DALLAS, TX.- A record-setting painting by David Bates and a Texas shopper’s extraordinary Goodwill discovery supplied two memorable results as Heritage Auctions’ Nov. 5 Texas & Western Art and Nov. 6 Ethnographic Art auctions brought a combined $2.58 million.
Bates’s Sunflowers (2003) led the Texas & Western Art Signature Auction at $325,000, establishing a new auction record for a painting by the artist and surpassing the previous benchmark Heritage set in 2020. The auction realized $1.93 million across 244 lots, drawing 842 international bidders and achieving a 96% sell-through rate.
Sunflowers turns a familiar still-life subject into a commanding presence. Bold outlines, muscular brushwork and strongly constructed forms give the flowers an almost sculptural weight, bringing together Bates’s affinity for nature and his deeply personal approach to painting.
“Bates’s Sunflowers encompasses everything collectors love about his work: extraordinary color, a powerful sense of form and the ability to make a familiar subject feel entirely his own,” says Alissa Ford, Heritage’s Vice President of Western Art. “Setting a new record for his paintings, alongside artist records for Billy Hassell and Lee N. Smith III, made this an especially rewarding sale for Texas and Western art.”
Smith’s Red Sea, Dead Sea (1989) established an artist auction record at $35,000. The painting reflects Smith’s distinctive approach to narrative, in which memory, vivid color and unusual perspective transform familiar imagery into something dreamlike and enigmatic.
Hassell’s Night Fishing on the Wind River (2003) also set an artist auction record, realizing $27,500.
Another highlight began with a purchase costing less than $6.
A Dallas resident and longtime Goodwill enthusiast discovered Gustave Baumann’s Bright Angel Trail (1930) during a routine stop at Goodwill. She paid $5.99 for the color woodcut, which went on to sell at Heritage for $17,500, including buyer’s premium.
“What began as an ordinary shopping trip turned into one of the most exciting and unforgettable experiences of my life,” she says.
Signed and numbered by Baumann, the print carries his distinctive hand-in-heart ink stamp. For the consignor, discovering what she had found was part of the pleasure.
“The excitement of researching the artwork, uncovering pieces of its history, learning about the artist and watching it go through the auction process has been absolutely fascinating,” she says.
She credits the Heritage team with helping her navigate the experience and hopes her story encourages others to look closely at unexpected finds.
Other leading Texas & Western Art results included Maynard Dixon’s Roundup (1927), which brought $137,500. Two watercolors by John P. Cowan realized $81,250 and $75,000.
The following day’s Ethnographic Art: American Indian, Pre-Columbian and Tribal Signature Auction added $648,331 across 357 lots, attracting 572 international bidders.
Leading that sale at $20,000 was an important Gran Cocl transformation pendant from Panama, circa 700–1000 CE. Fashioned in high-gold alloy, the intricate openwork pendant depicts a human figure assuming saurian features, expressing the supernatural power and ritual authority central to Gran Cocl transformation imagery.
A Santa Clara carved polychrome pottery sculpture by Tammy Garcia, circa 2003, realized $16,250. A Veraguas gold bat pendant from Panama, circa 700–1000 CE, brought $13,750, its outstretched wings, openwork scrolls and prominent fangs demonstrating the sculptural invention of the region’s goldworkers.
A circa-1900 Yokuts polychrome coiled basket by celebrated basketmaker Mrs. Dick Francisco sold for $11,875. Its finely woven design features two registers of bats separated by a narrow zigzag band, reflecting the individual artistry that distinguished the sale’s offerings.
