Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2018/ No.130 i Western Art Collector

Back on view at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska, are two major works from prominent 19th century American painters. The works are Albert Bierstadt’s The Trappers, Lake Tahoe and George Caleb Bingham’s Watching the Cargo by Night. Both works show off trademark elements of each artist’s painting careers: Bierstadt’s luminist landscapes and Bingham’s fascination with rivers and the people who live and work on them. The works have been travelling since 2016 as part of the special exhibition Wild Spaces, Open Seasons: Hunting and Fishing in American Art. The Joslyn was one of four co-organizers of the exhibition, along with the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Tennessee, the Shelburne Museum in Vermont, and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Texas. Wild Spaces, Open Seasons was the…

Oreland Joe, Ghost Dance Dreamers, oil, 24 x 48” June 8-9: Prix de West National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum | Oklahoma, OK | (405) 478-2250 | www.nationalcowboymuseum.org JUNE June 1-30 SORREL SKY GALLERY Jim Rey & Maura Allen Santa Fe, NM – (505) 501-6555 www.sorrelsky.com June 1-July 27 RED RIVER VALLEY MUSEUM 17th International Juried Art Show Vernon, TX – (940) 553-1848 www.rrvm.net June 2 RANCHING HERITAGE ASSOCIATION Western Art and Gear Show Lubbock, TX – (806) 834-0469 www.ranchingheritage.org June 2-3 THE FORT RESTAURANT Tesoro Indian Market and Powwow Morrison, CO – (303) 839-1671 www.tesoroculturalcenter.org June 2-30 MAXWELL ALEXANDER GALLERY Eric Bowman: Storybook Cowboy Los Angeles, CA – (213) 275-1060 www.maxwellalexandergallery.com June 3-July 15 THE BRINTON MUSEUM Carrie Ballantyne Comes Home Big Horn, WY – (307) 672-3173 www.thebrintonmuseum.org Ending June…

If I were to sum up the history of the art of the American West, I would say that it is the story of a race against time, a race of paint and ink, clay and bronze against progress and civilization, a nick-of-time thing that quickly ticks over into a too-late thing before morphing at last into myth, nostalgia, fiction and sentimentality. And if I were to choose a single artist to stand on the fulcrum between the nick of time and too late, that artist might be Albert Bierstadt, whose early, dazzling panoramas, his “Great Pictures” celebrating the vast sweep of the American West, seem, in retrospect, to have been only the opening major chords in a long threnody lamenting a lost artists’ paradise. Albert Bierstadt: Witness to a…

In 1972, Walt Gonske moved permanently to Taos, New Mexico. He would say later, “Moving out there was, without a doubt, the smartest decision I ever made.” At the time, though, there was some slight apprehension. He had come out to visit his sister. “She had packed it in from New York before I did. She came out West with this idea of being a ski bum somewhere. She found the Taos Ski Valley. When I came out to visit her I was struck by the quality of the light, and the electric jump between light and shade. I grew up in New Jersey, and the values were pretty close together, but in Taos it was the exact opposite,” Gonske says. “I remember seeing the galleries in Taos and Santa…

The state of Oklahoma is a treasure trove of cultural diversity, with more than 25 Native languages spoken—including Choctaw and Cherokee—carrying an important history that tells the stories of indigenous peoples, early settlers and European explorers. Today, it continues to tell those stories in many ways, from the splashes of Native American and Western culture on the streets of Oklahoma City, Tahlequah and others, to the cultural festivals and galleries that reflect the wild persona of the West. Oklahoma City is particularly rich with arts and culture, including the 89-year-old Paseo Arts District, home to more than 20 galleries and more than 80 artists’ studios. The Paseo Arts Festival takes place every year on Memorial Day weekend and brings with it nearly 100 visual artists, dozens of musical performers and…

UPCOMING SHOW Up to 10 works July 19-29, 2018 The Legacy Gallery, 75 N. Cache, Jackson, WY 83001 (307) 733-2353 www.legacygallery.com After a nearly 15-year career as an illustrator, Robert Peters shifted his path in the mid-1990s to fine art specializing in landscapes of the Southwest. Since then he has flourished, building an oeuvre that depicts places spanning from northeastern Yellowstone to Colorado to Wyoming and Montana. His pieces are of all seasons and times of day, having found that nature, with its fleeting qualities, lends itself more to spontaneity than preplanned ideas. “I used to go out with a premeditated thought, but I’ve learned you just have to take what you’re given,” he says. “It’s kind of a creed that I live by. I go out and experience it…

