Russell Auction Opening Nets Record Amount

This year’s C.M. Russell Auction of Original Western Art is off to a good start. In fact, a record start.

Sales in Great Falls Friday night hit $288,450, the most ever on opening night.

The previous record was $238,350, set in 1994. Last year’s opening night reached $175,900.

Friday’s total included sale of six of Russell’s own works for $49,600. The top price was $22,000 for a small watercolor illustration titled “The Horse is Sober.”

The auction, now in its 28th year, is a benefit for the Russell museum in Great Falls and attracts artists and art collectors from all over the country. It has raised more than $2.6 million for the museum.

Second-highest sale Friday was for a work by a Russell contemporary, O.C. Seltzer, a watercolor titled “Indian Battle,” which sold for $11,600.

Several hundred attended the auction Friday night.