On July 26, four incredible and rare Oscar Howe (1915-1983) paintings will cross the auction block at the Coeur d’Alene Art Auction in Reno, Nevada. The Yanktonai Dakota painter was an influential and important figure in the world of American modernism, and today his paintings are finding new collectors and fetching high prices.
Oscar Howe (Yanktonai Dakota, 1915-1983), Man, Horse, Buffalo, casein on paper, 23 x 19" Estimate: $150/250,000
The four works in the Nevada sale are Sioux Origin, Dawn Rider and Man, Horse, Buffalo (each estimated at $150,000 to $250,000); as well as Dancer, estimated at $100,000 to $150,000. Dawn Rider, a striking circular image with a flailing horse and rider, was exhibited at the Gilcrease Museum’s Oscar Howe: A Retrospective Exhibition in 1982. All four of the works show Howe’s brilliant abstraction of figures, the land and horse subjects.
Oscar Howe (Yanktonai Dakota, 1915-1983), Dawn Rider, casein on paper, 21½ x 17½" Estimate: $150/250,000
“We are honored to be entrusted with the sale of four groundbreaking paintings by such an influential artist,” says Coeur d’Alene Art Auction partner Mike Overby. “The paintings come from a single-owner estate—the James and Deborah Reynolds Family Collection. The works carry value, history, passion and significance. Every piece tells a story, and it is a privilege to help pass on that legacy.”
Oscar Howe (Yanktonai Dakota, 1915-1983), Sioux Origin, casein on paper, 23½ x 16" Estimate: $150/250,000
Oscar Howe (Yanktonai Dakota, 1915-1983), Dancer, casein on paper, 27 x 15½" Estimate: $100/150,000
Howe was not only an artist, but also a teacher and a passionate advocate for the arts who challenged what Native American art could be at a time when Indigenous artists were encouraged to stay within established styles. In 1958, he famously wrote the curator at the Philbrook Art Center after his work was rejected. He was told, “Fine painting—but not Indian.” Howe’s letter was a rebuke of all that phrase represented to him and other Native American artists.
Oscar Howe in 1958 at South Dakota State University. Photograph courtesy National Museum of the American Indian / Oscar Howe Family.
“Who ever said, that my paintings are not in the traditional Indian style, has poor knowledge of Indian art indeed. There is much more to Indian art than pretty, stylized pictures. There was also power and strength and individualism (emotional and intellectual insight) in the old Indian paintings. Every bit in my paintings is a true studied fact of Indian paintings,” Howe wrote. “Are we to be held back forever with one phase of Indian painting, that is the most common way? We are to be herded like a bunch of sheep, with no right for individualism, dictated as the Indian has always been, put on reservations and treated like a child, and only the White Man knows what is best for him. Now, even in art, ‘You little child do what we think is best for you, nothing different.’ Well, I’m not going to stand for it. Indian art can compete with any art in the world, but not as suppressed art.”
The letter became a rallying cry for Native American artists, and is still held up today when artists are not given freedom to create as they wish. —
July 26, 2025
Coeur d’Alene Art Auction
Grand Sierra Resort & Casino 2500 E. Second Street, Reno, NV 89595
(208) 772-9009, www.cdaartauction.com
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