Western, Wildlife and
Sporting Art
Coeur D'Alene Art Auction
July 24, 2004
Grand Ballroom of the Silver Legacy Resort
Reno, Nevada
Title: Mists in the Yellowstone
Artist: Thomas Moran (American 1837-1926)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 30 x 45 in.
Estimate: $2,000,000 - $3,000,000.
Image Courtesy: Michael Scott / Coeur d'Alene Art Auction
Saddle up! It's time for the annual Coeur d'Alene auction of American Southwestern art.
Thomas Moran, Joseph Sharp, Charles M. Russell, Albert Bierstadt, Carl Rungius,
Eanger Irving Couse and Maynard Dixon are the appetizers in this buffet of
excellent Western artists and their works.
Several of the artists were involved in the establishment of New Mexico as a Mecca
for artists. Oscar Berninghaus, famous for his renditions of Native
Americans and Deserts, was a founding member of the Taos School.
Lancashire native Thomas Moran made annual trips to the American west
acquiring the moniker "Yellowstone". His work, Mists in the
Yellowstone is considered one of the highlights of the Coeur D'Alene Art
Auction. The Thomas D. Murphy Calendar Company commissioned the painting in
1908.
Charles M. Russell, a former cattle wrangler, was a self taught artist. It
was his experiences on the American frontier that resonated within his
paintings.
Title: Navajo Lookout
Artist: Charles M. Russell (American 1864-1926)
Medium: Watercolor
Dimensions: 14.5 x 21.5 in.
Estimate: $400,000 - $600,000.
Image Courtesy: Michael Scott / Coeur d'Alene Art Auction
Maynard Dixon, painter and muralist, lost much of his early work in the 1906
earthquake in San Francisco. He briefly dabbled with Depression era figure
renditions before returning to his love of cubist realism.
Deaf as a teenager, Joseph Henry Sharp, never allowed this malady to
interfere with his artwork. He is believed to be the first Caucasian artist to
paint in Taos, New Mexico. US President Theodore Roosevelt featured among this
artist's numerous patrons. Sharp was a member of the Taos Society of Artists.
Title: Squaw Winter
Artist: Joseph Sharp (American 1859-1953)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 30 x 26 in.
Estimate: $250,000 - $450,000.
Image Courtesy: Michael Scott / Coeur d'Alene Art Auction
The Squaw Winter lot includes a hand-written letter from the artist to Amon
Carter discussing the painting.
The first President of the Taos Society of Artists, Eanger Irving Couse, was a
graduate of the Institute of Chicago. He was drawn to the frontier with the
opportunity to capture natives of the area, having feasted with his paintbrush on
the Ojibwa of his native Michigan. The Arrow Maker, possibly the largest
watercolor painted by Couse is in this auction. This lot includes a 1903 letter
written by the artist.
Carl Rungius, a native of Berlin, came to the USA in 1894. He was an avid
hunter and used his impressions from this in his artwork. He is considered
foremost among the American big game painters.
The Coeur d'Alene auction of 2004 will be exciting as the
era captured within the artworks!
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