Oklahoma City’s National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum did more than just hold a fancy art sale this month. Its 54th Prix de West opening night turned into a full-on money roundup, pulling in more than $3.7 million in a single evening and vaulting the museum over last year’s total by more than $500,000. Most of the buying frenzy is over, but much of the exhibition stays on view through July 12, giving everyone else a look at the pieces that had bidders reaching for their paddles.
According to a press release from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, the 54th Prix de West generated more than $3.7 million on Saturday, June 13, with 67% of the available artworks sold by the end of opening night. The event, presented by Eskridge Lexus, is billed as the museum’s largest annual fundraiser, supporting future exhibitions and educational programming. Works that did not sell at the opening are still on the walls and remain available for purchase through July 12.
The weekend also delivered a major spotlight to Kim Wiggins. His oil painting How the West Was Won - Chisum at Castle Gap received the Ann Noble Brown Prix de West Purchase Award, and the museum acquired the piece for $95,000, a recognition Wiggins called “incredibly humbling.” Western Art & Architecture and other coverage reported that Andrew Peters’ three-dimensional diptych Sandhill Cranes on the Great Migration earned the Frederic Remington Painting Award and carried a listed price of $56,000.
Sale Night Standouts
Beyond the headline awards, opening night delivered plenty of big-ticket drama. John Coleman’s bronze Wedding at Crow Fair took home the Jackie L. Coles Buyers' Choice Award and came with a $220,000 price tag. G. Russell Case’s Into Red Canyon sold for $37,000, while Ron Kingswood’s Descending from the Heavens brought in $35,500.
The museum’s release lists a long roster of additional sales and honors, including multiple bronze sales by Walter T. Matia and awards for Dean Mitchell, Grant Redden, and Bruce R. Greene, a reminder that buyer interest ran well beyond just a handful of marquee names.
Artists Old and New
The 2026 Prix de West exhibition showcases roughly 276 works by about 90 invited artists, mixing long-established figures with first-time participants. Newcomers to the invitational this year include Kevin Red Star, Jessica L. Bryant, and Dustin Payne, while Walt Gonske marked his 50th year with the show, a milestone noted in industry coverage. Fine Art Connoisseur highlighted both the artist roster and the exhibition’s place on the Western art calendar.
For the museum, the strong sales are not just bragging rights. Proceeds from Prix de West help bankroll upcoming exhibitions and educational programs that reach Oklahoma families as well as traveling collectors. Coverage of the museum’s programming also points to the return of The Cowboy: An Immersive Journey on National Day of the Cowboy, July 25, a separately ticketed experience that stretches the museum’s offerings beyond the collectors’ weekend. Cowboys & Indians has reported on the immersive show’s comeback.
Collectors who missed the main event can still view and purchase remaining works through July 12. After that, the museum shifts gears into family-focused programming and the immersive exhibition, looking to turn one lucrative night of art buying into a summer of broader public engagement.
