Artists

Frederic Remington’s “Cutting Out Pony Herds (A Stampede)”/Photo courtesy: The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction

The proof is in the details when it comes to Norman Rockwell’s work.

The 20th-century American painter went to great lengths to capture Americana life in his paintings. His efforts can be seen up close in every brush stroke of the paint, Stremmel Gallery auction coordinator Parker Stremmel said.

In the annual Coeur d’Alene Art Auction, Rockwell is making an appearance with his “A Scout is Loyal” oil on canvas painting. A presale estimate is $4 million to $6 million dollars. Stremmel said in May at a Christie’s Norman Rockwell auction in New York, Rockwell’s “Starstruck” was estimated at $800,000 to $1.2 million and sold for $2 million.

“Rockwell’s work is incredibly detailed,” Stremmel said. “He was so painstaking that he would take countless photographs just to get that right shot so he could replicate that on paper. I think that people appreciate that. Rockwell is a known commodity, and collectors with a discerning eye know that.”

The Coeur d’Alene auction is one of the largest Western art auctions in the country. Since it came to Reno more than a decade ago, it has netted more than $225 million for clients, Stremmel said.

This year’s auction will be held at the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino, where 310 pieces of Western, sporting and wildlife art will be auctioned off one-a-minute during the course of five hours. Stremmel said the auction will feature Western art from the 1800s, the early part of the 20th century and some contemporaries, like Howard Terpning and Bill Anton.

The auction is entering its 29th run, but Reno was not always its home. It began in Las Vegas in 1984 and then moved to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, until it outgrew the area in 1999.

To read more from the Reno Gazette-Journal, click here.

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