Going Once, Going Twice | Art at Auction

By Rochelle Belsito

Every November several major auction houses in the United States host sales dedicated to or prominently featuring Western, California and Native American artwork. They draw attention from collectors around the world who are bidding in-house, online and by phone for their chance to hear the auctioneer yell “SOLD!” their way as the gavel hammers the podium. These categories, which are subsections of the greater American art market, have a dedicated base of patrons who have continued to drive new auction records and attention in the broader art world.

Take for instance recent sales at Bonhams where single-owner capsules and private collections with Western and Native American artwork have had strong successes. In November 2025 they offered The Gene Hackman Collection: A Life in Art that featured DANCER by Fritz Scholder (Luiseño) and Nicolai Fechin’s charcoal drawing CARMEN (HEAD OF A GIRL), which both sold above presale estimates at $152,900 and $23,040, respectively.

Along with that, Aaron Bastian, director of fine arts at Bonhams San Francisco, has observed that “contemporary Western art continues to capture the attention of new and returning bidders, with works by Ed Mell exceeding their high estimates.” The two trends converged this past June at Bonhams’ white-glove sale Diane Keaton: The Architecture of an Icon. Maynard Dixon’s 1941 nocturne painting TRAIN ON THE DESERT achieved $35,840, while the 1992 piece LIGHT IN THE VALLEY by Mell achieved $40,960.

The modernist Southwestern art of Mell has seen a growing market since his passing in 2024. Alissa Ford, Heritage Auction’s vice president of American and Western art, notes that collectors of Western art champion not only established artists but also emerging artists or those who are lesser known around the country. “As a result,” she explains, “artists who once appealed primarily to regional audiences, such as Ed Mell, have achieved national recognition, reflecting the expanding reach, relevance and appeal of Western art across the broader collecting landscape.”

California art is an important regional segment of the American art market with landscapes by artists like Guy Rose and Edgar Payne being notable. Katherine Halligan, director of fine art at John Moran Auctioneers, says, “The collecting audience tends to have some sort of personal connection to the Golden State whether they reside in California or in other states.” She also has found that within the American paintings category itself collectors “do look to our California artists’ non-California subjects with greater interest.”

When it comes to Native American art, paintings, sculpture, pottery and jewelry by contemporary creatives lead the way, such as the work by Scholder that sold at Bonhams. Santa Fe Art Auction has found a niche with this genre with Gillian Blitch, president and CEO of the auction house, noting that these works account for more than 50 percent of what they sell. She says, “Contemporary Indigenous art has certainly become one of the most exciting collecting areas in recent times, particularly mid- to late-20th-century pieces that cross collecting categories into post-war modern art.”

In the following pages, you’ll see how these trends come together in upcoming sales at Bonhams, Heritage Auctions, Santa Fe Art Auction and John Moran Auctioneers.

California & Western ArtBonhams – Los Angeles, CA – bonhams.comNovember 11

This November, Bonhams will host its next California & Western Art auction featuring more than 125 lots representing a variety of artistic movements and groups including Society of Six, Taos Society of Artists and Cowboy Artists of America.

One highlight is THE PASSION OF THE WAMPUM BELT by Amédée Joullin (1862-1917), a painter born in San Francisco to French parents. He studied at the San Francisco Art Institute, the École des Beaux Arts de Paris and the Académie Julian. His work mostly depicted California landscapes and the life of Native Americans in New Mexico. THE PASSION OF THE WAMPUM BELT, painted in 1897, arrives to auction with an estimate of $12,000 to $18,000.

Painter Edgar Payne (1883-1947) first headed out west for a 1916 commission for the Santa Fe Railroad. “There he visited the Grand Canyon, Canyon de Chelly and northern New Mexico, developing a new color palette to match the light and earth of the region,” says Aaron Bastian, director of fine arts at Bonhams San Francisco. “Along with his Sierra Nevada mountain scenes and Mediterranean boat paintings, RIDERS ON THE MESA (INDIAN RIDERS) [(est. $100,000-$150,000)] is one of Payne’s most iconic subjects and continues to resonate with collectors as a quintessential expression of the American West.”

The California & Western Art sale also features the capsule of Western Art from the Estate of Ed and Bonnie Harvey of Little Rock, Arkansas. Included are two works by G. Harvey and several bronze sculptures by Harry Jackson.

Western Art Signature AuctionHeritage Auctions – Dallas, TX – ha.comNovember 5

More than 100 lots of fine paintings and sculpture will hit the block during Heritage Auction’s November 5 Western Art Signature Auction.

