Mike Overby, one of the amiable and astute architects of the Coeur d'Alene Art Auction , refers to Bull Elk In The High Country as a fresh Carl Rungius painting.  Rungius has been dead for half of a century as of this year, and the oil painting above was completed sometime around 1910.

What Overby means by his reference is that the work has been out of circulation for a long, long time.  Shortly after it was commissioned, the painting remained with the same family for 80 years and now is seeing public light, giving Rungius fans a fresh look and a new opportunity to add a trophy to their collection.

Bull Elk In the High Country, with an estimated pre-auction value of between $300,000 and $500,000, is one of several very sweet paintings at the 2009 Coeur d'Alene sale being held this Saturday, July 25, in the gambling city of Reno, Nevada, USA.

Collectors, galleries, artists and indeed auction houses on both sides of the Atlantic are looking to Coeur d'Alene as a proverbial reading of the tea leaves.  The tumult that started on Wall Street in autumn 2008 has dealt a severe blow not only to Main Street art galleries across America, but as our report in Wildlife Art Journal shows, venerable Sotheby's, Christie's, and Phillips de Pury are reporting huge pullbacks in buying and prices fetched for works following the extended bull run. 

Is a turnaround in sight?

Overby says that with substantial discounts baked into estimates, Coeur d'Alene is poised as a buyer's market.

Regardless of how Saturday's sales in Reno play out, Coeur d'Alene always brings great works to the auction block. For those of you who won't be traveling to Nevada, sit back now with a glass of wine or some other libation and enjoy the 109 paintings from Coeur d'Alene that Wildlife Art Journal has selected for your remote viewing pleasure.  They range in genre (Western, wildlife, sporting, landscape, and portraiture) as well as price, beginning with works valued at around $10,000 and rising to the gavel estimate of between $2 million and $3 million for the 1907 Charles M. Russell watercolor and gouache painting titled The Truce.

As part of our package on the Coeur 'Alene event, which includes a television recap from the 2008 show that featured interviews with American narrative painter Howard Terpning and gifted Canadian portrait painter Harley Brown, we have also compiled a roster of paintings from deceased and living artists that we'll use as a barometer for assessing Saturday's results.  To reach our report, click here:  Coeur d'Alene Auction is Bellwether For Battered Art Market .