Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2024/No. 198 i Western Art Collector

Behind every finished woodcut print there are countless preliminary studies, blocks and trial proofs. Cottonwood Tassels: Gustave Baumann’s Prints, Proofs, and Process, on view through March 9 at the University of New Mexico Art Museum, illustrates the steps and materials involved in creating an editioned impression of a woodcut print. Curated by Angel Jiang, Cottonwood Tassels: Gustave Baumann’s Prints, Proofs, and Process presents the UNM Art Museum collection as a teaching resource. “When I realized that we have a set of working proofs, wood blocks and a study that shows the progression of one of Baumann’s prints from beginning to end, I thought we had a great opportunity to use this material to demonstrate the process of making a woodcut,” says Jiang. “The aim is that everyone—from those who have…

For many artists, nature and its many inhabitants are the main source of inspiration. It seems as though since time began humans have been in awe of everything “wilderness,” seeing ourselves as separate rather than an integral part. Whether it’s an attempt to understand the “great outdoors” or to simply celebrate in it, artists have depicted wilderness subject matter throughout time. As the modern painter Marc Chagall once said, “great art picks up where nature ends.” Western artists in particular have taken great interest in the wilderness genre, recognizing the importance of conservation and historical relevancy. Artist Scott Yeager shares, “A lot of times, when I am in the wilderness painting, I feel like I am in the footprints of the early artist explorers, and I want to continue capturing…

During a 35-year period, Seattle-based gallery A.J. Kollar Fine Paintings acquired works by Charles M. Russell (1864-1926) for a prominent client who was interested in Russell’s authentic depictions of the West. After many years enjoying the works, the collector is now parting with the pieces, which will be featured in a show starting January 15. “We started this collection more than 35 years ago, and as each piece came in it was amazing to see again and again how good of a draughtsperson Russell was,” gallery owner Allan Kollar says. “The collection is made up of pen and ink drawings, some with watercolor, and the detail he was able to capture is incredible. He was an insightful and perceptive artist.” Russell’s works, even simple drawings and illustrated letters, are collected…

Sculptor Steve Kestrel says some of the magic of art happens in the moment halfway through a piece. “I work very intuitively and do a lot of mental editing as I go along. If I had completely worked out all of my ideas and images before I started carving, I’d probably never do them,” he says. “I’m still trying to explore what’s challenging, mysterious and unknown to me. I follow numerous tangents of interest and intrigue that lead me to solve unique challenges and problems in many different ways.” Kestrel will have new work on view in February at the Masters of the American West at the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles. His featured catalog piece is Water Wings, a stone carving of mobula rays. “The…

Only two museums in the world, the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Wyoming and the Rijksmuseum Twenthe in the Netherlands, hold masterworks by each member of the Big Four—Carl Rungius, Richard Friese, Wilhelm Kuhnert and Bruno Liljefors. This year, the two institutions are bringing together the best artworks from each of these powerhouse wildlife painters for the exhibition Survival of the Fittest: Envisioning Wildlife and Wilderness with the Big Four, Masterworks from the Rijksmuseum Twenthe and the National Museum of Wildlife Art, hosted by the James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art in St. Petersburg, Florida. “[Many visitors will remember] the exhibition and tour originated with the National Museum of Wildlife Art,” says Emily Kapes, curator of art at the James Museum. “[While] the James Museum’s collection of wildlife…

As the snow begins to pile up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, some of the regular national park tourists start disappearing off the streets. In their place are the skiers and thrill seekers who come to Wyoming to conquer the slopes. “Traffic never really lets up,” says Jackson Hole Art Auction managing director Kevin Doyle. “People are always around and enjoying the area. And also the art.” Doyle adds that anyone visiting Wyoming is welcome to pop into the auction house, where they can preview the new winter sale, which will take place February 17. “The sale itself is entirely online, but we always have the work available to anyone who might be nearby and want to see it,” he says. The mid-season sale will feature more than 300 lots of…

