'Good eye, goodbye!' Moran sells for $3.6 million

In 2015, $1.5 million was the highest sale for a single piece at The Russell: An Exhibition and Sale to Benefit the C.M. Russell Museum for Charlie Russell’s own “For Supremacy.”

Before bids began, Troy Black, owner of longtime Russell auctioneer Black and Associates Auctioneers, predicted the Moran would “suck the air out of the room.”Thomas Moran’s “Castle Rock, Green River, Wyoming” toppled that record Saturday night, selling for a whopping $3.6 million.

“There will be a hush over the audience,” he said. “Everybody’s going to sit up as we get closer to that $3 million mark. When we hit $3 million people are going to start clapping.”

Michael Duchemin, executive director of the C.M. Russell Museum, confirmed moments after the gavel fell that the Moran was not a phone sale, but purchased by someone in the room at the Great Falls Mansfield Convention Center.

“My heart’s out of my throat,” Duchemin said, “I’m beside myself that it sold, and that it was to someone in the room.”

Duchemin, who has only been with the museum for a few years, has high hopes for what such a sale will do for The Russell and for the museum.

“It’s a real testimony to how well this auction is doing and how much support we have for the C.M. Russell Museum,” he said. “This certainly raises the bar and brings attention to the museum, to the auction and to Great Falls. Hopefully other consignors will see that we’re capable of handling their work, and then we’ll see other fantastic paintings coming our way.”

Russell Skull Society artist Lee Kromschroeder, whose oil painting, “Over the River and through the Woods” sold $7,000 under its low estimate was philosophical on his showing.

“It was low,” he said, “but what the heck--it sold. That’s what it’s worth tonight I guess.”

Kromschroeder saw the Moran’s success as something to shoot for.

“The whole place held its breath,” he said. “I think it started at $2,500,000. For the rest of us who live in the real world that is an amazing start.”

Several notable Russell pieces sold, as well, including “Indian with Bow” and “Grizzly at Close Quarters,” both of which gaveled for $800,000.

“Indian with Bow” appeared as a family heirloom on the Arizona Collectibles television show in October 2015. The owners not only learned of the painting’s rare qualities, but also discovered that it has a much higher value than they anticipated.

A Montana rancher originally purchased the work as a Christmas present for his brother, and it passed through multiple generations of the family before going on the block at The Russell.

In addition to the record sale, this year’s Russell was a sell-out, helping the museum raise around half of the museum’s operating budget.

The Friday First Strike auction had a 100 percent sale, but although the majority of the pieces at the Russell were selling without reserve, many did not sell for enough.

Charles Fritz's "In the Land of the Kootenai," expected to sell for $40,000 to $50,000, did not meet its reserve. Jenness Cortez, whose pieces were expected to net among the highest for any living artist in the auction, saw both paintings fall short of being sold despite auctioneer Tate Heinzerling’s best efforts.

Several times throughout the night, Heinzerling cajoled bidders into buying pieces that might not otherwise have sold, using good-natured humor to get the money flowing.

“I’ve never seen this table so quiet,” he said at one point, indicating a front-row group. “Get ‘em another bottle of wine down here!”

Before “Portrait of an Indian” sold, museum board member Tom Petrie gave some advice attendees of The Russell could live by: “Make sure what you buy is appealing to your eye and to your mind.”

March in Montana realizes close to $2 million in sales

With preliminary auction sales totaling $7.1 million before buyer’s premiums, according to Duchemin, it’s evident that this year’s Russell appealed to both.

Reach Tribune Staff Writer Traci Rosenbaum at 791-1490. Follow her on Twitter @GFTrib_TRosenba. Reach Tribune Staff Writer David Murray at 791-6547. Follow him on Twitter @GFTrib_DMurray.