Page 12 - 2021 March Sealed Bid Catalogue

Lots 3 and 4—GERARD CURTIS DELANO—Story of the West
In an autobiographical summation of his life and career Gerard Curtis Delano describes losing all his savings in the early 1930’s. Although he assesses his situation during the Great Depression as being “flat broke”, he readily claims that “this may have been the finest thing that ever happened to me.” It was during this time that the artist left New York for his Colorado homestead.9
During these lean years upon moving West, Delano sold an ambitious idea to Street & Smith’s Western Story magazine. The artist agreed to create a series of drawings and accompanying text chronologically celebrating the highlights of the development of the American west. Entitled Story of the West, the series consisted of 106 installments of both illustration and narrative over the course of two years.10
Lot 3
GERARD CURTIS DELANO Jedediah Smith: A Knight in Buckskin
ink
15 x 28 1⁄2 inches
Minimum Bid: $15,000
Lot 3, Jedediah Smith a Knight in Buckskin, depicts a famed frontiersman, cartographer, and explorer of the American West and Southwest. Jedediah Smith recorded early 19th century trips into California. In doing so, Smith and his companions are credited as being the first U.S. citizens to cross the formidable Mojave Desert.