Now open at the Sid Richardson Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, is Charles M. Russell: Storyteller Across Media, a new exhibition examining the work of one of the West’s most iconic artists. The exhibition will feature a number of different mediums that Russell worked in, including oil, watercolor, pen and ink, bronze and even wax, which he was fond of sculpting for fun or as a preliminary version to his bronzes. “Over his more than 40-year career Russell chronicled his beloved West across paper, canvas, bronze and truly anything he could find to make art out of,” says Scott Winterrowd, director of the Sid Richardson Museum. “Russell adapted stories he heard from his cowboy cohorts, as well as Indigenous acquaintances, turning those narratives into a compelling document of the passing…

The War Party is both a complex and, in a somewhat surprisingly subtle way, it is also an important work of art with its composition personally selected and carefully crafted by Charles Marion Russell. It provides more useful insights about Russell’s creative artistic process than one might initially surmise. As an oil on canvas at 22 by 36 inches, its size is consistent with early Russell special works of that era. Because it relates to the tensions emerging from the pressures of Manifest Destiny, it strongly confirms Russell’s willingness to forthrightly depict a challenging image involving the Native American perspective on immigrant incursions and Western settlement. Most interestingly, in the century and a quarter since its creation, it seems to be among only a handful of Russell paintings to have…

Arizona-based artist Ed Mell paints images of the Southwest, but Arizonans can get a little territorial when it comes to his works. The label “Southwest,” they would say, is too broad a term for an artist whose works are so representative of the Grand Canyon State’s unmatched beauty in light, color and form. He belongs to Arizona, they might argue. For Mark Sublette, owner of Medicine Man Gallery in Tucson, Arizona, Mell is very much an Arizona artist, but Sublette also goes a step further. “He does represent Arizona, but I also see him as a great American artist. Yes, he paints the Southwest, but so did Georgia O’Keeffe. No one sees her work and says, ‘She was a great Southwest artist,’” Sublette says. “Ed’s work is similar in that…

Beginning in February in Los Angeles is the Masters of the American West exhibition and sale at the Autry Museum of the American West. The annual show, known for its stunning variety of artwork that speaks to the power of the American West, will present new works by an abundance of painters, sculptors, potters and even a glass blower. “We have 64 artists in the show, including many old favorites, but this year we also have 15 new artist that we are really excited about,” says Stephen Aron, the museum’s Calvin and Marilyn Gross Director and President and CEO. “This is our 27th year and we have at least a few of those artists who have been with us for nearly all of those years. What keeps the show fresh…

On November 11, the Coeur d’Alene Art Auction presented its mid-season online sale featuring a selection of Western works from many respectable artists, both living and deceased. As bidding concluded, the sale had generated $600,000 with a 96 percent sell-through rate. The sale closed out a phenomenal 2023, bringing the auction house’s total for the year to more than $24 million, of which the lion’s share was realized at the annual Coeur d’Alene Art Auction event in July in Reno, Nevada. The November sale’s top lot was William Herbert “Buck” Dunton’s 1906 oil J-D Outfit, a vertical composition showing a single cowboy watching over a herd of cattle. The 30-inchtall work had a high estimate of $100,000, surpassed by the skin of its teeth when it sold for $102,850. The…

FEBRUARY 10-MARCH 24: Masters of the American West AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST | Los Angeles, CA - (323) 667-2000 | www.theautry.org January JANUARY 15-MARCH 1 A.J. KOLLAR FINE PAINTINGS Charles M. Russell Seattle WA – (206) 323-2156 www.ajkollar.com JANUARY 27-JUNE 8 BOOTH WESTERN ART MUSEUM Art is Meant to be Shared: Highlights of the Eddie Basha Collection Cartersville, GA – (770) 387-1300 www.boothmuseum.org JANUARY 30-FEBRUARY 10 ALTAMIRA FINE ART Jared Sanders: Painted Ground Scottsdale, AZ – (480) 949-1256 www.altamiraart.com February OPENS FEBRUARY 2 MARK SUBLETTE MEDICINE MAN GALLERY  Ed Mell Tucson, AZ – (520) 722-7798 www.medicinemangallery.com THROUGH FEBRUARY 4 COWBOY ARTS AND GEAR MUSEUM Cowboyology Elko, NV – (775) 389-1713 www.cowboyartsandgearmuseum.org THROUGH FEBRUARY 4 OJAI VALLEY MUSEUM Ojai Mystique Ojai, CA – (805) 640-1390 www.ojaivalleymuseum.org THROUGH FEBRUARY 4…

