Another Modern Horizons 2 original art gets a huge sale!
Last Tuesday, June 1, 2021, the original Magic: The Gathering painting of Squirrel Sanctuary by Steve Argyle was sold at an auction on the MTG Art Market for $19,000.
Steve Argyle’s Squirrel Sanctuary is a work of oil on backed aluminum and measures 20 inches by 30 inches. This original art was commissioned for MTG’s new straight-to-Modern set, Modern Horizons 2.
Agent Jeff Ferrerira represented Argyle for his first traditional work. The auction, which was run on the MTG Art Market Facebook group from May 26 to June 1, had an opening bid set at $5,000, with bidding done in $100 increments before increased to $500 increments. Ultimately, the art was sold for $19,000 to a private bidder.
The card that features Argyle’s work is a green enchantment that lets you create a 1/1 green Squirrel creature token, and whenever a nontoken creature you control dies, you may pay 1 and if you do, you get to return Squirrel Sanctuary to its owner’s hand.
Argyle’s Squirrel Sanctuary also came with this Squirreltificate of Awesometicity:
This is a huge sale for Steve Argyle, and after the auction ended, the artist shared his thoughts about his Squirrel Sanctuary art:
“I am at a loss for words. I keep trying to formulate the right way to express my feelings and my gratitude, and coming up short. Everything sounds cliche, watered down, or overly formal.I’ve been working on my oil painting for a few years now (special thanks to Howard Lyon for generously sharing his time and expertise.)Squirrel Sanctuary is a pivotal piece for me, and will always be special. I’m still slow with oils, but I felt that this piece needed to happen with a real brush and real ruined shirts. I didn’t know if that extra time would make the piece better, but I did know it would be worth it for the joy of pushing paint around until colors found their homes. I’m thrilled, elated, and to be honest a bit shocked, that Squirrel Sanctuary has been so well received. The gaming community has always been full of amazing people, and have been so great to me. I don’t feel like I deserve it, but I’ll take it, and I’m so grateful for it. You’ve all once again gone above and beyond for me. I am honored, humbled, and delighted. I love you guys and gals!”
Related: The Best Magic: the Gathering Cards to Play in Modern Horizons 2 Limited
Modern Horizons 2 is scheduled to release for tabletop on June 18, 2021. The official preview season for Modern Horizons 2 is set to begin, and you can check out the list of outlets where you can find them here. You can check out spoiler section here.
