2015 Coeur d’Alene Art Auction / Lot 171196 / 290  •  View Catalog  •   • 

171
Kenneth Riley (1919 – 2015)
Music to Buy By (1993)
oil on board
20 × 36 inches
signed lower right

Describing this painting Susan Hallsten McGarry wrote, “As the fur trade developed along the upper Missouri River, traders often traveled by keelboat. These shallow-draft craft could be propelled using sails, poles or oars. Language barriers between Native peoples and traders were overcome by music—a universal tongue that artist Karl Bodmer employed by entertaining his Native hosts with a music box during his 1833-1834 journey up the Missouri.”

PROVENANCE
[Settlers West Galleries, Tucson, AZ, 1996]
Private Collection, Atlanta, GA
Private Collection, Tucson, AZ

LITERATURE
Susan Hallsten McGarry, A Poetic Spirit: The Enduring Art of Kenneth Riley (Oklahoma City, OK: The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 2003), page 17, illustrated

171

Kenneth Riley

1919 – 2015

Music to Buy By (1993)
oil on board
20 × 36 inches
signed lower right
Sold at Auction: $40,950
Condition ReportSurface condition excellent with no signs of inpainting.

Important Notice: Statements of condition are provided as a service to potential bidders; such statements are educated opinions and should not be regarded as facts. The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction has no responsibility for any errors or omissions.