Dave McGary (1958-2013) "When Lightning Strikes,"

Updated September 18, 2026

This auction ended on October 4, 2026. See upcoming auctions from Oakwood Auctions.

Lot number	583
Estimate	12,500.00 - 17,500.00 USD
Auction	October Art & Collectibles- 2-DAY Auction
Date	October 4, 2026 at 11:00 PM EDT
Auction house	Oakwood Auctions
Location	Stouffville

Dave McGary (American, 1958-2013), When Lightning Strikes, 1991, an important large-scale Masterwork Edition polychrome bronze from the artist's celebrated Warrior Series, depicting a Sioux warrior at full gallop in one of McGary's most dramatic and technically accomplished equestrian compositions. Signed Dave McGary, dated 1991, impressed with the artist's distinctive thumbprint and inscribed AC III/30, denoting an artist's-copy example associated with the exceptionally limited Masterwork edition of 30. Presented on its substantial sculpted bronze groundwork and finely finished contoured wood plinth bearing the original brass title plaque, "When Lightning Strikes - Dave McGary." Overall dimensions approximately 41 inches long x 24 1/4 inches high. The approximately 41-inch format corresponds to the monumental Masterwork version of the composition. When Lightning Strikes belongs to the most action-driven portion of McGary's Warrior Series. Published auction literature describes the narrative as a Sioux warrior stealing an enemy horse, with a second mare running alongside, while the warrior twists forcefully in the saddle and turns his rifle toward pursuing adversaries. McGary transforms this moment into a remarkably complex three-dimensional study of speed, tension and controlled movement: the horses surge forward with legs extended and tails streaming, reins and tack sweep through the composition, the rider's body rotates against the direction of travel, and the broad feather bustle creates a dramatic counterpoint to the horizontal thrust of the rifle. Heritage has specifically documented this subject and its connection to McGary's Warrior Series. The extraordinary degree of finish rewards close examination from every angle. The warrior's star-patterned garment, richly ornamented leggings, individually modeled fringe, beaded moccasins, feathers, rifle, horse markings, bridles, saddle equipment, blankets and other accoutrements are rendered with the meticulous surface articulation that distinguishes McGary's polychrome bronzes. When Lightning Strikes has been singled out for precisely this level of craftsmanship, noting such minute features as the rifle decoration, rows of beads, realistic folds and carefully modeled fringe, and cites the sculpture in Michael Duty's Dave McGary: American Realism in Bronze - A Twenty Year Retrospective. The sculpture is equally successful at a distance, where the sweeping silhouettes of two racing horses, projecting weapons and wind-driven featherwork produce a commanding sense of movement, and at close range, where McGary's elaborate modeling, patination and applied coloration become evident. The artist's combination of traditional bronze casting with extensive polychrome surface treatment gave his work a distinctive position within late 20th-century American Western and Native American sculpture, and When Lightning Strikes is among the subjects documented by the artist's own archive as a Ma

Dave McGary (1958-2013) "When Lightning Strikes,"

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