Live in November: Santa Fe Art Auction’s Signature Sale

As a long-standing leader in the Western art circuit, Santa Fe Art Auction frequently achieves record-setting prices for works by prominent classic and contemporary artists. This year’s sale will feature over 450 lots, including a fine selection of Western paintings and sculpture, historic photography, and Native American textiles, pottery, paintings, jewelry, and works on paper. 

Session One of Santa Fe Art Auction’s premier sale this year features prints, multiples, works on paper, and sculpture, ranging from pieces by contemporary Native American artists to classic Western art and more. Look for works by Gustave Baumann, Fritz Scholder, Frederic Remington, and Gene Kloss, as well as sculpture by Allan Houser (Haozous), Kim Obrzut, Dave McGary, and Gib Singleton. This session will also present a fine selection of photography by Edward S. Curtis, ranging from goldtones to platinum prints, unpublished variants, and full portfolios and volumes of his seminal publication, The North American Indian. 

The day will culminate with one of the most compelling and historically distinguished complete sets of Curtis’s monumental publication to remain in private hands: the John B. Stetson, Jr. Complete Set of 20 Volumes + 20 Portfolios ($600,000 – 900,000). John B. Stetson Jr. was a noted American bibliophile and son of the founder of the legendary Stetson hat company. A total of ten portfolios comprising 364 photogravures are individually signed by Curtis in the print margin, making this a historically resonant, highly distinct set. The photogravures in this original early subscriber’s edition were printed on Japanese gampi tissue—the rarest of the three paper stocks offered—and the low set number and remarkable provenance closely associate this definitive collection with the early history of the American West.

The second day of the Signature Live sale opens with a fine selection of historic Pueblo pottery works, followed by contemporary indigenous pottery as well as basketry, rugs, and jewelry. Several strong examples of Lisa Holt and Harlan Reano’s work will be on offer, including a Polychrome Shouldered Jar with Floral and Butterfly Designs, 2013 ($4,000 – 6,000). This husband-and-wife pottery team is renowned for their innovative, contemporary approaches to traditional Pueblo pottery, and this work features graphic monarch butterflies amongst a bold, black-on-white patterned field that recalls traditional Kewa pottery designs. Collectors can also find works by Denise Wallace, including an exquisite Five-Piece Transformation Belt, 1992, in addition to Dawn Wallace, Veronica Poblano, Charles Loloma, Thomas Tenorio, and more. The morning will culminate with early Indian School painting, including works by Pablita Velarde and Quincy Tahoma plus paintings and works on paper by New Mexico Modernists as well as historic and contemporary Western artists.

Offerings by several of the legendary Taos Founders will be featured in Session Three of the Signature Sale. An excellent work by O. E. Berninghaus, titled Morning of the Fiesta - Taos Pueblo will be on the block with an estimate of $120,000-180,000. Fresh to the market, this work has been held in the same family since it was first acquired from the artist in 1949. Walter Ufer’s Indian Mother, Isleta, ca. 1915 will be presented with an estimate of $50,000 – 70,000, with provenance also tracing back within a single family since 1915. Paintings by Bert Geer Phillips, J. H. Sharp, W. H. “Buck” Dunton, and E. Martin Hennings will be on offer, in addition to works by numerous other artists who were central to the development of 20th century New Mexico painting.

Further highlights include both classic and contemporary Western works by Kathryn Woodman Leighton, Emil Bisttram, Robert Daughters, Ed Mell, Luis Jiménez, Louisa McElwain, and Forrest Moses. Collectors can also find paintings and works on paper by leading indigenous artists including Steven Yazzie, Helen Hardin, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Earl Biss, and Tony Abeyta.

Santa Fe Art Auction is delighted to offer a stunning reverse-painted glass work by Rebecca Salsbury James in the final session of the sale, titled White Roses at Twilight, 1941 ($200,000 – 300,000). James was a pioneering, self-taught Taos artist of the early-to-mid-twentieth century known as a master of the meticulous and historic art of reverse-painted glass. In its first appearance on the public market this November, White Roses at Twilight, 1941 comes with a distinguished provenance tracing directly from the artist to Taos Historic Museums in 1968. This painting offers collectors a rare opportunity to acquire a refined example of James’s reverse-painted glass at a moment of renewed appreciation for her contribution to American modernism.

Since its inception over 30 years ago, Santa Fe Art Auction stands as the oldest, most venerable auction house in the Southwest, positioned in the contemporary Baca Railyard District of Santa Fe—the oldest capital city in the United States and long regarded as the region's largest art hub. With 16,000 square feet of modern open showroom space, Santa Fe Art Auction continues to embrace cutting-edge technologies and expand its in-house expertise, presenting collectors with significant acquisition opportunities throughout the year. 

The auction house showrooms are open year-round Monday through Friday, 10 AM to 5 PM, including for in-person previews of this year’s Signature Sale. A hosted preview reception will be held on Wednesday, November 4th with a special presentation, “Picturing Indigeneity: Imagery, History, Reality”. Moderated by Josh Rose (Rose Creative, The Scenest), the talk will feature a panel discussion with several contemporary Native American artists. 

For more information about the Signature Annual Live Sale or any of Santa Fe Art Auction’s sales throughout the year, or to connect with a specialist, please visit www.santafeartauction.com, email info@santafeartauction.com, or call (505) 954-5858.