Leslie Hindman Auctioneers is pleased to announce the sale of Property from the John W. Grund Collection of Western Art to be offered November 13 at our Denver gallery. The auction will feature 87 lots of early 20th century and contemporary Western paintings and works on paper, Audubon prints, photographs and bronzes. Highlights of the sale are important works by Gerard Curtis Delano, Eangar Irving Couse and Charles Partridge Adams. In addition to paintings by these respected Western artists, are works by more Contemporary artists appealing to seasoned and young collector alike.

John Grund was a fourth generation Denver native whose love for the Colorado Mountains began at an early age. He grew up surrounded by family, who were early members of the Colorado Mountain Club. Mr. Grund attended Pomona College, earned his master’s degree in English from the University of Washington, and graduated from the University of Colorado Law School. He was a civil defense attorney in Denver for more than thirty years, most recently at Grund Dagner, P.C., which he founded in 2003. John W. Grund passed away in December, 2012 and a scholarship in his name was established at
CU Law School.

As a young lawyer, Mr. Grund collected art that reflected his love of nature and depicted the majesty of the Colorado Mountains. He greatly admired the work of Charles Partridge Adams, a Colorado landscape artist, who painted many of the mountain ranges Mr. Grund had climbed during his youth. He became passionate about collecting works by Gerard Curtis Delano. Delano moved to Colorado in 1933, where he earned a reputation as a magazine illustrator. He later concentrated on painting and became known as “The Painter of the Navajo”. Mr. Grund was influenced by Denver collector and author Richard G. Bowman and fell in love with the rich palette Delano used and the respect of the Navajos reflected in many of his paintings. For sale from the collection is Gerard Curtis Delano, Wood Smoke (estimate: $80,000/120,000), which is illustrated in Richard G. Bowman’s book, Walking With Beauty; The Art and Life of Gerard Curtis Delano, and reportedly the last work ever painted by the artist.

Also featured in the John W. Grund Collection are works by Eanger Irving Couse, Charles Partridge Adams, Charles Fritz, William Moyers, William Cather Hook, Edward S. Curtis, John James Audubon, Merrill Mahaffey, James Disney, Ramon Kelley, Thomas Moran, William Henry Jackson and more. In addition is a selection of works by contemporary Western and Colorado artists such as Bruce Gomez, Jay More, Shaun Horne, Kevin Macpherson, Mitch Caster, Bruce Paton and Tim Diebler. This sale will interest traditional Western art collectors and young collectors interested in the Western art genre.

The exhibition for this sale will be open to the public beginning Thursday, November 7, 2013 at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, 960 Cherokee Street, Denver, Colorado. For further information regarding the exhibition dates and time or to order a catalogue, please contact our Denver office at 303.825.1855.

For over three decades, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers has been an industry leader combining recognition as one of the nation’s preeminent fine art auctioneers with a global reach of buyers. Founded in Chicago in 1982, sold to Sotheby’s in 1997 and reopened in 2003, Leslie Hindman has remained a constant force behind a company that benefits from an impeccable reputation and a team of professionals who have the ability to effectively market and conduct high profile auctions. From contemporary paintings and fine jewelry to continental furniture and rare books, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers continues a practice of achieving the highest prices while maintaining a high standard of integrity and quality customer service.