Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2025/No. 220 i Western Art Collector

Welcome to the December issue of Western Art Collector! Around these parts, in Scottsdale, Arizona, we study the West every day at work and play. We are surrounded by experts giving us insight, via phone conversations, studio visits, podcast episodes, interviews and email exchanges. We are at the epicenter of Western art. Whether it’s an artist relating the story of their painting or a collector telling the story of why they bought the painting—this is history we absorb and appreciate daily. A cowboy is a cowboy is a cowboy, whether painted far in the past or just yesterday with a clear vision of the role these present-day figures play in our culture. The work can be painted in geometric abstraction, or in an illustrative style with bright colors, or as…

For Legacy Gallery’s upcoming Annual Small Works Show, collectors will find diversity among the many impressive small and miniature options, with a range across medium and subject matter. “This exhibition has become one of Legacy Gallery’s most anticipated traditions, and we are delighted to share these miniature masterpieces with our community,” shares Cyndi Hall, gallery manager. The showcase, opening on December 11, presents wonderful Western examples by artists like David Mann, whose subject matter has always centered on Native American themes with some overlap into mountain man and pioneer connections. “Within the Native American framework, I primarily focus on Navajos of the Southwest and the tribes of the Great Plains,” the artist adds. “This group of people, with their wonderful imagery, have always fascinated me and I think that interest…

Every year, Manitou Galleries hosts a show offering an abundance of small-scale works unrestricted by medium or subject, ranging from painting and sculpture to jewelry and mixed media. The Annual Small Works show, opening December 5, is known for celebrating artistic diversity and the creativity of the gallery’s beloved favorites. “At Manitou Galleries, we believe small works carry a unique power,” says general manager Cyndi Hall. “Their intimate scale draws viewers closer, creating a personal connection and allowing the details, skill and emotional resonance to shine. These miniature masterpieces embody the same brilliance and depth as larger works, while offering an accessible and meaningful way to grow or begin a collection.” Collectors will find unique gems like Dyana Hesson’s 16-by-12-inch painting Twilight Delight, Christmas Cholla Superstition Wilderness, featuring a modern…

I was recently in Las Cruces, New Mexico, for a small family trip. My wife and I are suckers for bookstores in new cities, and right away we found one that seemed to stretch for a whole city block. I judge a bookstore by the quality of its art section, and this one was superb—shoutout to COAS Books, which had books I never knew existed. One of my purchases that day was Contemporary Western Artists by Peggy and Harold Samuels. The book is essentially an encyclopedia of living Western artists from 1982, the year the book was published. Nearly 1,000 artists are represented: each has a small biography, a headshot, one artwork image and, my favorite part, an example of their signature. Skimming through, there are many artists in the…

Altamira Fine Art 172 Center Street, Suite 100 Jackson, WY 83001 (307) 739-4700, www.altamiraart.com Paulette Bensignor info@pbensignor.com www.pbensignor.com, IG: @pbensignor Stephanie Campos artist@stephaniecampos.com www.stephaniecampos.com Gallery Wild 80 W. Broadway, Jackson Hole, WY 83001 (307) 203-2322, www.gallerywild.com J Watson Fine Art (661) 476-7558 info@jwatsonfineart.com www.jwatsonfineart.com Legacy Gallery 225 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501 (505) 986-9833, www.legacygallery.com Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery 6872 E. Sunrise Drive, Suite 130 Tucson Arizona 85750 (520) 722-7798 www.medicinemangallery.com L J McLoughlin (520) 507-0213 www.ljmcloughlin.com…

It has been widely thought that the decline of Westerns in cinemas and on television came about because of the Space Race in the 1960s, which would lead to a boon for science fiction with Star Trek, Star Wars and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Of course, Westerns never went away, but their role in the cultural landscape was diminished as Americans turned their attention to the skies and beyond. California painter Danny Galieote is uniting the two—Westerns and science fiction—in his newest show, Pop American Realism: Tipping the Scales of the Modern West, opening December 6 at Maxwell Alexander Gallery in Pasadena, California. His newest paintings not only celebrate science fiction, they also embrace the weirdness of the West and the quirky way it can transcend multiple genres at once. “I’ve…

