969, which is selling for $15,000-$25,000. Also on the block are works by Helen Hardin, Pop Chalee, Gina Knee, Gene Kloss, Susan Hertel, and Beulah Stevenson. “This is a good, strong group of women artists,” says Blitch, “and I think that reflects a [growing] interest in female artists who have been overlooked until now, particularly in historic southwestern art circles.”
Blitch can’t help but notice how much the sale has expanded, overall, since the SFAA started supplementing its signature auction with bimonthly online auctions a few years ago. Described by Blitch as “very tightly curated” around specific genres, mediums, or collections, the online sales have featured everything from Spanish Colonial and Hispanic artworks to 20th-century American Indian art—offerings that have naturally trickled over into the live auction. “We’ve diversified the sale, and that’s increased our collector base,” she says. “We are entering a lot of very different areas while still relying on our expertise in western and southwestern fine art.” —Kim Agricola
contact information
505.954.5858
www.santafeartauction.com
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- Howard Cook, Good Friday, Procession #5, oil, 39 x 47. Estimate: $30,000-$50,000.
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- Joseph Fleck, View from Fleck’s Talpa Residence, 1950, oil, 20 x 24. Estimate: $6,000-$12,000.
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- Leon Gaspard, Russian Village in Winter, oil, 8 x 10. Estimate: $40,000-$80,000.
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- Susan Hertel, Untitled (Interior With Dogs), oil, 48 x 60. Estimate: $20,000-$25,000.
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- Oscar Howe, Medicine Man, casein, 16 x 12. Estimate: $25,000-$35,000.
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- Gene Kloss, Windy Day Frolic, watercolor, 14 x 21. Estimate: $6,000-$9,000.
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- Paul Pletka, Native American Portrait, acrylic, 72 x 48. Estimate: $30,000-$50,000.
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- Frank Paul Sauerwein, Grand Canyon, oil, 20 x 30. Estimate: $8,000-$12,000.
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- Beulah Stevenson, San Acacio by Door Step, 1950, oil, 16 x 20. Estimate: $5,000-$10,000.
This story was featured in the November 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art November 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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