Shades of the old West

THE enduring popularity of paintings and sculpture depicting old California, from its pristine landscape to its silent-movie stars, will be tested Monday at a Los Angeles auction house.

“People want to see California as we fondly remember it,” says Scot Levitt, director of Bonhams & Butterfields’ fine arts department. Valued from $3,000 to $600,000, the 281 pieces in the catalog are divided into two parts: California and other American works.

The traditional landscapes, portraits and still-lifes were created mostly in the early 1900s. Artworks come from the Laguna Art Museum, the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum at Pepperdine University, local dealers and collectors. A plein-air painting of a house was once owned by developer and Santa Anita horse racing-impresario Elias Jackson “Lucky” Baldwin.

The oldest artwork for sale is an 1863 oil painting of two men at a tranquil Yosemite lake. Virgil Williams’ “Fishing Near Half Dome” has an estimated value of $20,000 to $30,000. “Trappers in a Canoe,” an oil on canvas painted by Philip Russell Goodwin, is valued from $60,000 to $80,000.

“Cowboys and Indians, men in canoes and homesteads that evoke the great grand West are always popular,” Levitt says.

One of the highlights of the auction is a 1928 portrait of Paramount Studios actress Ruth Renick. “The Jade Necklace,” a 36-by-40-inch oil painting by Californian artist Joseph Kleitsch, is estimated to sell for $400,000 to $600,000.

The catalog is at www.bonhams.com/us. The free preview is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday at 7601 Sunset Blvd., L.A.

For more information, call (323) 850-7500.