Under the Hammer

Our Western Art auction in Los Angeles on 26 April highlights paintings, works on paper and bronzes by important historic and contemporary Western and wildlife artists. Examples from top Modern Western practitioners and works sold to benefit the Mesa Verde Foundation round out the sale.

Here, our California Art, Western Art and American Art specialists share their favorite lots coming under the hammer.

Lot 78
Bernice Lee (Burr) Singer, Pueblo Corn Dance

I find the dynamism and movement in Burr Singer’s Pueblo Corn Dance painting extraordinarily joyful. Singer’s work tends to have a Social Realist bent in her focus on minorities, women, laborers, and the poor. Her depictions of their everyday life range in reflection of seemingly mundane moments to those of excitement and celebration, as seen in this exuberant work. The influence from Singer's time in Taos working under Walter Ufer is clearly evident in Pueblo Corn Dance's complex yet balanced composition, and its Southwestern palette; however, the Regionalist and Modernist style creates an image uniquely her own.

-Katherine Halligan, Specialist, Western Art

Lot 19
Joseph Henry Sharp, Crucita - Taos Indian Girl

Joseph Henry Sharp's Crucita – Taos Indian Girl is a superb example of Sharp's mature techniques as a painter, as well as his mastered ability to capture the likeness of Native Americans authentically in anthropologically-minded compositions. Using his favorite female model, Crucita, I love how he paints in painstaking detail her distinct facial features, her rich black hair, and her traditional embellished clothing. Sharp painted Crucita more than 60 times, capturing Crucita's unique beauty in each portrait of her.

-Aaron Anderson, Junior Specialist, American Art

Lot 43
Sydney Laurence, The Alaska That Was

Laurence has a unique ability to capture the true essence of wild Alaska in his paintings. Even if one has never visited Alaska, my vision of how it looks and feels is alive and well in his compositions.  His paintings have a consistent palette of concise, confident brushstrokes and vivid colors. Laurence paints with a unique eye for the world he lived in; I always look forward to seeing his scenes of everyday life in this rugged part of the world, be it an old trappers cache and canoe or the great northern lights.

-Scot Levitt, Director, Fine Arts, Los Angeles

Lot 30
Joseph Henry Sharp, Gladiolus and Goldenrod

I love when artists known for one type of subject wander off to explore something different, as is the case with Gladiolus and Goldenrod. Here we see Joseph Henry Sharp bring his contemplative eye, usually trained on the landscape and his numerous models, to the humble and classic still life. Of course, there is nothing humble about these glorious gladiolus and fluffy clumps of goldenrod. The subtle details at work in this painting, for example, the dabs of color showing the bits of Goldenrod scattered on the surface of the table, are exquisite. The emerald toned jug is an impressive display of Sharp’s considerable skill as a painter with visible brush strokes conveying the high gloss surface. A wonderful addition to tie the composition together is the worn book in the lower left, painted in the same tones as the flowers.

-Aaron Bastian, Director, Fine Arts, San Francisco

Lot 95
Richard V. Greeves, Kiowa

Kiowa by Richard Greeves is an over life-size, one of a kind bronze that embodies the pride and resilience of the indigenous peoples of North America. Standing in a contrapposto pose, with arms crossed over his puffed chest, the gaze of this exceptionally-rendered warrior is steadfast and determined.

-Morgan Martin, Specialist, American Art

Register for our Western Art auction on Bonhams.com before 26 April. For additional information, please contact calam.us@bonhams.com.