Important Charles M Russell Paintings Among Top Lots at Scottsdale   by Jason

in Art / Antiques    (submitted 2012-01-31)

Scottsdale Art Auction will hold its eighth annual sale on March 31, 2012 in their spacious second floor galleries at 7176 Main Street in Scottsdale, Arizona. The auction in 2011 was Scottsdale's best ever, totaling over 15 million dollars--this year's sale promises to continue the tradition, featuring the finest in painting and sculpture from historic and contemporary masters of Western, Wildlife and Sporting Art.

Among the many fine offerings in the 2012 sale are two paintings by Charles M. Russell (1864-1926) from the Fred and Ginger Renner Collection. The Renners were the authorities on Russell's works; their personal collection contains rarely seen gems from the artist's brushes and pens. Mexican Buffalo Hunters (estimate: $600-800,000-), for example, is a superb watercolor and gouache measuring 13 5/8 x 18 1/4 inches. Executed in 1924, it exemplifies Russell's artistry at its peak. The late afternoon sun bathes the riders and their mounts. Viewed from below, they appear heroic, their serapes and lances lending them a knightly air. The Spanish Dance (estimate $400-600,000-), a 25 1/4 x 32 1/2 inch oil painted in 1892, is a romantic vaquero piece, a cowboy's dream. Sun through the trees dapples the stucco wall as young Charlie--in a self-portrait, second from the right--appraises the dancer and fancies that her dance is only for him.

One of the top painters of action scenes, Frank McCarthy works (1924-2002) have enjoyed tremendous success the Scottsdale Art Auction, and the 2012 sale is no exception. The Chase, a 24 x 40 inch oil, kicks up the dust as a stagecoach flees from pursuing Indians. The rocks, as always in McCarthy's works, are crisp and textured, and the stormy sky that brackets the action seems to be running above and with the braves.

In the genre of sporting and wildlife, one fine lot is the painting of a buck and doe in early autumn by the great American artist A. F. Tait (1819-1905). "Adirondack" Tait, as he came to be known, was one of the fathers of American Sporting Art. This work, of a young buck looking back, alert to some sound he has heard, and his doe, looking ahead across the water, describes the kind of day when Nature--save for the interplay of cloud, sun and sky--is still. The painting asks us to listen, to pay heed to even the smallest of sounds. Change is in the wind--don't miss it.

All the works in the 2012 Scottsdale Art Auction will be on view in the galleries from March 22nd. There will be a cocktail preview on Friday, March 30, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Catalogues are available for purchase by calling 480 945 0225 or on the website at http://www.scottsdaleartauction.com.

About the Author

Scottsdale Art Auction is the Southwest's largest art auction, SAA has established itself as the premier event of the Western art auction season and Original Art Sales.