Edgar Payne: Canyon de Chelly and the Southwest

Navajo riders moving beneath the sandstone walls of Canyon de Chelly are among Payne's most celebrated images. The subject began with a railroad commission in 1917.

The 1917 Santa Fe commission

In 1917 the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway asked Payne to paint the Southwest along its route from Albuquerque to California, part of a long-running program under the railway's advertising chief William H. Simpson that exchanged travel, lodging and sometimes cash for paintings. That year Edgar and Elsie spent four months painting at Canyon de Chelly. According to Wikipedia, the region "from Taos, New Mexico to the Grand Canyon, became one of Payne's two main inspirations for the next twenty years."

The subject in museums and exhibitions

The 2012 retrospective Edgar Payne: The Scenic Journey used Sunset, Canyon de Chelly, dated 1916 (Mark C. Pigott Collection), in its publicity, and its catalogue includes an essay by Peter H. Hassrick, "Edgar Payne's Southwest." Monument Valley, Riverbed toured internationally in The Irvine Museum's Masters of Light exhibition of 2002–2004.

In the market

Southwestern subjects hold several of Payne's highest public auction prices: Riders on Horseback, $553,000 at Christie's in 2008; Canyon de Chelly (ca. 1916–19), $484,000 at Coeur d'Alene in July 2022; Arizona Indians, $438,750 at Scottsdale Art Auction in April 2022; and Monument Valley, Riverbed, $323,000 at Bonhams in 2016. See all cited auction records.

Southwestern paintings sold by Steven Stern Fine Arts

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Own a Canyon de Chelly or Navajo rider painting? Here is how to sell it.

Sources

1. Wikipedia, "Edgar Payne" (citing Scott A. Shields et al., Edgar Payne: The Scenic Journey, 2012; the 1900 U.S. Census; American Art Annual). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Payne, accessed Oct. 2026.
2. Traditional Fine Arts Organization, "Edgar Payne: The Scenic Journey" (Crocker Art Museum press material, 2012). tfaoi.org/aa/10aa/10aa40.htm.
3. Scott A. Shields, Patricia Trenton, Lisa N. Peters, Peter H. Hassrick and Jean Stern, Edgar Payne: The Scenic Journey (Pasadena Museum of California Art / Pomegranate, 2012), 272 pp., ISBN 9780764960536. Library record: wyldcatalog.org.
4. Bonhams, California and Western Paintings & Sculpture, 2 Aug. 2016, lot 78, Monument Valley, Riverbed, signed 'Edgar Payne' (lower left), titled on the stretcher bar, sold for $323,000; exhibited in The Irvine Museum's Masters of Light international tour, 2002–2004. bonhams.com.
5. Christie's, California, Western and American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, Beverly Hills, 30 April 2008, lot 21, Edgar Alwin Payne, Riders on Horseback, price realised US$553,000. christies.com.
6. ArtSell, "Edgar Alwin Payne auction prices" (431 lots offered 2005–2026; record Canyon de Chelly, ca. 1916–19, Coeur d'Alene Art Auction, July 2022, $484,000; Arizona Indians, Scottsdale Art Auction, April 2022, $438,750; median about $27,500). artsell.art, accessed Oct. 2026.