Bonhams’ Modern Native American Art & Jewelry live auction on August 26 will feature approximately 350 lots made by Indigenous North American artists in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Artists represented in the sale include Fritz Scholder, Rick Bartow, Dan Namingha, Preston Singletary, John Nieto, Kevin Red Star, Tony Abeyta and Marcus Amerman, to name just a few. Also on offer is contemporary pottery by artists Christine McHorse, Tony Da, Russell Sanchez, Dextra Quotskuyva, Diego Romero, Jacquie Stevens and Virgil Ortiz, as well as prints and multiples by T.C. Cannon and numerous Canadian Inuit artists. In the jewelry category are works by Richard Chavez, Jesse Monongya, Sonwai (Verma Nequatewa), Larry Vasquez, Charles Loloma and others.
Fritz Scholder (1937-2005), Untitled, ca. 1961, oil on canvas, approx. 37 x 48¼ in. Estimate: $30/50,000
Among the highlights is Monongya’s 20-strand coral, multi-stone and 18k gold necklace with reversable bear pendant (est. $50/80,000). “The bear was a symbol of the strength and protective power of [Monongya’s] Navajo culture,” explains Ingmārs I. Lindbergs, Bonhams’ director of Native American Art. “This particular example was crafted during the apex of his creative journey, his bears having progressed from the early rounded idealized forms of the 1970s to the complex grizzly, complete with sharp claws…It is a tour de force of Jesse’s lapidary skills, accentuated with motifs key to his life journey.”
Jesse Monongya, 20-strand coral, multi- stone and 18k gold necklace with reversable bear pendant, 18-20 in. Estimate: $50/80,000
Lindbergs relates that Scholder’s untitled oil from 1961 has been in the same private collection since it was acquired directly from the artist by the consignor’s father, who studied with Scholder under Wayne Thiebaud at Sacramento State College. “In describing how the work was purchased from Scholder as he was preparing to leave California, the consignor’s father recounted: ‘All he owned was a big old black Packard, and that was how he, his wife and little boy moved to [New Mexico]…Obviously, he had to sell everything quickly. I had just sold one of my paintings for $75 and he had just finished this one in his garage. That was the deal.’” Today it’s expected to fetch at least $30,000. —
August 26, 2026
Modern Native American Art & Jewelry
Bonhams
7601 W. Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 850-7500, www.bonhams.com
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