More than $4 million in art sold at annual Russell auction

GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) - Organizers say more than $4 million in art was sold at the 50th annual Russell auction in Great Falls.

The Great Falls Tribune reports works by western artist Charles M. Russell accounted for over $2 million in sales, including an 1890s oil painting titled “Buffalo Hunt No. 7” that sold for $1.25 million.

Steve Zabel, owner of Montana Trails Gallery in Bozeman, made the winning bid on behalf of a client.

Seven other Russell paintings sold Saturday along with three bronze sculptures and a set of 10 sculptures cast in sterling silver.

The auction included three paintings of Sperry Chalet in Glacier National Park, which burned during a fire last summer, leaving only the rock walls standing. Russell Museum board chairman Tom Petrie bought Charles Fritz’s “Early Snow at Sperry Chalet,” for $18,000.

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Information from: Great Falls Tribune, http://www.greatfallstribune.com