Wild Wild West · the Knobloch Collection at Christie’s

Preview of the highlights of the Knobloch collection of Western American Art, which Christie’s will auction on May 17^th in New York.

By G. Fernández – theartwolf.com – Image: Thomas Moran, “The Castle Rock, Green River, Wyoming (Indian Summer. Green River. Wyoming)”, 1913. Oil on canvas, 63.5 x 76.2 cm. – Albert Bierstadt, “Splendor”. Oil on canvas, 76.2 x 111.8 cm.

In the midst of two weeks of art market madness, beginning with the (predictably) historic auction of one of Warhol’s Marilyns that could become the most expensive modern painting ever auctioned, and continuing with multimillion-dollar sales of artists ranging from Michelangelo to Jean-Michel Basquiat, the sale of the Knobloch collection of Western American Art is likely to go completely unnoticed. And while the collection does not include any “superstars” whose price tag can even remotely approach that of the aforementioned works, it is an interesting collection, a testament to what a collector with passion and determination can achieve. Carl W. Knobloch Jr. (1930-2016) was, as the auction house explains, “not only an accomplished businessman, but also devoted to environmental conservation throughout his lifetime. Proceeds from this auction will benefit The Knobloch Family Foundation, which is committed to grantmaking that ensures the conservation of natural ecosystems.”

The big name of the auction will be Thomas Moran, the man who at his death in 1926 was described as “the Dean of American landscape painters“. His “The Castle Rock, Green River, Wyoming (Indian Summer. Green River. Wyoming)” is the painting that, quite justifiably, has the highest pre-sale estimate of the auction, between $2.5 and $3.5 million, a rather conservative estimate considering that the work sold 11 years ago in Scottsdale, Arizona, for $4.15 million. In the painting’s catalogue, Christie’s makes an appropriate and suggestive comparison with the atmospheric paintings of J.M.W. Turner, including an image of “Glaucus and Scylla“, a painting that Christie’s (re)sold to the Kimbell Art Museum in 2007 (the details of this sale meriting its own article).

Another painting by Moran, “A Passing Shower in the Yellowstone Canyon”, has the second highest pre-sale estimate of the auction (between $1.5 and $2.5 million). As with the previous work, Christie’s does not seem to have much hope that this painting -which Christie’s already auctioned 14 years ago for $2.5 million- has increased in value.

Albert Bierstadt, “Splendor”. Oil on canvas, 76.2 x 111.8 cm.

But even more than Thomas Moran, the great painter of the American West was Albert Bierstadt. Although the auction does not include any of his masterpieces, it will offer two very interesting paintings, including “Splendor“, a beautiful view of the Grand Tetons whose quality and size make it worthy of exceeding its pre-sale estimate (between $120,000 and $180,000), although the oversupply of Bierstadts on the market works against it. Curiously, this same painting was offered for sale seven years ago at the Coeur d’Alene Art Auction (the annual auction of Western American Art) with a much more optimistic estimate (between $600,000 and $800,000), without finding a buyer.

One of the most undervalued artists of the American West is Herman Herzog, whose “Waterfall in Telemarken Norway” (which in this case is not a view of the American West) comes to auction with a pre-sale estimate of between $30,000 and $50,000. Art market veterans will remember how a magnificent “Buffalo Hunt” attributed to Bierstadt was withdrawn from auction more than 20 years ago on suspicion of being a work by Herzog. A very beautiful “Blackfeet Warriors (Piegans)” by Olaf Carl Seltzer comes up for auction with a valuation of between $70,000 and $100,000.