DALLAS, TX.- Heritage Auctions on Friday began auctioning some of the most celebrated and iconic art created for the Boy Scouts of America. Proceeds from the auction will be used to compensate survivors of childhood sexual abuse. These selected works from the collection of the BSA Settlement Trust appeared at the top of Heritage’s thoughtfully curated November 15 American Art Signature® Auction, which broke a handful of auction records.

The initial 25 offerings from the BSA Trust collection hammered at $3,715,500, all of which will benefit survivors of childhood sexual abuse in Scouting. When the standard buyer’s premium was added to the final hammer price, the lots realized $4,644,375.

The 81-lot American Art auction realized more than $8.25 million with more than 700 bidders participating. The 109-lot Illustration Art Signature® Auction, held earlier Friday and led by Robert Peak’s record-setting $300,000 original poster art for Apocalypse Now, realized $1.967 million.

Combined, Friday’s auctions realized $10,197,375.

Leading the BSA Trust section of the auction were five works by Norman Rockwell, whose collaboration with the Boy Scouts of America lasted for 64 years. Rockwell’s painting To Keep Myself Physically Strong, conceived in 1962 and published in a Boy Scouts calendar in 1964, sold for $1,125,000 (including the buyer’s premium). His 1961 paintingHomecoming sold for $843,750 (including the BP), and his intimateBoy and Dogs, New Puppies, from 1958, sold for $781,250 (including the BP). Rockwell’s 1969 painting Beyond the Easel brought $575,000 (including the BP), and his 1972 charcoal-on-paper study We Thank Thee, O’ Lordsold for $175,000 (including the BP).

Among the BSA Settlement Trust lots were works by Rockwell’s peer in Golden Age Illustration, J.C. Leyendecker, whose Weapons for Liberty, created for a Saturday Evening Post cover conceived in 1917 and published in 1918, sold for $312,500 (including the BP).

Works in the BSA Trust session also landed auction records for their artists: William Arthur Smith’s oil on canvas National Archivessold for $45,000 (including the BP), and Remington Schuyler’s oil on canvas triptych Indian in Canoe, from 1922, sold for $18,750 (including the BP). Also from the BSA Trust session: Joseph Csatari saw a new auction record with his 1978 painting Scouting Through the Years, which brought $47,500 (including the BP).

As part of its bankruptcy plan of reorganization, BSA’s artwork was transferred to the BSA Settlement Trust, an independent entity tasked with compensating over 64,000 abuse Survivors. To date, the BSA Trust has paid more than $47 million to more than 9,500 Survivors.

“On behalf of the Trust and the thousands of abuse Survivors we serve, I am grateful to everyone who participated in the auction,” said Hon. Barbara J. Houser (Ret.), the Trustee overseeing the administration and distribution of funds to abuse Survivors. “Proceeds from these sales play an integral part in acknowledging decades of silent pain suffered by Survivors and will help the process of rebuilding lives. These works are iconic in their own right, but their legacy now extends beyond artistry as they right past wrongs and help Survivors move forward.”

Heritage will continue offering additional artwork from the BSA Trust collection in future auctions.

“Heritage is deeply grateful to have been entrusted with what is undoubtedly one of the most significant collections of Golden Age illustrations to emerge on the market in recent years,” said Aviva Lehmann, Heritage’s Senior Vice President of American Art. “We were honored to present this museum-caliber collection, which not only celebrates the artistry of Norman Rockwell and other luminaries of the Golden Age but also embodies the rich cultural heritage at the core of our mission as America’s largest auction house. Equally important to us is the privilege of supporting the Survivors, underscoring our commitment to both the arts and social responsibility.”

Outside of the BSA offerings, the auction overall boasted significant works by Maxfield Parrish, Ed Mell, Howard Terpning, Ernie Barnes, Carl Clemens Moritz Rungius and more, and presented another leap forward in Heritage’s special relationship with classic American art — significant works by the most notable artists of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Golden Age illustration is indeed a particular strong suit at Heritage, and this 1919 painting by Maxfield Parrish for a Fisk Tire advertisement, There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, exemplifies Parrish’s powers — his almost supernatural instincts for composition, narrative, and color that made him one of the most popular artists in American history. It sold for $1,156,250. A Kuppenheimer advertisement by Leyendecker sold for $325,000; two stunning Leyendecker originals for Saturday Evening Post covers from the Michael Dolas Family Collection hit the block on Friday: Circus Bareback Rider, from 1932, sold for $225,000 and Night Before Christmas, from 1936, brought $212,500.

Frederick Carl Frieseke’s sumptuous painting The Green Sash, which epitomizes the artist’s masterful ability to capture both light and the female form, realized $112,500. Ernie Barnes’ charming oil on canvas Playin’ the Net, from the collection of Dinah Shore, sold for $187,500. Reginald Marsh’s 1938 painting Fifth Avenue, No. 1brought $56,250.Gaston Lachaise’s remarkable circa-1930s marble torso, depicting the figure of his beloved wife, came from the collection of Frederick Schrader and realized $46,875.

Longtime collector favorite, Southwest artist Fritz Scholder, painted American Portrait with Horse in his 1975 prime, and the work realized $300,000. Edward Willis Redfield’s painting Spring Valley, from the Nelkin Collection, sold for $52,500. The great Ed Mell, who died this year, was represented in this auction by the wonderful Reaching Clouds, from 2011, which sold for $84,375, andHoward A. Terpning’s 1978 painting A Watchful Eye, which depicts two trappers on horseback navigating the treacherous waters of a fast-moving stream, sold for $162,500. In a kind of spiritual solidarity with Terpning, Carl Clemens Moritz Rungius’ painting of The Mountaineer, which marks a departure from Rungius’s typical subjects by focusing on a central human figure while still featuring his signatory jagged landscapes, also sold for $162,500.

“Today was a remarkable celebration of American art, as both seasoned collectors and new entrants to the marketplace competed vigorously for exceptional pieces across all categories,” says Lehmann. “Through spirited and intense bidding, we achieved prices that underscore the undeniable strength and resilience of the American art market.”