The Seventh Annual Jackson Hole Art Auction is taking shape and scheduled to commence on Saturday, September 14th, 2013 at Jackson’s Center for the Arts! The auction is produced in partnership by Trailside Galleries of Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Scottsdale, AZ and the Gerald Peters Gallery of Santa Fe, NM. This year also marks Trailside Galleries’ 50th Anniversary!
You know how quickly this event has become a premier “destination” Western Art auction. Though independently produced, the highly anticipated auction takes place during the final weekend of Jackson’s annual Fall Arts Festival. Fall Arts, long Jackson’s most successful, continuing event, is now regarded as a model by other entities wishing to extend Jackson’s tourism season. Western art, sometimes overlooked as a significant factor of Jackson’s economic pulse, still rules. Western art tells America’s stories and history, and in the Greater Yellowstone Region that is particularly significant. It’s our artistic bedrock.
Works already consigned set my blood tingling! This year’s auction highlights include significant works by Maynard Dixon, E. Martin Hennings, Wilhelm Kuhnert, Bob Kuhn, Frank McCarthy, Kenneth Riley, Richard Schmid, and Edgar Payne. The auction is defined by the high standard of works offered by both contemporary western artists and deceased masters: William Acheff, Clyde Aspevig, Ken Carlson, Martin Grelle, G. Harvey, Z.S. Liang, Bill Owen, Mian Situ, Howard Terpning, and Morgan Weistling— works by the Taos Society of Artists, the Santa Fe Art Colony, and historic artists of the American West, including Albert Bierstadt, Oscar Berninghaus, Ernest Blumenschein, E. I. Couse, Nicolai Fechin, Frank Tenney Johnson, W. R. Leigh, Frederic Remington, Charles M. Russell, and others.
Quality consignments are now being accepted for this year’s auction. For information, phone the auction offices at 866-549-9278, visit www.jacksonholeartauction.com, or stop by the auction office, located upstairs at Trailside Galleries, 130 East Broadway, in Jackson. Email: [email protected]
•
We learned the sad news this week of the passing of plein air painter Louisa McElwain. Louisa lived on an historic New Mexico farm, taught painting, and she was adored as both a person and an artist. We send our deepest sympathies to her family and loved ones—and especially to our neighbors at Altamira Fine Art, Louisa’s Jackson gallery home. Her work was sublime, her presence exhilirating, her smile infectious and her contributions to the world of art exquisite. She loved the land, the clouds, the air. You could never mistake a McElwain for anything but a McElwain. We always looked forward to what Louisa would do next.
Thank you, Louisa. Our hearts are heavy; you are sorely missed. May your spirit soar high into the skies you knew and painted so passionately.
•
A post script to our previous post about the University of Wyoming’s Museum of Art. Another of Jackson’s arts community expressed positive surprise at learning about UW’s focus on contemporary art.
“After touring the gallery with Susan, I was surprised (and thrilled) to see what they have already acquired and what they are looking to acquire,” says that colleague. “We are often in an art bubble here in Jackson, unaware of what is happening in the rest of the state, let alone the country. To discover that contemporary art and important post war & contemporary art is being collected at UW is a promising direction for our state, and counteracts the impression that Wyoming’s only artistic interests are themes reflecting cowboys and wildlife.”
All arts in Jackson Hole are deeply connected; all play a role in our strong arts community and I expect that trend to continue. If the flood gates haven’t burst apart, the flow is adjusting. A rising tide lifts all boats!
Tammy Christel 
