Santa Fe Art Auction | November 8-9, 2024 | Santa Fe, NM

Thirty Years Strong

Santa Fe Art Auction is planning a stellar sale of Western and Native American art for its 30th anniversary.

By Alyssa M. Tidwell

Santa Fe Art Auction presents its most anticipated event of the year with the Signature Live Salethis November 8 and 9. Celebrating a milestone 30th anniversary, the annual sale will offer nearly 300 outstanding lots that represent the best of Western and Native American art, both historic and contemporary. Santa Fe Art Auction was established in 1994 for a single, gallery-hosted auction each year. Since taking over as president in 2018, Gillian Blitch has helped transform the auction house into a standalone, state-of-the art operation, featuring eight to 10 auctions per year.

John Nieto (1936-2018), Capitan - Kiowa Apache, 1989, acrylic on canvas, 44 x 40 in. Estimate: $12/18,000Among the artwork collectors can explore in this year’s Signature Live Sale is a wide selection of Western paintings by the Southwest modernists, as well as historic pueblo pottery and Diné/Navajo textiles, Edward S. Curtis photogravures and works by many important present-day Native American artists. Collectors should keep an eye out for superb examples by Fritz Scholder, Allan Houser, Margarete Bagshaw, Kevin Red Star, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Tony Abeyta, Tony Da and more.

Frank B. Hoffman (1888-1958), September, oil on canvas, 18 x 24 in. The Gregory Warren Nelson Collection, New Mexico. Estimate: $20/30,000

Blitch cites John Nieto’s 1989 acrylic Capitan - Kiowa Apache as a prime lot in the upcoming sale. “This is clearly a prototypical example of John Nieto’s glorious relationship with electric color but also his focus on the dignity of his subjects, almost exclusively Native American,” she says. “Paintings of this size and seriousness have become much more desirable in recent years and increasingly hard to find. We are always especially delighted for an artwork such as this one to come to auction whereby the proceeds will benefit a Midwestern American museum of Native American arts.” The painting is expected to fetch up to $18,000.

Allan Houser (Haouzous) (Chiricahua Apache, 1914-1994), Abstract Crown Dancer, bronze, artist’s proof, ed. of 12, 42½ x 17¾ x 14 in. Estimate: $30/50,000

Another top lot is an energetic, hand-colored monoprint by Luis Jimenez titled Western Art. “I love this piece because it’s unique and captures so much of Jimenez’s capacity for satire, [as well as] the collision of 1970s pop art with the stereotypes of the American West that his work exemplified,” says Blitch. “Jimenez died in an accident in 2006, but his work has become extremely desirable in recent years, as his intuitive commentary has once again begun to resonate.” This piece, which has a presale estimate of $6,000 to $9,000, is one of at least four by the artist that will be featured in the upcoming sale.

Kevin Red Star (Apsáalooke), Black Bird Medicine Hat, 2001, acrylic on canvas, 27⅞ x 23⅞ in. Estimate: $5/10,000

Dorothy Brett (1883-1977), Indian Women Watching Horse Race, 1927, oil on board, 17⅝ x 21⅜ in. The Gregory Warren Nelson Collection, New Mexico. Estimate: $10/20,000

A bronze by prominent Chiricahua Apache sculptor and painter Allan Houser titled Abstract Crown Dancer is estimated to sell for $30,000 to $50,000. Additional highlights include Frank B. Hoffman’s sporting scene September (est. $20/30,000); Dorothy Brett’s 1927 oil Indian Women Watching Horse Race (est. $10/20,000); Kevin Red Star’s acrylic Black Bird Medicine Hat (est. $5/10,000); and Dave McGary’s bronze Hearts of Conviction (est. $10/15,000).

Luis Jimenez (1940-2006), Western Art, hand-colored monoprint, 26 x 35¾ in. Estimate: $6/9,000

Santa Fe Art Auction will also present the Gregory Warren Nelson Collection of Taos, New Mexico, as part of the annual Signature Live Sale. “A patron of the arts and outdoor enthusiast with a keen eye, Nelson developed a world-class collection of Western and Native American art throughout his lifetime,” the auction house notes. “Significant artists in Greg’s collection that will appear at the Signature Live Sale include Gustave Baumann, Ansel Adams, Howard Norton Cook, Gene Kloss, Barbara Latham, Dorothy Eugenie Brett, Quincy Tahoma and Awa (Alfonso Roybal) Tsireh.” —