Bierstadt, Russell lead $17 million Coeur d'Alene auction

25 July 2011

click to enlarge

Image Courtesy of Coeur d'Alene

click to enlarge

Image Courtesy of Coeur d'Alene

Two Western landscape paintings by Albert Bierstadt sold at the Coeur d'Alene weekend auction in Reno, Nevada, for a total of $4 million.

Bierstadt's 1890s oil "Mount Rainier," measuring 54 x 83 inches, fetched $2.1 million against a presale estimate of $1.5 million to $2.5 million. His 1863 "Lander's Peak, Wyoming" went for $1.9 million. Both works came from private collections.

From a single private collection, two paintings by Charles M. Russell—his 1892 "Water for Camp" and 1924 "A Dangerous Sport"—brought in nearly $1.5 million each. The former depicts a group of American Indians getting water from a stream, while the latter portrays two cowboys on horseback roping a struggling mountain lion.

The annual American and Western art auction offered more than 300 works which sold at the Silver Legacy Resort Casino for a total of about $17 million, well above last year's total of $9.2 million. Sales in 2009 hit $11.7 million, but lagged behind the pre-recession $37 million sales total in 2008.

Read more at San Jose Mercury News

More News Feed Headlines

Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson, and their daughter Mary Patricia Anderson Pence, standing in front of Franz Kline, Figure 8, 1952 and Mark Rothko, Pink and White over Red, 1957. Both are works being donated to Stanford University.

Stanford to Showcase Anderson Collection in $30 Million New Building

Stanford University has chosen the New York-based architectural firm Ennead Architects to design the structure that will house the University’s recent acquisition, the impressive Anderson ...

Elizabeth Taylor’s Precious Jewels, Gowns Take the Crown at Auction

Seven world records were set at the jewel auction of the late Hollywood screen legend, and ardent jewelry lover, Elizabeth Taylor, that took place at Christie’s New York this week. On Tuesday, 80 singular lots were offered and all 80 quickly sold, fetching a total of $115.9 million, making it the most valuable private collection of jewels ever sold at auction. On Thursday, a Christian Dior evening gown of silver encrusted brocade swept to $362,500...

Henry Koerner (American, 1915-1991) Under the Overpass, 1949. Oil on masonite, 30 x 38 inches. Courtesy of Jonathan Boos.

Well-attended American Art Fair Shines in New Venue

The fourth incarnation of The American Art Fair triumphed at a dazzling new venue from Nov. 28 to Dec. 1, 2011. Held for the first time at the Bohemian National Hall, a Renaissance Revival style building on Manhattan's Upper East Side, the focused fair featured 17 leading gallery exhibitors offering prime examples of historic American art.

Julien Hudson, 1811-1844 American. Creole Boy With A Moth, 1835, oil on canvas, courtesy of a private collection; photo courtesy of Fodera Fine Art Conservation, Ltd.

First Retrospective of Early African American Artist Julien Hudson at Worcester Art Museum

A groundbreaking exhibition opened Dec. 9 at the Worcester Art Museum entitled “In Search of Julien Hudson: Free Artist of Color in Pre-Civil War New Orleans.” Julien Hudson (1811-1844) is the second-earliest documented portrait painter of African descent to work in the United States. Little-known today, Hudson died an untimely, somewhat mysterious death, and only fragments of his oeuvre survive to tell his story.