This Western Art Collection Just Set Several Auction Records

For some eminently wealthy individuals, amassing a first-class art collection is an ideal way to spend their money. And while some high-profile art collectors end up donating their collections to museums or other cultural institutions, others take a different approach, reselling their art after a certain amount of time. Which brings us to this week, when billionaire David I. Koch’s collection of Western art hit the auction block at Christie’s, setting a number of records in the process.

The auction, known as Visions of the West: The William I. Koch Collection, was held on January 20 and 21. And if you’re looking for a precise definition of Western art, it can be instructive to check in with The James Museum, located in St. Petersburg, FL, which specializes in this style. The museum’s website contends that “Western art is defined by subject rather than style, and includes a wide range of artistic approaches and media — from pottery and painting to sculpture, weaving and jewelry.”

And it turns out there is a sizable market for it. Over the two days of sales for Visions of the West, the auction house took in a sum in the high eight figures: $84,122,305, to be precise. This set a new record for an auction of Western art coming from a single owner.

The three highest sums all came from works by the same artist: Frederic Remington, who the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Thayer Tolles called “a chronicler par excellence of the old American West.” His Coming Through the Rye sold for $9,950,000. Then, a new record for a work by Remington was set twice over — first, with the painting An Argument with the Town Marshall, which sold for $11,847,500, and then again for another painting, Coming to the Call, which sold for $13,285,000.

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“Mr. Koch brought together masterpieces that define the category, and the market response was beyond enthusiastic,” said Tylee Abbott, who heads the American Art Department at Christie’s. “What we saw these past two days is Western Art commanding the art world, centerstage. This is the sale of the century and the highlight of my career.” As Daniel Cassady suggests at ARTnews, this auction also signals heightened interest in Western art from deep-pocketed buyers.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…