Western Art

By Cathy Booth Thomas

WHY IT'S HOT Renewed interest in the Old West has sent auction prices soaring.

WILL IT LAST? At least through the Bush Administration

Maybe George W. Bush's downhome tastes are catching on. While works by Frederic Remington have long sold for lofty sums, other artists of the Old West are now fetching record prices as well. In late July a 1908 watercolor of a grizzly, right, by Charles M. Russell sold for $2.3 million at the Coeur d'Alene Art Auction in Reno, Nev., the highest ever paid for a Russell. A painting by Philip R. Goodwin, which a Wisconsin woman said she couldn't unload for $5 at a garage sale, brought in $55,000. Overall, the five-hour auction racked up a record $14 million from investors who jetted in from as far away as Maine and Florida.

"The market's as strong as it was when the oil guys were buying back in 1979 to 1981," says Bob Drummond, who organized the Reno auction, adding gleefully, "You've heard we're in a recession, right? Well, we're not." A June show at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma broke $2.5 million in sales on the opening night alone. Prices are soaring back East as well. "People look at Western art more seriously now for its contribution to American culture," says Eric Widing, Christie's American paintings expert. "Plus it's good art."

--By Cathy Booth Thomas