LOT Davis Brothers Auction  /  Montana Moments  / 

622

Collection of Earl Heikka Christmas Cards

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Western Americana Start Price:10.00 USD Estimated At:50.00 - 75.00 USD
Collection of Earl Heikka Christmas Cards
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24" by 16 1/4" in shrink wrap. In 1963 Joe De Yong—Charles M. Russell’s only protégé—wrote a tribute to Earl E. Heikka, "What has received far less attention than deserved is the wholly untrained, yet artistically admirable quality of modeling that was produced in the all-too-short-lifetime of Earl Heikka of Great Falls." Heikka was born in Belt, Montana on May 3, 1910 to Finnish parents. When he was two years old, the family moved to Great Falls. He was only sixteen years-old when Charles Russell died, so it is uncertain how much time, if any, he observed Russell working in his studio in Great Falls. Like Russell, he learned a great deal about big game by hunting and packing. He also learned from spending time in Rumford’s Taxidermy Shop in Great Falls. Unfortunately, his most productive years were during the Great Depression when prices for all goods and services dropped dramatically. Spending on art for even the wealthy was greatly reduced until after WW II. Heikka worked with mainly water-based air drying clay known as Marblex and used solid wire armature anchored to a wooden base. Many of his models were then beautifully and finely painted before they were ready for sale. Best known for his pack train sculptures, often with a number of riders and horses that were designed for mantles in lodges, Heikka sculpted them as his tribute to Glacier National Park and the Rocky Mountains. His finest was Taking Up the Slack, and others included: Trophy Hunters, Bringing Home the Bacon, Sun River Packers, Hunter’s Return, Pack Train, Pack String, and Successful. He was also a master of predicament subjects such as Pursued. Heikka struggled for sales his entire shortened life. Like so many others during the brutal days of the Depression, he committed suicide on May 18, 1941 in Great Falls and left a young family behind. Only a number of years after he died were his models cast in bronze and his sculpting abilities better appreciated. Today, his sculptures are highly prized and collectible.
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