Grand Sierra Resort, Reno, NV July 26
The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction celebrates 40 years of its annual Western art auction on July 26 at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada. The much-anticipated event offers collectors the chance to acquire works by artists long established as part of the Western canon along with pieces by contemporary artists.
Approximately 300 lots of paintings and sculpture depicting the people, geography and stories of the American West will hit the block in 2025. Among the many treasured artists represented are standard-bearers Charles M. Russell, Nicolai Fechin, Maynard Dixon, Oscar Howe, Thomas Moran, N.C. Wyeth and Edgar Payne.
The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction principals are specialists in selling pieces by Russell and are offering several notable works including the watercolor ROPING A WOLF, which has a presale estimate of $500,000 to $750,000. One of Russell’s most lauded watercolors, the painting comes from a private collection and has appeared in numerous museum exhibitions. WHERE THE BEST OF RIDERS QUIT (est. $300,000-$500,000), a rare sculpture by Russell, is also available.
Coming to market is a single-owner collection of oil paintings by Nicolai Fechin ranging in subject matter from emotive portraits such as NIÑA (est. $150,000-$250,000) to dynamic landscapes like POINT LOBOS (est. $150,000-$250,000). Also available is a quintessential landscape by Maynard Dixon titled OPEN RANGE. Formerly in a museum collection and offered publicly for the first time in more than 40 years, the painting, portraying the light-drenched sublimity of open spaces, appears on the cover of The Oxford History of the American West. It has a presale estimate of $800,000 to $1.2 million.
Coeur d’Alene Art Auction is excited to offer four major paintings by Native American painter Oscar Howe that have been in a family collection for more than four decades. Noted for his modernist approach to portraying traditional Indigenous subject matter, Howe is regarded as a pioneer of 20th-century painting within both Native and European-American traditions. “Howe is considered to be one of the most important Native American artists, and his paintings are extremely rare,” says auction principal Mike Overby.
The first Coeur d’Alene Art Auction was held in 1985 in Las Vegas, and moved to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, five years later. After outgrowing that space in 2000, the auction settled into its current location in Reno. Over the past 20 years, the auction has accrued more than $400 million in sales, cementing its place among the most popular and prosperous Western art auctions in the country. “We’ve grown to become the largest Western art auction in the country and have been setting new records for most of the major artists,” says Overby. “We are very happy to be celebrating our 40th annual auction this year.”
The auction typically draws 400 to 500 on-site bidders along with several hundred others participating via phone, absentee and online bidding. Auction catalogs and event tickets are available for purchase online or by phone. —Elizabeth L. Delaney
Contact Information(208) 772-9009cdartauction.com
This story appeared in the June/July 2025 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Subscribe today to read every issue in its entirety.
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