The 19th Annual Jackson Hole Art Auction (JHAA) was held live at the Center for the Arts on September 13th in Jackson, WY. A staggering 97% percent of the 432 lots were sold, realizing $13.5 million in sales. The sale set a new benchmark, realizing the highest sale total in the auction’s history.
2025 Auction Highlights
Rockwell, Rungius, and Russell led an extraordinary pack of headline results.
Norman Rockwell, Courting Couple at Midnight, 1919.
Norman Rockwell’s Courting Couple at Midnight, the featured cover image for the March 22nd, 1919 Saturday Evening Post (oil on canvas, 24 x 19 in., Estimate $500,000 – $700,000) commanded the auction’s highest price at $900,000, shattering its pre-sale estimate.
Carl Rungius, Pronghorn Antelope, c.1900.
Carl Rungius’s Pronghorn Antelope (oil on canvas, 29¼ x 46 in., Estimate $200,000 – $300,000), soared to $780,000, a whopping 160% over the high estimate.
Charles M. Russell, Start of the Roundup, 1898.
Charles M. Russell’s Start of the Roundup, off the market since 1984, brought competitive bidding from the phones, live attendees, and online (watercolor on paper, 14½ x 20½ in., Estimate $180,000 – $250,000), realizing $720,000, 188% over the high estimate, with the online bidder victorious.
These outstanding results for three celebrated artists propelled the auction to the highest sale total in JHAA’s history, confirming the strength of American art in today’s market.
Bidding was heated, fast-paced, and competitive from the get-go. Property from Valley Ranch, Jackson, WY: Residence of Laurance S. Rockefeller and John D. Rockefeller IV, a collection of seventy works sold in a single-owner sequence, kicked off the auction with 100% sell-through. New owner, Terry Winchell, was instrumental in bringing this esteemed collection to the auction.
The three G. Harvey paintings in the sale all brought excellent results: When Cowboys Move On (oil on canvas, 24 x 30 in., Estimate $100,000 – $200,000) sold for triple the high estimate at $600,000, Cowboy Country Club (oil on canvas, 24 x 36 in., Estimate $70,000 – $100,000) sold for more than triple the high estimate at $348,000, and Riding the Salt River Canyon (oil on canvas, 16 x 20 in., Estimate $20,000 – $40,000) sold for $270,000, a staggering 575% over the high estimate.
Eanger Irving Couse, The Hunter, 1917.
Two fresh-to-market paintings by Eanger Irving Couse both performed strongly. The Hunter (oil on canvas, 30 ¼ x 36 ¼ in., Estimate: $150,000-250,000) sold for $390,000 and Two Brothers Hunting (oil on canvas, 20 x 24 in., Estimate: $70,000-100,000) sold for $168,000. Additional sale highlights from Taos Society artists include Joseph Henry Sharp’s Rabbit Hunters in Roundup (oil on canvas, 20 x 24 in., Estimate: $70,000-100,000, SOLD: $96,000), Peonies (oil on canvas, 23 ½ x 19 ½ in., Estimate: $20,000-40,000, SOLD: $66,000), Grand Canyon (oil on canvas, 13 ½ x 9 ¾ in., Estimate: $20,000-30,000, SOLD: $48,000), and W. Herbert Dunton’s The Stagecoach Robbery (oil on canvas, 21 x 33 in., Estimate: $20,000-40,000, SOLD: $90,000).
Works from contemporary artists performed well, led by Mark Maggiori’s High Noon from 2020 (oil on canvas, 20 x 30 in., Estimate: $75,000-125,000), which sold 92% above the high estimate at $240,000. Additional contemporary highlights include Rod Kagan’s Abstract Totem (bronze, 97 x 24 x 24 in., Estimate: $5,000-10,000, SOLD: $51,000), Bill Schenck’s The Longest Day (oil on canvas, 20 ½ x 50 ½ in., Estimate: 10,000-20,000, SOLD: $41,000), Don Oelze’s Trail Marker – Pointing the Way (oil on canvas, 40 x 42 in., Estimate: $20,000-40,000, SOLD: $48,000), Phil Epp’s Distant Rumble (oil on canvas, 40 x 42 in., Estimate: $10,000-15,000, SOLD: $27,000), Colt Idol’s Rose and Crimson (oil on canvas, 40 x 50 in., Estimate: $8,000-12,000, SOLD: $31,250), David Frederick Riley’s Chief (oil on canvas, 60 x 60 in., Estimate: $5,000-7,000, SOLD: $31,250), and Tony Abeyta’s Canyon Storm (oil on canvas, 9 x 12 in., Estimate: $5,000-7,000, SOLD: $31,250), which set a new price per square inch record for the artist.
