Western Art Can be Affordable

Collectors found reasonably priced gems at the Jackson Hole Auction

The prices for Western art have been rising steadily during the 21st century. The prices for paintings by artists like Frederic Remington and Charles Russell have even reached record heights. In 2024, paintings by other “old masters” like William R. Leigh, Olaf Wieghorst and Birger Sandzen sold in the tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars at auctions covered by this column. The same could be said for some of the particularly popular contemporary artists, like Mark Maggiore, Logan Maxwell Hagege and Ed Mell. For many, perhaps most, collectors of the West, those prices are simply unreachable. But the careful collector can still find work by great Western artists at affordable prices for his or her parlor walls. That was demonstrated at the annual winter event of the Jackson Hole Art Auction on February 14, 2025. While the wildlife paintings by Carl Rungius can be quite pricey, three framed wildlife etchings by him sold at prices ranging from $2,500 to $3,750. A lovely framed ink and watercolor image of an Indian boy by William R. Leigh sold for $3,250, while a framed chromolithograph signed by Frederic Remington brought $2,000. Two framed watercolors of the Colorado Rockies, created by early Colorado artist Charles Partridge Adams, brought in $950 and $1,300. And an oil painting of a trail in Montana by Colorado artist Robert Lindneux, known for portraits of his friend Buffalo Bill, sold for $450. Most of the over four hundred works of art sold at the Jackson Hole auction were by contemporary Western artists. They offered a great diversity of subjects and mediums at very good prices. Among these were a framed mixed-media portrait on paper by Donna Howell-Sickles which went for $2,250, a Southwestern still life oil painting by Jerry Venditti for $1,100, and a framed watercolor of a Yellowstone landscape by William Matthews at $1,300. Among the various sculptures available was the representation of an American buffalo by Sandy Scott, which went for $2,750. The Jackson Hole Art Auction, presenting Western portraiture, still life and landscape as well as the various media produced by artists in this region, provided an opportunity for collectors who don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend on art. Whether they were from those artists who are gone but not forgotten or artists who are still actively producing, these artworks will grace the homes of some lucky collectors of the true West.

Steve Friesen comes to “Collecting the West” with over 40 years of experience in collecting for museums, including evaluating and acquiring artifacts from the American West.

All Images Courtesy Jackson Hole Art Auction

Carl Rungius’ etching and drypoint on paper titled Above Timberline, sold for $3,750. Rungius was an avid outdoorsman and hunter, spending more time than most other artists observing wildlife and then placing them in their natural environment in his art.

William Robinson Leigh was an illustrator for many popular magazines during the early 20th century. He was fascinated by the American Southwest and did a number of paintings and illustrations of the people and places from the region. His sketch of an Indian boy captured $3,250 at the Jackson Hole Art Auction.

Sandy Scott lives in Wyoming and concentrates on sculptures of animals, mostly those that populate the American West. Her sculpture American Bison, one of 75 cast in 2004, sold for $2,750. Like the buffalo themselves, it projects a rugged appearance.

Cowgirls celebrating and enjoying life are the subject of Donna Howell-Sickles’ art. She clearly enjoys life in the West herself and has been inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Fort Worth. Her mixed-media piece, It’s the Little Things That Make You Laugh, brought a top bid of $2,250.

Titled The Trapper, this chromolithograph was made from a drawing by Frederic Remington. He then signed it after it was reproduced with the lithographic process. The Trapper sold for $2,000

Denver artist Robert Lindneux produced many drawings and paintings, using a style that is almost naïve in its appearance. His most famous paintings were of his friend Buffalo Bill. His autobiographical painting, Returning from One of My Last Trips in Montana, sold for $450.

Charles Partridge Adams moved to Colorado in 1876 and, inspired by the landscape, began painting. Largely self-taught, Adams focuses on the Colorado Rockies. His South Park Co. from the Midland Railway sold for 950.

William Matthews is a contemporary Denver artist who focuses his work on the places, people and landscapes of the American West. His watercolor Fountain Flats, which sold for $1,300, depicts the familiar valley in Yellowstone National Park, with its meadows, meandering waters and thermal mists in the distance.