Extensive Terrain

Native American art and jewelry from the 1930s to today are showcased in Bonham’s spring sale

Bonhams April 14 Modern Native American Art and Jewelry auction will feature roughly 200 fresh-to-market works by artists Helen Hardin, Fred Kabotie, Jaune Quick-To-See-Smith, Rick Bartow, Dan Namingha, Preston Singletary, John Nieto, Joe David, Sheldon Harvey, Tony Abeyta, Pauta Saila, Susan Point and Kenojuak Ashevak, to name just a few.

Iljuwas Bill Reid, O.B.C., R.C.A. (Haida, 1920-1998), Four-piece “Bear Cub” gold jewelry suite, 1990. Estimate: $40/60,000

Among the prints and multiples on offer is a T.C. Cannon “Memorial Woodblock Suite,” and works by Fritz Scholder, Edgar Heap of Birds and numerous Canadian Inuit artists.

In the jewelry category, a strong selection of works by Northwest Coast artists, including Iljuwas Bill Reid, Robert Davidson, Larry Rosso, Marcel Russ and Preston Singletary, will be complemented with stunning pieces by Charles Loloma, Jesse Monongya, Harvey Begay, Larry Vasquez and others.

Jaune Quick-To-See Smith (Salish/French-Cree/Shoshone, 1940-2025), Ghost Dance #, 1981, oil pastel and graphite on Arches paper, 29¼ x 41½ in. Estimate: $15/25,000

Several single-owner collections comprise a significant portions of the sale, including the first installment from the John and Joyce Price Collection of Mercer Island Washington. “The Prices were passionate patrons of Pacific Northwest and Arctic art, building close friendships with numerous artists over many years and playing a key role in the Northwest Coast art glass scene,” says Ingmars Lindbergs, director of Bonhams Native American Art in Los Angeles. The scope and scale of the collection is such that it will be offered in sections over the next year and a half.”

Hock E Aye Vi (Edgar Heap of Birds) (Cheyenne/Arapaho), Public Enemy Care for Youth (The Brutality Which Is America), 1991, triptych, screenprint on paper; each 40 x 33 ½ in. Estimate: $5/8,000

Among the two-dimensional highlights is Jaune Quick-To-See Smith’s Ghost Dance #7 (est. $15/25,000), which she created shortly after receiving her MFA from the University of New Mexico in 1980. “Smith’s Ghost Dance #7 anticipates the vivid forms and colors of her later works on paper while referencing her earlier studies in complementary tones,” says Lindbergs. In the jewelry department he points to famed Haida artist Bill Reid’s four-piece Bear Cub suite (est. $40/60,000) from 1990. “[Reid’s] jewelry is highly sought after and rarely comes to market. [This] suite in gold showcases his mastery of small-scale sculpture and deft interpretation of traditional Northwest Coast motifs.”

A personal—and timely—highlight for Lindbergs is by Cheyenne artist Edgar Heap of Birds’ (Hock E Aye Vi). “The powerful statement of Birds’ (Hock E Aye Vi) triptych Public Enemy Care for Youth (The Brutality Which Is America from 1991 is eerily prescient of the current events embroiling the United States on the nation’s Semiquincentennial year.”