Martin Grelle One-Man Show Results

Martin Grelle's Where Waters Run Cold

While I was in Scottsdale, I attended Martin Grelle's 24th Annual One-Man Show at Overland Gallery of Fine Art.  It's always a highly anticipated show, because it's one of the few opportunities to acquire a NEW work by Grelle, and the prices at which you are able to buy the painting can't be beat.  Unfortunately, everything is sold by draw and a couple are silent bid.  A draw really is the only fair way to sell his new works, so everyone has a fair shot at each painting.  However, you can imagine how full each box is stuffed with potential buyers.  There's a ton of excitement and anticipation that leads up to the draw, and Martin is gracious enough to shake hands and speak with so many people, he probably sleeps for a week after his show.  Not to mention, he was probably putting the finishing touches on a couple of the works the night before his sale.  While Grelle can paint like a son-of-a-gun, meeting deadlines are for the birds.  Martin Grelle presented 8 brand new paintings and two of them were being sold by silent bid.  They ranged in size and price and once again, he sold out his entire show!  I don't know how many years in a row he's sold out his one-man show, but it's at least the six years I've been in the art business, and he was on fire when I took over Coeur d'Alene Galleries.  I can't imagine a better collection factor than having a demand that highly outweighs your very limited supply or selling out your one-man show for over a decade.  My favorite painting of the group was Where Waters Run Cold.  It's a 42 by 32 inch oil on linen with 3 figures and water running right at the viewer.  The water seemed translucent and really seemed to change colors as you walked around it, and you could just feel the mist from the movement of the water.  It sold by silent bid, and the opening bid was $45,000.  The winner paid $101,000 for this fabulous painting.  The other silent bid piece was a 42 by 48 inch oil titled Apsaalooke Sentinels, and it sold for $116,250.  The most entertaining part of the night was when they were doing the draw, and the first name drawn was Tony Altermann of Altermann Auctioneers, and there was a collective groan from the crowd.  With all the build-up and anticipation, there was an air of optimism that your name was going to be drawn, and when it turned out to be a dealer, I think the crowd could have easily booed him, but being the classy collectors they are, they just congratulated him and anxiously waited for the next draw.  If you want to take anything away from the results of Martin's show, be confident that the demand for Grelle's work is still very high, and his prices are not going to go anywhere but up, so if you have an opportunity to acquire one of his paintings, do it!

Martin Grelle's Apsaalooke Sentinels

Martin Grelle's Late Winter Passage

Martin Grelle's First Watch

Martin Grelle's A Well Travelled Trail