The Missouri-born Oscar Edmund Berninghaus (1874-1952) proved highly popular on home soil when this signed and dated 1931 painting, Autumn Aspens, right, came up for sale at the St. Louis rooms of Ivey-Selkirk (15/10% buyer's premium) on December 4. Berninghaus was one of the founder members of the Taos Society of Artists, a group dedicated to painting native American subjects in New Mexico. This 2ft 1in x 30in (63 x 76cm) canvas, executed near Twinning, 25 miles from Taos, featured a group of Pueblo indians who, according to an extensive inscription in the artist's hand on the verso, regarded the area as a favourite hunting ground.
These ingredients, combined with the unrestored, market-fresh condition of the painting, inspired interest from no fewer than 10 telephone bidders before falling to a West Coast collector at $170,000 (£92,390).
The result appears to be the highest auction price achieved for Berninghaus since the $330,000 (£206,250) paid for Autumn Days at Sotheby's New York in May 1999.
Exchange rate: £1 = $1.84
