New York –Christie’s American Art department is thrilled to present its annual sale of 19th Century American & Western Art, taking place live at Rockefeller Center, 18 January 2024 as part of Americana Week. This year’s selection of paintings, works on paper, and sculpture featuring objects from various owners, is led by two outstanding collections, underscoring the auction’s strengths in 19th Century and Western Art. The Morton and Norma Lee Funger Collection, dedicated philanthropists, and astute collectors of American paintings – includes Martin Johnson Heade’s 1871 masterwork Cattleya Orchid with Two Brazilian Hummingbirds and Thomas Cole’s 1828-29 View Near Catskill as well as important works by William Michael Harnett and Eastman Johnson. Western Masterworks: Property from a Distinguished Private Collection – featuring works that have been in the same collection for decades – headlines an especially strong selection of Western art in this sale and is highlighted by Thomas Moran’s Afterglow, Green River, Wyoming alongside important works by Bierstadt, Eanger Irving Couse, James Earl Fraser and Ernest Martin Hennings. Other sale highlights include Worthington Whittredge’s A Wagon Train on the Plains, Platte River, Colorado, and works by William Bradford, Louis Remy Mignot, John Frederick Peto, Frank Tenney Johnson and Charles Marion Russell.

THOMAS MORAN (1837-1926)
Afterglow, Green River, Wyoming
oil on canvas
Painted 1918
Estimate: $1,200,000-1,800,000
19TH CENTURY AMERICAN ART: Property from The Morton and Norma Lee Funger Collection

EASTMAN JOHNSON (1824-1906)
Cardplay at the Camp
Oil on canvas
Painted circa 1861-65.
Estimate: $400,000-600,000
WESTERN ART: Western Masterworks: Property from a Distinguished Private Collection

ERNEST MARTIN HENNINGS (1886-1956)
Along the Greasewood Trail
oil on canvas
30 x 30 in. (76.2 x 76.2 cm.)
Painted 1918
Estimate: $600,000-800,000
WESTERN ART: Various owners

A Wagon Train on the Plains, Platte River, Colorado
oil on canvas
30 x 30 in. (76.2 x 76.2 cm.)
Painted 1918
Estimate: $300,000-500,000