Many versions of the West exist. Stack them against each other and they look like genres on a bookshelf: mysteries, dramas, action adventures, romances, historical memoirs, anthropologic studies, pulp thrillers, nature and wildlife, architecture and travel. Each one offers a different, and very tiny, perspective on the American West. Stand back far enough and these little stories start to reveal larger ideas, grander visions and more complete narratives. They illuminate the Western way of life from every angle. Nowhere is this more evident than at the Prix de West, one of the premier Western art events in the country. The Prix, organized and hosted by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, brings together more than 100 top artists working today to allow them to proclaim the…

Across two sales—one in January, and another on April 7—the Scottsdale Art Auction has sold nearly 1,000 major works of Western art, realized more than $18 million in sales and set dozens of new artist auction records. Not a bad start to 2018. After the record-setting white glove sale of the Leanin’ Tree Museum collection in January, the Scottsdale Art Auction returned with its annual April 7 sale in Arizona. Nearly 400 works were offered, of which nearly 95 percent were sold to the tune of $11 million in sales. “It was interesting having our regular sale so close to the Leanin’ Tree sale,” says Jack Morris, one of the auction partners. “Bringing everyone back three months later was a little risky. We knew we wouldn’t have the same audience…

With his renderings of the Alps, Swiss painter Alexandre Calame influenced an entire generation of artists. In the 19th century, Calame’s paintings were prominently exhibited in Paris and his prints made their way across the globe, eventually becoming a sort of template for artists to study. His scientific attention to detail—whether it be his analysis of rock formations or the flow patterns of a river bed—served as building blocks dropped into larger landscape paintings. This approach to mountain-scapes was emulated not just by the European artists who studied with Calame, but the American artists who crossed paths with him. Drawing from its extensive collection of 19th century landscape art, the Newark Museum highlights the connections between American and European alpine paintings in The Rockies and the Alps: Bierstadt, Calame, and…

In the preface to the 1995 exhibition catalog Independent Spirits: Women Painters of the American West, 1890-1945, Patricia Trenton wrote, “While Western historians grapple with a ‘new’ historiography of the American West—rethinking and broadening its scope in terms of race, class, and gender—the production of art by Western women has been virtually ignored. Attention and focus have been directed only toward 19th-century art created by men and toward the stereotypical imagery of the Old West conveyed by their work.” In her introduction to the catalog, Virginia Scharff wrote, “…women artists have worked in what would come to be called the American West as long as humans have inhabited the terrain between the ninety-eighth meridian and the Pacific Ocean. Navajo women wove. Pueblo women made pottery. Pomo women shaped baskets. Between…

At the base of the beautiful Beartooth Mountains—where eight of the 10 highest peaks in Montana stand—sits one of the country’s finest collections of fine art. Beartooth Gallery Fine Art is a hidden gem in this small, spectacular, mountain town of Red Lodge, Montana. Beartooth Gallery’s unassuming facade leaves those who come inside shocked and amazed at the incredible collection of Western and contemporary art within. Beartooth Gallery has chosen who they consider to be 16 of the best artists of their genre to be honored, showcasing their amazing artwork throughout the summer and fall of 2018. These events will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., allowing all to meet and interact with these highly acclaimed artists. Collectors of the artists may contact Beartooth Gallery…

Kicking off with an opening night gala the evening of June 21, Stampede Western Invitational Art Exhibit & Sale celebrates its 19th year showcasing Western art from notable artists and putting emerging artists on the map. At the gala, guests can meet and purchase artwork directly from artists, the proceeds of which fund the nonprofit Greeley Stampede Foundation’s scholarship program. Several artists will also participate in a quick draw, which ends with an auction of the pieces created. This year’s event will host 42 artists across 12 states, including Julie Bender, Cathy Sheeter and Jody Robb. “It is a high-caliber Western art show including many of the top Western artists in the country,” says Shirley Holland, who is part of the organizing committee and founder of Stampede Western Invitational along…

