Winston Publishing

P.6 ~ PORTFOLIO TEXT BY AMY JOYNER N o matter if it happens during an afternoon or evening, or held at a hotel or convention center, the excitement of a live auction in Great Falls during West- ern Art Week is an experience that any art lover will be sold on. SOLD! The hysteria and hypnotizing lingo of art auctions became unmistakable decades ago when a local non-profit- organization worked with the C.M. Russell Museum to present a highly profitable spring fundraiser. The black- tie-and-cowboy-hat events happened at the same hotel each year, with many of the same volunteers coordi- nating the most minute details that led to the city's hotels booked each year to near-full occupancy. Changes occurred in the last decade resulting in the museum taking over the organizing of its week-long fundraiser, in a way that could ensure the event remain strong as ever for the museum and the local economy. More than a dozen other artist associations work with the museum to participate in Western Art Week at the same time as The Russell: An Exhibition and Sale to Benefit the C.M. Russell Museum. The Russell Museum's Senior Art Coordinator Duane Braaten said, "It better enables us to brand it as a benefit for the museum." Be- cause he had been involved with the particulars of running an auction for the past twenty years, Braaten was right at home with the in-house event coordination that began in 2011. He has been heavily involved the last six years, and says he "has worn many dif- ferent hats." As a museum leader in 2016, he saw The Rus- sell host three auction events that took in a gross total of $8.7 million. The three events were the Saturday Quick Draw Auction at the Meadow Lark Country Club, as well as the Friday First Strike auction and Saturday's The Russell Live auction. All three involve quick move- ment on stage and an auctioneer with such a rapid-fire speaking talent that a good portion of the audience is not ashamed to admit they don't under- stand. People simply love hearing about the $8.7 million raised for the museum as much as the news that the 2016 auction boasts the largest sale recorded – a $3.6 million 20x30 oil on canvas painted by Thomas Moran in 1907. Braaten remembers his reac- tion when The Russell Live auction hammer fell, selling "Castle Rock, Green River, Wyoming" for such an unexpected price. "It was sheer joy and relief. That is so wonderful because it proves we can find buyers of art at those prices… and, others are sure to follow," he says. "We set the bar pretty high in 2016. And, this year we do have some other gems." For 2017, they will auction "Following the Buffalo Run," an original Russell oil with an auction catalog estimate of $1.25 to $1.75 million. Braaten adds, "Though these high- priced treasures are usually consigned for sale by private collectors, galleries or other museums, the Museum does retain a modest commission on some of these pieces. Plus a buyer's premium is added to the purchase price." He adds, "The commission on pieces and the buyer's premium are a fraction of the hammer price (what an item sells for) is what we are able to keep. We do depend heavily on all those things. It's very important for us to have people who know the museum does get to keep that entire hammer total." For other auctions, the revenue HAMMER PRICE Auction Scheduling Tools to Use > t h e r u s s e l l : t h e s a l e t o b e n e f i t t h e c m r u s s e l l m u s e u m

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