Howard Terpning "Sunset for the Comanche" 2007 - S

Updated September 18, 2026

Howard Terpning (American, b. 1927), Sunset for the Comanche, an imposing signed and numbered Masterwork limited edition giclée on canvas, number 141 from an edition of only 250, published in 2007 after one of the artist's most celebrated compositions. Measuring an impressive 38 x 48 inches, this large-format canvas embodies the narrative power, atmospheric light, equestrian mastery and meticulously conceived Native American subject matter for which Terpning became one of the defining artists of contemporary American Western art. The work is signed "Terpning" and numbered 141/250 at lower left, with the underlying composition bearing the copyright signature and date "© Terpning 2005." The publisher identifies this 38 x 48-inch issue as the Masterwork Canvas Edition, limited to 250 signed and numbered examples and released in May 2007.<br><br>Sunset for the Comanche carries exceptional significance within Terpning's body of work because of the stature achieved by the original painting. Terpning conceived the scene around the Comanche struggle to preserve their land, independence and traditional way of life during the closing decades of the nineteenth century, specifically referencing the Quohadi Comanche and their resistance to abandoning the warrior society that had long defined life on the Southern Plains. The imagery is not merely a mounted Western scene but an elegiac meditation on a profound moment of historical transition, with warriors and horses dramatically silhouetted against the open sky while the warm, lowering light lends the composition both grandeur and poignancy.<br><br>The importance of the image was firmly established when the original oil painting was exhibited at the prestigious 2006 Masters of the American West Fine Art Exhibition and Sale at the Autry National Center. There, Sunset for the Comanche received the Thomas Moran Memorial Award for Painting and sold for $831,000, at the time establishing a new auction/exhibition-sale record price for Terpning. That distinguished history gives this limited edition considerably greater collector context than a conventional Western decorative print and makes it especially relevant to serious collections of Howard Terpning, Cowboy Artists of America, Native American art, Comanche subject matter, Western Americana and historical American frontier imagery.<br><br>Visually, the composition is among Terpning's most commanding. Mounted Comanche figures crest a rugged rise beneath a luminous blue sky, their horses, lances, shields, clothing and regalia rendered with characteristic attention to narrative detail. The central horsemen dominate the composition while additional figures emerge across the ridge, creating a sweeping procession and a powerful sense of forward movement. Warm earth tones, sunlit rock and vegetation contrast dramatically with the expansive sky, while Terpning's sophisticated placement of the figures gives the scene a monumental presence particularly effective in this un

Register & bid on this lot at Bidspirit →

More lots in this auction

• Frank Meisler "Sitting Camel" Articulated Kinetic
• Howard Terpning "Capture of the Horse Bundle" 1993
• Larry Eisenstein's "The Way It Is" Signed Print, S
• Approximately 370-Card Pokémon TCG Collection - WO
• Shaquille O'Neal Boston Celtics Signed Photo
• Morten Thorsby Signed Match-Worn Norway No. 2 Jers
• Funko Pop Figurine Mitch Marner #21 Signed
• The Wind Blows on Annette by Zsolt Nagy - Original

See all lots in October Art & Collectibles- 2-DAY Auction →