Congratulations to the Fourth Annual Jackson Hole Art Auction, hosted by Trailside Galleries and Gerald Peters Gallery, held on September 18^th at the Center for the Arts in Jackson, Wyoming! This year's auction attracted the most sophisticated collectors and venerated dealers in the field. Despite continuing concern with the current economic climate, the auction was a resounding success, with 85% of the 248 featured lots sold during an afternoon of extremely active bidding. Auctioneer Troy Black got the bidding under way at 12:30 pm, setting the pace at approximately one lot per minute. With over 230 phones bids, 75 absentee bids and more than 200 registered bidders in the audience, the atmosphere in the auditorium was palpable. As the hammer fell on the final lot, sales for the 4 ½ hour session totalled more than $6,500,000, sending a clear message that collectors are actively purchasing and are very enthusiastic about the western representational art market.

The live audience broke into loud applause when Mian Situ’s 53 x 72 oil painting. “A New Beginning, San Francisco, 1910,” estimated at $275,000 to $375,000, sold for $402,500. Other highlights included the auction catalogue cover piece, “Nasty Actor” by William R. Leigh, a 28 x 22 oil painting which fetched $414,000. The auction featured several exceptional works by the late Bob Kuhn including a 20 x 40 acrylic painting titled “Aquacade” which brought in $258,750 and a 20 1/8 x 48 acrylic painting titled “After the Short Rains” which fetched $212,750. Active bidding on an Eanger Irving Couse painting titled “The Pottery Decorator” reached a hammer price of $253,000.

As in the past years, The Jackson Hole Art Auction is donating a portion of the proceeds to benefit the Center for the Arts. The 2011 auction is scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 17.

Please Join us for an our Annual Fall Gold Show on September 18, 3pm-6pm

Trailside Galleries is thrilled to host our Fall Gold Show during Jackson Hole's Fall Arts Festival, featuring major new works by Kyle Sims, Bonnie Marris and Ralph Oberg, among many other fabulous artists! Please join us September 18, 3pm-6 pm for a festive and exciting evening!

1. Tucker Smith, Shiras Bull, 20x24, Oil, $40,000.

2. Greg McHuron, Fall Coronet, 20x30, Oil, $6,000.

3. Ralph Oberg, Royalty's Realm, 26x36, $14,500.

4. Bonnie Marris, The Big Guy Takes Over, 24x48, Oil, $18,000.

5. Kyle Sims, The Get Away, 60x40, Oil, $19,500, Sold by Draw.

Trailside Cover Artists

It's always exciting for a gallery when they get the news that one of their artists is going to be featured on the cover of a major fine art print publication. So, I'm sure you can imagine how thrilling it was for Trailside to pick up the June issue of Western Art Collector magazine only to see the spectacular talent of our very own, Morgan Weistling! Known for his soft-realist approach toward the figure, Morgan Wesitling's paintings are highly detailed, remarkably accurate and extremely collectible.

By the same token, Western artist, Z.S. Liang who Trailside is also very lucky and proud to represent, has also been on the cover of two different magazines within the last 7 months. This past October his painting, "Charging the Enemy" was printed on the cover of Western Art Collector magazine (shown above) and most recently, his painting "Buffalo Scouts" was featured on the 2009 May/June issue of Art of the West. We are extremly proud of our artists for their hard work and dedication and also very thankful for the publications that celebrate the importance of fine art!

Welcome Summer!

The snow has finally melted in Jackson Hole and we couldn't be more ready to celebrate summer! As many of you know, summertime is very important to us in the Jackson gallery as it kicks off our busy season. The month of June brings fine new paintings to the gallery with our Salute to Summer Show, highlighting new work by all gallery artists throughout the entire month. It will happen in conjunction with three very important showcases by the individual artists of Robert Moore, Lanny Grant and Robert Duncan. Each of these three artists differ entirely with their styles making the showcases a beautiful juxtaposition of fine art.

Robert Moore, Snake River Valley, ID native is known for his vivid impressionistic landscape paintings, often capturing majestic aspen groves in rich, seasonal detail. Plein-air painter, Lanny Grant is known for his sweeping landscape paintings of the Rocky Mountain West, a region he also calls home. And finally, Utah native, Robert Duncan brings a very different dynamic to the mix with his figural paintings of rural American life. Additional information on each artist can be found on our website at http://www.trailsidegalleries.com/, along with their available works. Each showcase will be on display in our Jackson gallery Monday through Saturday from 10 to 6pm and Sundays from 10 to 4pm. Please join us!!

Jackson Gallery Celebrates One Year in New Building

It's hard to believe that an entire year has come and gone, but sure enough 2009 is here and we are celebrating the one year anniversary of moving into our new location! After spending almost 30 years on the Town Square, Trailside simply started to experience growing pains. With the increasing number of artists whose work we've added to our roster, the dire need for more wall space and storage, not to mention our partnership with the Jackson Hole Art Auction solidified the notion that it was time to find a new place to call home.

Our Director and Owners searched high and low for the perfect space, as it would need to be larger than 6,000 square feet, provide ample wall and storage space, exude a warm and inviting energy and of course- location, location, location was key! After searching high and low, the powers that be were sold on a three story building (once home to a furniture store) located just one block off the Town Square. There was a lot of work to be done in order to create the ideal space for our gallery, but the potential was there. In an effort not to waste a single minute, the construction began. Walls were gutted, a massive two-story entrance was created, staircases were built and colors were picked. After months of non-stop construction, countless hours of electrical re-wiring and days and days of packing, Trailside had officially made the move to our new building and looking back on it today, we couldn't be happier!

If you haven't yet had the chance to visit our new space, please do. There is a warm, very inviting feel about this art, not to mention some of the finest art in the world. Art is meant to be shared and Trailside hopes to do so with the Jackson community, as well as all those who appreciate fine art. We are open seven days a week, Monday through Saturday from 10 to 5:30 and Sundays from 10 am to 4 pm. We will, however be closed on Sundays in April.

Trailside Named "Best Western Art Gallery"

It is with great pleasure I announce that Trailside has been voted Jackson Hole's, "Best Western Art Gallery" in the 2009 "Best of Jackson Hole" edition of the Planet (a well established valley newspaper publication). The competition was brought back by popular demand to celebrate the one of a kind individuals and businesses that make up this special community. It must be said, with such a thriving art market and well over 30 galleries in town, we were humbled by this special honor and would like to especially thank all those who, out of 600 ballots, voted in our favor.

The competition took place over a number of weeks, as valley residents were urged to cast their ballots to provide for fair competitive comraderie. Once the votes were counted, winners were notified and invited to celebrate with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres at local bar & restaurant, 43 North. What a celebration it was! Gold, silver and bronze medal finalists were present, along with numerous members of the Jackson community to celebrate the successful businesses, community leaders and thriving characters that make Jackson so special! (Logo courtesy of Planet JH)

Trailside Joins the Blogging Community

Welcome all, to the brand new Trailside Galleries blog! We're in the preliminary stages right now, but we hope to have a fluid site up and running soon. This blog is intended to keep you up to date with all things happening at Trailside--from updates about our artists, shows or events happening in our galleries to fun things happening around town--we hope you'll continue to check back with us on a regular basis. There is so much going on right now in the world of fine art, as well as in our two home town gallery locations of Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Scottsdale, Arizona that we look forward to sharing and discussing with you all. So please, if you have any comment, questions or concerns you would like to share, don't hesitate to do so. We look forward to any positive feedback you may have!