After a successful run at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Tony Foster: Watecolour Diaries from the Green River is arriving at the Booth Western Art Museum on February 10 in Cartersville, Georgia. Based on field notes and journal entries from the distinguished British painter Tony Foster, the exhibition offers a glimpse into the artist’s methods of painting nature. The subject of Green River is no stranger to Western art. It has been painted repeatedly for more than 150 years. Thomas Moran was one of the first artists to depict the Green River’s majesty and today those works are some of his most cherished pieces that have homes in major museums and private collections. For Foster, the Green River offered an expansion of his exploration of American waterways. He…

March in Arizona is famously gorgeous, with pristine weather and clear skies. Legacy Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona, will mark the arrival of the spring season with a group show that will celebrate the beauty of the West from many of the region’s top artists. “It’s really the most beautiful time to be in Scottsdale,” says Legacy owner Brad Richardson. “We’re hoping people come out to enjoy Arizona and also our show, which is a hybrid of a museum and gallery show. We’re calling it Western Horizons, and it will be in partnership with and benefit Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West.” The show, which will highlight 35 artists and more than 100 works of art, features a suite of events both at the gallery and at the museum, which…

Contemporary Western art is not a new invention. Go ask artists like Ed Mell, CHoward Post or Billy Schenck. They’ve been doing it for decades, whether they knew it or not. And when you’re done with them, read up on artists like T.C. Cannon, Fritz Scholder, Maynard Dixon or even on some of the Navajo weavers who were doing modern art long before modern art was even a thing. It isn’t entirely new, but there is something unique about contemporary Western art of the last 10 to 20 years that seems to indicate a changing of the tides: more museums are adding contemporary art to their permanent collections, more collectors are embracing it for their own collections and more artists are working in contemporary styles, whether they be New Mexico…

In a new group show presented by Gallery Wild in Jackson, Wyoming, prominent artists feature paintings and mixed media works that depict winter scenes from the region, and more specifically, scenes that involve snow. Gallery co-owner Carrie Wild describes the show, titled Snowscapes, as a “collection of works inspired by the vivid tapestry of colorful winter landscapes, wintering wildlife that call the valley home, and the joy and playfulness that come with snow-filled adventures in this winter wonderland.” Artists in this showcase include Aaron Hazel, Amber Blazina, Nealy May Riley, Luke Anderson, Patricia A. Griffin, Jason Williams, Carrie Penley, Bridgette Meinhold, Taryn Boals and Carrie Wild, among many others. Painter Silas Thompson features his distinct style involving thick brushstrokes and noticeable texture in the piece Solstice, which pulls inspiration from…

Year after year, the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition comes to the Lowcountry of Charleston, South Carolina, for a weekend celebration of wildlife art and conservation. Now in its 42nd year, the nonprofit organization is once again offering attendees the opportunity to explore artwork by hundreds of the best wildlife artists working today. On top of that, SEWE has a huge variety of other special events, including the Lowcountry Social and Birds of a Feather Ladies Benefit Brunch, as well as the popular DockDogs competition, Busch Wildlife Sanctuary shows and live art demonstrations. Events will take place across five sites throughout downtown Charleston: Brittlebank Park, Charleston Place, Gaillard Center, Charleston Marriott and Marion Square. “With a legacy spanning more than four decades, SEWE has been a champion of wildlife art and the…