The Jackson Hole Arts Festival: Million Dollar Cowboy Art

By Donna Poulton

Credit: My-West.com ©

If you want to attend next year, reserve a room now, because the small town of Jackson Hole is filled to capacity during the Jackson Hole Arts Festival, held each year in early September. 

Offering more events than any one person can absorb, there are three you won’t want to miss: the National Museum of Wildlife’s miniature auction; the Jackson Hole Art Auction; and the Quick Draw.

The Quick Draw brings some of the best artists of the west together to test their speed, endurance and talent during a quick draw in which the artists have 90 minutes to complete a painting.  The work, still wet and smelling of oil and turpentine, is auctioned immediately after to the highest bidder.

Credit: My-West.com ©

Jeff Ham in black sweatshirt. Credit: My-West.com ©

Painting by Jeff Ham. Credit: My-West.com ©

Painting of a fox, finished in the final minute of the countdown. My-West.com ©

Tim Tanner, revealing his background in illustration. My-West.com ©

After the quick draw event, the real excitement began with the Jackson Hole Art Auction.  This year the Four Lazy F Ranch sold its considerable collection of art by such artists such as O.C. Seltzer, Edward Borein, Charles M. Russell, Harry Jackson and others.  Although a few paintings were passed on and a few sold at below estimate, much of the best work exceeded expectations.  Here is a sample of some of the art and the big numbers the work brought in.

Credit: Jackson Hole Art Auction

Dye, Charlie, 1906-1972
Texas Brush Popper
oil on board
20 x 24
Estimated: $20,000 to $30,000
Sold Price: $74,750

Credit: Jackson Hole Art Auction

Russell, Charles M., 1864-1926
Riders on Mountain Trail
pencil and ink on paper
10.5 x 9.5
Estimated: $10,000 to $15,000
Sold Price: $43,125

Credit: Jackson Hole Art Auction

Seltzer, Olaf C., 1877-1957
Warrior on Horseback with Lance, 1917
watercolor
14.25 x 10.25
Estimated: $18,000 to $24,000
Sold Price: $37,375

Credit: Jackson Hole Art Auction

Seltzer, Olaf C., 1877-1957
Charles Russell on Horseback
watercolor
12 x 8.75
Estimated: $25,000 to $35,000
Sold Price: $51,750

Credit: Jackson Hole Art Auction

Seltzer, Olaf C., 1877-1957
Charles Russell with Horse
watercolor on paper
12.75 x 9
Estimated: $25,000 to $35,000
Sold Price: $74,750

Credit: Jackson Hole Art Auction

Remington, Frederic, 1861-1909
He Lay Where He Had Been Jerked, Still as a Log, 1893
oil on canvas
24 x 36
Estimated: $1,000,000 to $1,500,000
Sold Price: $1,583,000

Credit: My-West.com ©