Official Guide to Art Week Great Falls, Montana March 15th-19th, 2023
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36 • portfolio March in Montana Own a Piece of Wild West History march in montana I By Holly Matkin f you are looking for a fast-paced, high-energy auction during Western Art Week, you can't miss the 33rd annual March in Montana Auction and Dealer Show at the Elks Lodge #214. The collection is comprised of over 700 lots of the finest contemporary and historic pieces, including hundreds of paintings, over 100 bronzes, 65 Navajo weavings, and more than a dozen antique weapons. In addition to historical masters, works by some of today's most sought-after contemporary Western genre artists will also be available. "We will have works by literally hundreds of artists," event organizer Ron Nicklas says of the three-day show and two-day auction, which is presented by the Coeur d'Alene Galleries and The Coeur d'Alene Art Auction. "Many of the collectors have been coming since the mid-nineties. It's a great gathering place for all the lovers of Western art." Visitors will find an array of Western memorabilia, sculptures, sporting and wildlife art, and collectibles at this year's event, to include a historic, handcrafted beaded saddle and a child's dress created by the Great Crow Tribe. A highlight for the 2020 sale is a 1930's-era pictograph by Blackfeet warrior "Apis-Poch-Kinnaiee," who is also widely known as Arrow Top Knot. "One of the areas we specialize in is Glacier National Park collectibles, and this is a great piece," Niklas says. The pictograph, which is signed with Arrow Top Knot's "glyph," was one of dozens of such paintings Great Northern Railroad President Louis Warren Hill Sr. commissioned to put on display in Glacier National Park hotels in the early 1900s. The canvas panels – most of which were up to 30 feet long – have been referred to as the most elaborate Indian Mural project ever created. In the 1950s, the hotels opted for a cowboy theme and the large canvas panels were removed. Although some were saved and went into the Louis Hill collection on Native American Art, most were lost. Only a rare few exist today in the museum collections of the Montana Historical Society, The Glenbow Museum, and the Royal British Columbian Museum. Arrow Top Knot's piece, which has been conserved and framed to museum standards, was saved by Fighting Bear Antiques in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Terry and Claudia Winchell are donating a generous percentage Phillip, Goodwin, The Race, 30 x 20 Oil