Cody's Buffalo Bill Art Show And Sale Bidders Pony Up More Than $1M In The Dark

CODY — A citywide power outage couldn’t stop the 45th Annual Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale from raising more than $1 million over two days of live auctions this weekend.

Between Friday night's live auction and Saturday morning's Quick Draw auction, one of the nation's premier Western art events brought in more than $1.034 million. 

That tally will rise once staff tabulate additional sales from the event’s two silent auctions and other sales.

Friday's auction continued despite a power outage that plunged the massive tent at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West and the city of Cody into total darkness. Art was auctioned by flashlight and generator until the power was restored.

Auctioneer Troy Black of Black and Associates Auctioneers Inc. was undeterred. 

As soon as someone found him a portable speaker and microphone, he doggedly kept patrons bidding high and often, just as the late Wyoming U.S. Sen. Al Simpson always encouraged them to do at past auctions.

“If everyone can get your seat, we’ll get back to work,” Black said in the mostly dark tent.

Last Call, Final Warning

Of the 107 pieces in Friday night’s auction, 96 were sold for a total of $900,500.

An additional 32 pieces were auctioned during the Saturday morning Quick Draw, bringing in another $134,200.

The total amount earned at the Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale, including Buy It Now sales and silent auctions, won’t be tabulated for several days. A tentative estimate by show and sale officials, based on end-of-sale totals, is at least $1.123 million.

Pieces that weren’t sold didn’t meet their reserve prices before bidding concluded. That’s the nature of a live auction, which always keeps things interesting under the big tent in the Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s parking lot.

Black kept the bidding active throughout the night, adding to the urgency with his famous witticisms.

• “Take another look and then say no.”

• “If you like it at $8,000, you like it at $9,000.”

• "He’s trying to scare ya — don’t let him scare ya!”

• "It’s like checkers – every other turn.”

And his most famous phrase: “There’s no friends at an auction.”

Lights Out

The auction got started around 6:30 p.m. Friday with five pieces of furniture from By Western Hands, which sold for a total of $36,250.

Around 7, immediately after the first lot in the Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale was sold, “The Buck Starts Here” by recently deceased artist Charles Ringer went for $5,500.

Then the tent was plunged into darkness.

Katelyn Parker, executive director of the show, was informed that there was a widespread outage across the entire city. No power meant no lights, no microphones, and no way to continue without some on-the-spot thinking.

Immediately, many people mobilized to resuscitate the live auction. Local patrons rushed to bring generators from their homes and businesses, while others tracked down any method of sound amplification.

Black had a portable speaker and microphone by 7:26 p.m., then continued with business as usual. 

Paintings and sculptures were escorted down the runway with flashlights while bidders illuminated their programs to see what they were bidding on.

Full power wasn’t restored for about another 30 minutes, and the auction proceeded as if nothing was amiss.

“This is the third time this has happened in my career,” Black said.

He reminded everyone that this wasn’t even the worst “interruption” during his time with the Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale.

One year, a winter storm dropped so much heavy snow that the tent roof began to sag. Everyone was escorted inside the Buffalo Bill Center, and the auction continued across multiple adjacent galleries even when bidders couldn’t see the pieces.

This year’s live auction finished at 10:34 p.m. Despite the setbacks, Black noted that they were only four minutes behind schedule.

The Big Sellers

Auctions are a risky business for artists. Their pieces could sell for double their retail value, or several thousand dollars less.

Friday night's highest-selling piece was Dustin Payne’s “Last Stand at the O.K. Corral,” a bronze sculpture depicting the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday. Valued at $28,500, it sold for $27,500.

The highest-selling two-dimensional piece was “High Plains Nimbus,” an oil painting by Tucker Smith that sold for $27,000.

Artist Krystii Melaine was the biggest winner of the Friday night auction. 

Her oil painting titled “The Last Wilderness” was valued at $13,000. When bidding concluded, it had sold for $22,500.

Melaine has had a string of consecutive successes.

At last year’s auction, her painting “Guardian of the Wilderness” won the 2025 People’s Choice Award and sold for $26,000, more than double its retail value.

The biggest winner of the two-day affair was artist Thomas Kegler. His oil painting “Valley of the Giants, Romans 15:13,” won the 2026 People’s Choice Award and the Spirit of Buffalo Bill Award.

Kegler’s painting sold for $22,500 on Friday night. His contribution to Saturday morning’s Quick Draw, a smaller oil painting of a bison in Yellowstone, sold for $17,000.

Overall, Kegler’s two pieces sold for $39,500.

Maeve Eichelberger, a newer artist in the show, specializes in plexiglass sculpture. Her piece, “Statuesque” — a hand-formed and etched acrylic saddle with silver and turquoise — went for $25,000.

The Big Buyers

Where there’s art, there are art aficionados. 

Most of the nation’s top Western art collectors are under the tent every September, and their bidding numbers pop up frequently.

Bidder No. 415 was the biggest buyer at Friday’s auction, buying nine pieces, including “Last Stand at the O.K. Corral,” for a combined $135,500.

Bidder 114 also had a big night, winning five works of art for a combined $35,250.

Bidder No. 39, meanwhile, got a whole new sitting room. 

That bidder bought a Plains Rider Wingback by Tim Lozier, a Silver’s Chimayo Club Chair and Ottoman, and “Silent Night,” a nightstand with a hidden drawer by Lester Santos, for a combined $25,750.

However, No. 39 won’t be the first to sit in his Chimayo Club Chair. That honor went to Black, who helped himself to a seat while it cruised down the runway.

“This one’s more my size,” he said as he hopped on.

Quick Draws

When everyone returned for the Saturday morning Quick Draw, the power was on, but the weather wasn’t cooperating.

When light rain started falling on the artists working in the powwow grounds, they made a mass exodus into the tent. Some set up their easels on the runway and continued for the 90 minutes they had to finish their pieces.

After the traditional Parade of Artists, the live auction commenced.

Bronze artist Stefan Savides had the biggest hit. He crowdsourced titles for his sculpture of a hummingbird sitting on a blade of grass.

The clear winner was “Branch Manager,” which didn’t surprise Black.

“There’s a lot of bankers in this crowd, and they like money,” he said.

Savides sold 14 editions of “Branch Manager” for $1,400 each, bringing in a total of $19,600. The title-by-popular-demand approach certainly didn’t hurt.

David Frederick Riley has been one of the most popular Quick Draw artists for years. His contribution, a large wolf portrait, sold for $15,000. His piece in Friday night’s auction, “High Ride,” sold for $13,000.

One Big Happy Family

While many people stepped up and stood out during the 45th Annual Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale, the standout was Black. 

Despite power outages and, at times, languid bidding, he seized the momentum and never let it go.

To celebrate his 30th year auctioneering in Cody, the show’s committee surprised Black with a unique prize: an original painting of himself, “The Auctioneer,” by renowned longtime participant Doug Hall.

Usually a man of many words, Black took a few silent moments to compose himself before carrying on.

During the Quick Draw, Black welcomed artist Jessica Garrett-Lawrence to the stage, accompanied by her young daughter. That was a special moment for Black.

“Jessica was very young when she started here, getting her career started,” he said. “We watched her grow. We watched her mature. And all of a sudden, she finds a boyfriend, and then she gets married, and then she's pregnant, and then this precious little one comes. 

"It's so fun to watch our families grow and blossom.”

For Black, the Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale has the same appeal that keeps artists and patrons returning year after year to the big tent in September.

“That’s the magical part about the Buffalo Bill Art Show, folks,” he said. “We're all one big happy, and we get to watch families grow, and little ones like this grow up. It's just amazing.”

Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.