(Jackson Hole, Wyoming) - A mid-Westerner by birth, American painter Howard Terpning is now one of the West's most distinguished chroniclers of Native American history. Hammer prices for his works are skyrocketing. This spring's Scottsdale Art Auction saw two Terpnings sell between $1,000,000 - $2,000,000, more than double their estimates. The Los Angeles Times described Terpning's recent restrospective at the Autry National Center of the American West,"Tribute to the Plains People," as the "biggest solo show of Terpning's career — a retrospective that covers 35 years and documents his standing as the acknowledged leader of a popular...movement in which paintings become time machines into the Old West."

The Jackson Hole Art Auction, taking place Saturday, September 15th, 2012, has just been consigned Howard Terpning's expansive oil-on-canvas, "The Sound of Buffalo."

"We did just get a wonderful Howard Terpning," says auction coordinator Lucy Grogan. "People keep asking us about Terpning, his work is extremely hot right now. He’s painting less these days; "The Sound of Buffalo" is a 34 x 50 inch painting, a grand size. We estimate this work will sell between $700,000-$1,000,000.

Carl Rungius' 24 x 32" oil, “Grizzly Bear and Cubs," depicting a mother grizzly and her two cubs is likely set in the Canadian Rockies. A study for the painting will be sold with the finished work; the two pieces were originally purchased together. Both are framed in their original Newcomb-Macklin frames, a very unusual and valuable circumstance, notes Grogan. The paintings come from a private collection, commissioned by a significant Rungius collector and former Glenbow Museum director Donald Harvie.

“One memory comes to mind in the early 1950’s, when I commissioned Carl to paint a grizzly bear with her two fall cubs," wrote Harvie in his introduction to the book Carl Rungius: Artist and Sportsman. "The cubs represented my children. There was some gentle prodding before he finally got under way.”

I'd love to show you images of the five Audubons---these are rare "Quadruped Folio" lithographs, hand-colored for Audubon by Philadelphia's J.T. Bowen. The works are also from a private collection belonging to important Philadelphia collectors. Each is estimated between $20,000 to $30,000. As they depict species often associated with the West, the auction's Western market is the perfect sale venue.

More updates on the Jackson Hole Art Auction soon~~~here are a few names & works to look for:  Edward S. Curtis, "The Vanishing Race," Orotone Print; Frederic Remington, "John Ermine"; William R. Leigh, "Bucking Bronco with Cowboy,";  John Fery, "Jackson Lake and Wyoming."   The Jackson Hole Art Auction is produced by the Gerald Peters Gallery of Santa Fe and Trailside Galleries in Jackson.   www.jacksonholeartauction.com 

Follow J.H. Art Auction updates by visiting the Jackson Hole Art Blog: www.jacksonholearttours.com/ArtBlog/