American & Western Paintings

Values, Artists & How to Sell

Interested in selling an American painting?

Revere Auctions is a fine art auction house: our specialists catalogue, research, and sell American paintings to the collectors who compete for them, from Pennsylvania snow scenes to Taos firelight. If you own a work by an American regional, landscape, Western, or wildlife artist — or an unsigned painting you suspect is good — we will tell you what it is, and what it is worth, for free.

Send photographs of the front, the back, and the signature through our free auction estimate form, and our fine art department will respond with an honest valuation and no obligation.

Learn About Selling at Auction

Get A Free Estimate of Value

Why Sell an American Painting at Auction?

Because the buyers are specific people, and auction is how you reach all of them at once. A Guy Wiggins snow scene has a different collector base than an Edgar Payne Sierra canvas or an Edmund Osthaus bird dog, and each of those bases knows exactly what it is looking for. Competitive bidding among the right collectors — not a dealer’s single offer — is what finds a painting’s real price.

Cataloguing is the other half. The difference between “oil, landscape, signed” and a properly researched attribution with the exhibition labels photographed and the family history told is real money, and it is the part of the work an auction house does before the sale ever opens.

American Regional & Landscape Painters

The American scene from the 1850s to today: Hudson River and luminist marines, Pennsylvania and New England Impressionism, Tonalist autumns, sporting art, and the painters of New York in the snow. Our guides cover the artists whose work passes most often through American estates:

Western, Southwest & Wildlife Artists

The Taos founders, the California Impressionists, the cowboy artists and their modern heirs, and the painters and sculptors of the Native American West. These markets are among the strongest in American art, anchored by devoted regional collectors and national museums alike:

How Much Is My American Painting Worth?

Every one of our artist guides says the same honest thing: it depends on the specific picture. The factors that recur are these:

The artist — and, with painting families like the Wigginses and Gruppés, exactly which member of it
Subject — most artists have a signature subject that leads their market, and it is often worth several times their other work
Original versus print — popular Western and sporting images were editioned by the thousand, and the difference is total
Size, period, and quality within the artist’s output
Condition — untouched surfaces are consistently rewarded
Provenance — labels, inscriptions, and family history

None of that requires you to do research. Photograph the front, the back, and the signature, and send them to our specialists through the free estimate form — identification is our job, not yours.

How to Sell an American Painting

The strongest results for an American painting come at auction, where national and international collectors bid against each other. Revere Auctions offers free, no-obligation auction estimates: send photos and dimensions and our specialists respond with a current market valuation and a recommendation on how to sell. Consigned works are professionally photographed, cataloged, and marketed through our fine art auctions to a worldwide bidder base, and we regularly arrange shipping for consignors across the country. If you need a formal written valuation for insurance or estate purposes, our appraisal and valuation services team can help; you can also read more about how selling at auction works.

Reviewed by the fine art specialists at Revere Auctions, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Selling American Paintings: Frequently Asked Questions

How do I find out what my American painting is worth?

Send photographs of the front, back, and signature to Revere Auctions through the free auction estimate form. Our fine art specialists identify the artist, period, and market and respond with an honest valuation at no charge and no obligation.

Do you handle paintings by artists not listed here?

Yes. The guides cover the artists we see most often, but our fine art department values and sells American and European paintings of every school — including unsigned works, which are often the ones most worth asking about.

Should I clean or reframe a painting before selling it?

No. Collectors and conservators strongly prefer untouched surfaces, and amateur cleaning is the single most expensive mistake sellers make. Sell it as it is; if conservation would genuinely help, our specialists will say so.

Is my painting an original or a print?

For popular Western, sporting, and illustration artists, editioned prints vastly outnumber originals. Under magnification a print shows a dot or grain pattern; an original shows true paint. Send a close-up photograph along with your estimate request and we will confirm, free.

How does selling a painting at auction work?

After a free estimate, you consign the work, our specialists catalogue and photograph it, and it is offered to our national and international bidder base. You are paid after the sale settles. Formal written appraisals for insurance or estates are a separate paid service we also provide.

Interested in purchasing a an American painting work?

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