At a recent Copley Fine Arts Auction, the painting, “Bone Try”, by Brett James Smith sold for more than $8,000 dollars and through a collaborative agreement between Smith and Copley Auctions founder Stephen B. O’Brien, Jr., half of the proceeds raised from the sale have been donated to Bonefish & Tarpon Trust. We would like to thank them both for their generosity.
- “Bone Try”
Brett Smith began his career in art as an illustrator working with his New York agents on assignments for books, magazines, and advertising art. Twenty years ago he turned to easel painting, chronicling his outdoor experiences in sporting art. His work is now collected by sportsmen and western art collectors.
Working in oils, transparent watercolors and etching, Smith’s work has a nostalgic, timeless appeal that has become trademark. Eight years ago he moved to a summer studio in northwest Montana where he immersed himself in the history and culture of the Rocky Mountain West. His subject matter expanded to include Native Americans and adventurous characters that populated the west.
“Ideas,” Smith states, “are what make interesting, unique paintings. There are only so many within the confines of contemporary activities such as sporting subjects, wildlife and landscape painting. When you mix the historical culture of outdoorsmen and the magnificent landscapes of the places where they recreate, ideas become limitless.”
Copley Fine Art Auctions is the world’s leading American sporting art auction company. Located on Newbury Street in Boston and specializing in antique decoys, 19th- and 20th-century American, sporting, and wildlife paintings, Copley’s annual sporting sale is the premier event for collectors of sporting art, decoys, fishing collectibles, and other related folk art.
