RENO.- A capacity crowd of over 600 buyers of Western Art filled the Grand Ballroom of the Silver Legacy Resort in Reno on July 23, 2011 for the 26th annual Coeur d’ Alene Art Auction. In what has long been the single largest event in the field of Classic Western Art, prices soared from the beginning to the very end of the 304-lot sale, reaching a total of approximately $16.7 million with 90% of the lots selling. Works by Charles M. Russell have always been the specialty of the Coeur d’ Alene Art Auction and this year was no exception. Two major paintings, A Dangerous Sport & Water for Camp each sold strongly at $1,471,000. Additional works by the artists were soon to follow with Indian Signaling, a 10×14 watercolor selling for $263,250, and Poems to Wallace, a wonderful 7×4 illustrated letter at $117,000, among others. Albert Bierstadt was also well represented at the sale with four major works going across