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Some of the most recognizable artworks depicting the American West are going up for auction at Christie’s, where dozens of artworks from billionaire Bill Koch’s collection are expected to fetch at least $50 million.
“Vision of the West” sales will take place in person. new york In two sessions starting on January 20, the final lots will be offered – appropriately – at noon the following day. Koch’s estate includes major works by Frederic Remington, Charles Marion Russell, and Albert Bierstadt, artists whose images of cowboys, native Americans And sweeping landscapes helped define how generations came to picture the American frontier.
Tylee Abbott, head of Christie’s American art department, said interest in Western themes remains strong as new audiences discover the culture and mythology of the region.
“What’s out west? What’s over the horizon?” He thought. “It embodies the American spirit.”
Bill Koch’s brothers David and Charles Koch were major donors to conservative causes. Although he has pursued separate ventures since a business dispute with his brothers in the 1980s, Bill Koch traces his longtime love of Western art back to his childhood.
“I was born and raised in Kansas and spent my childhood summers working on my father’s farm Montana And texasthe coach said in a statement to The Associated Press. He described himself as “a child of the American plains”, inspired by the Western art present in his home and stories from the region’s past.
The auction will include 16 of Remington’s sculptures, as well as his painting “Coming to the Call,” which is expected to sell for $6 million to $8 million. christie’sIt will also feature both a smaller and larger version of Remington’s “Bronco Buster” bronze sculpture, Russell’s “The Sun Worshipers” is estimated to sell for $4 million to $6 million, The dazzling views of the mountains and plains of Bierstadt are also among the special works,
Michael Clawson, executive editor of Western Art Collector magazine, said that the aesthetics of the region amaze those who see them for the first time.
“When you come here, there’s something about the lights, the atmosphere, the colors,” said Clawson, who grew up in Phoenix. He said the Western art style has existed since the early 1800s and continues to be vibrant today, as young collectors discover the style and new artists keep it alive.
And in the current century, many Western states have grown in population and wealth, with Arizona, Utah, and Nevada each gaining more than a million residents since 2000. Over the past decade, median household income in the West has risen from $58,000 in 2014 to nearly $93,000 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.
Christie’s sales can attract collectors from across the country, and the scale of the auction potentially makes it one of the most significant Western art offerings in years. Christie’s has not said why Coach is selling, with the billionaire telling the AP only, “It is now time to discard these pieces.”
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Associated Press writer Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida contributed to this story.