The auction set a number of new artist world records, including John Cowan (Dead Calm, watercolor on paper, 21 ½ x 29 ½ in., Estimate: $20,000-30,000, SOLD: $108,000), Kenneth Riley (Welcome Shade, oil on canvasboard, 30 x 26 in., Estimate: $20,000-40,000, SOLD: $540,000), and Bill Schenck (On the Trail to Santa Fe, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 in., Estimate: $20,000-40,000, SOLD: $66,000).
Melvin Warren, The Last of His Kind, 1979.
Rounding out the sale highlights are William R. Leigh’s Grizzly’s End (oil on canvas, 25 x 40 in., Estimate: $300,000-500,000, SOLD: $570,000), John Falter’s Roundup Wages (oil on canvas, 18 x 24 in., Estimate: $20,000-30,000, SOLD: $204,000), Melvin Warren’s The Last of His Kind (oil on canvas, 36 x 60 in., Estimate: $80,000-120,000, SOLD: $144,000), John Clymer’s Northern Winter (oil on canvas, 10 x 20 in., Estimate: $60,000-90,000, SOLD: $144,000), Charles Wysocki’s Where the Buffalo Roam (oil on canvas, 25 x 30 in., Estimate: $15,000-25,000, SOLD: $84,000), Frank McCarthy’s War Path (oil on masonite, 24 x 36 in., Estimate: $25,000-45,000, SOLD: $108,000), and Olaf Carl Seltzer’s Bronc on a Frosty Morn (oil on board, 11 ¼ x 18 in., Estimate: $20,000-40,000, SOLD: $84,000).
William R. Leigh, Grizzly’s End, 1948.
This is the first live auction under the helm of JHAA’s new owners—Terry Winchell, Keith Ohnmeis, and Phil Harrington—who expressed their delight with the results and spirited competition amongst bidders. Managing Director and Partner, Kevin Doyle, is enthusiastic about continuing the auction’s commitment to excellence and innovation, fostering new relationships in the art community, and expanding the offerings and reach of the auction.
JHAA is actively seeking quality consignments for our 2026 auctions.
John Cowan (1920-2008) Dead Calm, watercolor on paper, 21 1/2 x 29 1/2 in. SOLD: $108,000
Bob Kuhn (1920-2007) Spooked, 1984 acrylic on board, 14 1/2 x 18 3/8 in. SOLD: $72,000 (cover illustration for Sporting Classics July/August 2013 issue)
Aiden Lassell Ripley (1896-1969) Springers and Pheasants, 1948 oil on canvas, 27 x 40 IN. SOLD: $90,000
Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait (1819-1905) A Soft Mouth, 1891, oil on canvas, 14 x 16 in. SOLD: $21,250
A market leader in American art since 2007, Jackson Hole Art Auction’s three annual sales offer a high standard of works across several genres, including wildlife, sporting, figurative, landscape, Western, and Native American art by both classical masters and contemporary artists. Our annual September auction is recognized as one of the premier art events in the country and is a signature event of the Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival, attracting collectors from across the country and abroad. JHAA’s sales feature works from highly collected artists such as John Clymer, Howard Terpning, Bob Kuhn, Carl Rungius, Joseph Henry Sharp, W. R. Leigh, Frederic Remington, Charles Marion Russell, John Nieto, Mark Maggiori and Robert Bateman, among many others.
Gallery Hours: 130 E Broadway Monday-Friday: 9am-5pm Saturday: 11am-5pm