March 23 to 25, Desert Caballeros Western Museum hosted the opening weekend for its 13th annual Cowgirl Up! Art from the Other Half of the West exhibition and sale. The three days saw early success for the show, as a record number of patrons attended the festivities. These increased numbers helped the event also achieve its highest grossing opening ever, with more than $400,000 earned via art sales and live auctions. Proving particularly popular were the Sunday morning festivities, with more than 700 attending the breakfast and quick draw that culminated in a live auction of 21 pieces created by Cowgirl Up! artists. As the museum shares, “The live auction of the artists’ quick draw pieces raised more than $45,000, nearly double the amount raised last year.” Thirty-nine of the…

The New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe is fast at work on a $10 million expansion that will include a space for contemporary art. The museum most recently announced a $4 million gift from Santa Fe philanthropists Ellen and Bob Vladem, who have been given naming rights to the new expanded space in the Santa Fe Railyard. The expansion will be called Vladem Contemporary. The Vladem gift is the largest donation in the museum’s history. “On behalf of the State of New Mexico and the Department of Cultural Affairs, I extend our deep appreciation to Ellen and Bob Vladem for their overwhelming generosity,” says Cultural Affairs Secretary Veronica Gonzales. “We now have momentous support to exhibit and grow our contemporary collections. The visionary design of the architects honors…

Thomas Davies bought his first painting at the age of 25 for the exorbitant price of $75 at a 1965 Salmagundi Club auction in New York. He is still collecting and learning and is a respected dealer and scholar. In a profile of his collection in the November 2017 issue of American Fine Art Magazine he said, “I find when I’m looking at what’s coming up at the auctions or in the galleries, my mind is working on two tracks—looking for something at a good price to take into inventory and also something to keep. Occasionally I’ll buy something for sale and want to keep it. I’m partial to Cape Ann paintings and prone to coastal harbor images. They resonate more than perhaps anything else.” Not included in that article…

Recently, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Z.S. Liang to talk about his latest historical painting. The subject of which is Sitting Bull, the renowned Chief of the Lakota Sioux Indians. Sitting Bull, of course, is best known by most for “Custer’s Last Stand” and the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876. That battle, which pitted the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians against the U.S. Cavalry, resulted in the death of Gen. George Custer and most of the men in the 7th Cavalry. Because of this Sitting Bull is often depicted, in portraits, as a strong warrior—wearing a large headdress or a single feather at the back of his head. So, when I initially saw this new painting, I was naturally intrigued by the way in which Z.S.…

In 1922, Cady Wells (1904-1954) discovered the desert and the mountains when he was sent to school in Arizona from his home in the green rolling hills of central Massachusetts. He also discovered painting. Eleven years later, after sojourns in Southeast Asia, Japan and China, he began to study with Andrew Dasburg (1887-1979) in Taos, New Mexico. Dasburg wrote, “The objects and occurrences of natural phenomena are not art. For not appearances, but causations, the underlying geometric mechanism is the guiding principle on which [the artist] builds.” Wells’ Untitled Landscape, 1933, is an example of all those influences. The geometry of the landscape is simply shown with short calligraphic brushstrokes with the simplicity found in Japanese painting. The straight, angled brushstrokes recall the tilted strata of the mountains. The sweeping…

At their annual gala, the Museum of Northern Arizona will honor Navajo weaver D.Y. Begay. The event marks the opening of the exhibition Tselani/Terrain: Tapestries of D.Y. Begay, which serves as a reflection on the artist’s birthplace of Tselani, Arizona. Carrie Heinonen, the museum’s director and CEO, says, “D.Y. is a master artist, and she has the distinction of being a former museum staff member, so there is a particular joy in being able to celebrate her work at this year’s gala.” Begay’s selection is also significant because it is the first time a Native American woman has been featured at the gala. During the gala weekend, weavers will be on site demonstrating their work, and educating visitors to the immense amount of time and effort that go into creating…

The way Brian Lebel sees it, smaller cities just have more character. And character creates community. There are few places where this is as evident as in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the new home to Lebel’s popular Cody Old West Show & Sale. “We want that sense of community, and we got it with Santa Fe,” Lebel says of his upcoming show June 23 and 24 event at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center in the heart of the ancient city. “To get that community element we’re partnering with galleries and museums, working with the local population and just trying to be a friendly partner with the area. I really liked this idea of being able to walk everywhere, how everything could be reached by a short walk from the…