A major work in the sale is Clark Hulings’ 1993 painting STREET VENDORS, estimated at $40,000 to $60,000, which depicts one of his most famed subjects, a lively street market. His works often reflected his travels across the Southwestern United States, Mexico and Europe. Alissa Ford, vice president of American and Western art at Heritage Auctions, says the work, “is dynamic and complex with its panoply of vibrant colors, graphic array of shapes, lifelike fruit and vegetables, and multitude of figures, each going about a different activity as if caught in a candid moment of everyday market life.”

Another artist featured in the sale whose works became easily recognizable because of their familiar themes is G. Harvey. The artist, along with his Western scenes, often featured life at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in cities like New York, Boston and Dallas. These scenes, as Ford shares, “depict either early morning or evening rain-slicked streets which gives Harvey ample opportunity to show his skill at depicting light, shadow, reflection and atmosphere.” His work RAINDROPS AND PUDDLES arrives at auction with an estimate of $30,000 to $50,000.

Other notable paintings in the sale include Earl Biss’ TAKING SHELTER BEFORE CROSSING PRYOR GAP, a 1979 oil on canvas with an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000; Charles Schreyvogel’s HAYING TIME (est. $25,000-$35,000); and the 14-inch-square portrait MAX BACA by E. Martin Hennings, which has an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000.

The Signature SaleSanta Fe Art Auction – Santa Fe, NM – santafeartauction.comNovember 6-7

Across its two-day Signature Sale, happening November 6 and 7, Santa Fe Art Auction will present paintings, mixed media and sculptural works by recognized and rising artists.

Contemporary Native American paintings by Steven Yazzie and Malcolm Furlow will be available along with Pueblo pottery including a collection of works by Lisa Holt and Harlan Reano. Several pieces by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith are represented in the auction including WHAT IS AN AMERICAN? (est. $10,000-$15,000). Gillian Blitch, president and CEO of Santa Fe Art Auction, says, “Demand for [her] oeuvre has strengthened significantly over the past years, and her recent retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art has cemented her as a force within contemporary art.” This work has an edition of 20 and arrives at auction for the first time.

Another auction standout is Rebecca Salsbury James’ WHITE ROSES AT TWILIGHT (est. $200,000 to $300,000). Blitch says, “Like many women modernists, James’ work has been historically overshadowed by her more famous counterparts such as Georgia O’Keeffe and Paul Strand, but there has been recent momentum in her market and a push to reposition her work. James worked slowly and meticulously in the difficult, exacting medium of reverse-painted glass, so her pieces are quite rare and sought-after.”

Ed Mell will be represented in the sale by his 1997 oil VIEW FROM WARD TERRACE (est. $60,000-$90,000), while E. Martin Hennings’ classic landscape AMONGST THE ASPENS comes to auction with an estimate of $70,000 to $100,000. The auction will also offer the John B. Stetson set of Edward S. Curtis’ The North American Indian.

California & American Fine ArtJohn Moran Auctioneers – Monrovia, CA – johnmoran.comNovember 17

Paintings, works on paper, prints and sculpture will be among the approximately 250 lots available during John Moran Auctioneers’ November 17 California & American Fine Art sale. Primarily comprised of works from local estates and collectors, the auction includes a selection of American figurative paintings from the Montecito, California, collection of Sybil Rosen and Robert Fisher who are important local community members, collectors and dealers.

The Rosen and Fisher grouping has paintings from Martin Lewis, Gifford Beal, Saul Kovner and more. Leading the collection is Daniel Ridgeway Knight’s A TRYSTING PLACE (est. $20,000-$30,000). Katherine Halligan, director of American art, says, “Known best for his idyllic portraits of French peasants in beautiful, verdant settings, Daniel Ridgway Knight’s A TRYSTING PLACE is a lovely example of this motif featuring a young woman holding flowers as she seemingly waits for a beau on a footbridge across a small river.”

Coming from another California collection, the Saperstein Collection of Oakland, is BLACK PEACOCKS by Jessie Arms Botke. A common subject matter for Botke, Halligan says this work, “really showcases the artist’s ability to combine her extraordinary draftsmanship and knowledge of both bird anatomy and local flora within a highly decorated, elegant Asian-inspired gold leaf setting.” The painting is expected to sell between $50,000 and $70,000.

Other notable art includes two works from a private estate in Southern California: Adam Emory Albright’s MAKE BELIEVE TIME (est. $12,000-$18,000) and Eugene Higgins’ COVERED WAGON (est. $3,000-$5,000).

This story appeared in the October/November 2026 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Subscribe today to read every issue in its entirety.

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