Artist Julia Arriola, of Mescalero/Mayo descent, comes from a long line of storytellers. “My grandmother was Mescalero, and I remember sitting on her porch listening to her stories. She had a knack for blending the old with the new that made her stories come alive,” she says. Arriola’s newest body of work—a series of ledger drawings on 20th-century ledger paper depicting anthropomorphized animals—reframes the old Native American myths and legends she heard as a child. “Myths and legends are constantly being reinterpreted to reflect the values, concerns and imaginations of each new generation. This ongoing reinterpretation highlights the timeless relevance of myth and legend, as well as their adaptability to changing social, political and artistic contexts,” says Arriola. Each ledger drawing also reflects the artist’s interest in the retro-futuristic steampunk…

When the Lone Ranger cried “Hi-yo, Silver! Away!” as he and his white horse raced off to the rescue, both were outfitted in silver-mounted gear handcrafted by Edward H. Bohlin (1895-1980). From the 1940s through the ’70s, Bohlin’s ornately detailed saddles appeared on other TV and Hollywood Westerns starring Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, Cisco Kid and others; and in events like the Tournament of Roses parades. Known as the “Saddle-maker to the Stars,” Bohlin went on to create a brand the company describes “as iconic as the famed Western stars” themselves. In celebration of Bohlin’s legacy and his incredibly intricate leather and silver work, the Museum of Western Art in Kerrville, Texas, in collaboration with gallery owner and prominent collector Charles Morin, presents Silver Saddles and the Silver Screen: The…

Between the live auction, quickdraw and silent auction, the 44th Annual Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale achieved more than $1.4 million in art sales during the September event, one of the most successful to date. More than 600 people attended the live auction, held at Buffalo Bill Center of the West, in Cody, Wyoming, with more than 90 percent of the lots going home with happy collectors. “The audience brought incredible energy to this year’s live auction, with several moments of lively bidding,” says Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale director Katelyn Parker. One stand-out moment was when Krystii Melaine’s Guardian of Wilderness sold for $26,000, more than double its retail price of $12,000. “The crowd’s enthusiasm and our incredible auctioneer, Troy Black and his associates, made for an unforgettable…

1 Tim Cherry stuns at Society of Animal Artists In October, Western Art Collector awarded Tim Cherry the Western Art Collector Award of Excellence at the Society of Animal Artists’ 65th Art & The Animal exhibition at the Art Museum of Eastern Idaho. The award was given for Cherry’s work Prairie Monarch, a mirror-polished steel sculpture of a pronghorn. “I hope to create the best possible sculpture that I can by building strong designs through the use of shape, line, texture and color, and always pushing my artistic boundaries to achieve what has not been done before,” Cherry says of the work. “I strive to reach out and experiment with new designs and gestures, creating sculptures that are well orchestrated, balanced, emotionally interesting, stimulating and lyrical.” Some of the casts have…

Nov. 28, 2025-Oct. 18, 2026 Ed Mell: In the Studio PHOENIX ART MUSEUM Phoenix, AZ – (602) 257-1880 www.phxart.org November Nov. 16, 2025-Oct. 26, 2026 Wagon Road to Mother Road MUSEUM OF NORTHERN ARIZONA Flagstaff, AZ – (928) 774-5213 www.musnaz.org Nov. 22, 2025-Jan. 10, 2026 Silver Saddles and the Silver Screen: The Golden Age of Hollywood MUSEUM OF WESTERN ART Kerrville, TX – (830) 896-2553 www.museumofwesternart.com Nov. 28, 2025-Oct. 18, 2026 Ed Mell: In the Studio PHOENIX ART MUSEUM Phoenix, AZ – (602) 257-1880 www.phxart.org December On View Now Ben Steele: A POP of Art! JAMES MUSEUM OF WESTERN & WILDLIFE ART St. Petersburg, FL – (727) 892-4200 www.thejamesmuseum.org December 12-31 Small Works Holiday Show PARSONS GALLERY OF THE WEST Taos, NM – (575) 737-9200 www.parsonsart.com December 4-24 Kathryn Stedham:…

Note: This is an excerpt from Sage Vogel’s new book of stories, Dichos en Nichos. It was made possible by the author and the book’s publisher, University of New Mexico Press. The book is now available. “Pick up your feet, Elique,” Guadalupe Fernández told her son, pulling him by the hand toward the church. “I don’t want you getting your shoes all covered in dust. You need to look presentable.” “Ay mamá, I won’t get them dirty. Let me go, suéltame,” Elique said, struggling to pull himself free. “If you don’t start behaving I’m going to have you spend another Saturday with Padre Pablo,” she said, holding firm. “Leave the boy alone, Lupe,” Guadalupe’s husband Ramón told her, his tone leaving no room for debate. She let go of their son,…

On a recent flight into Albuquerque, New Mexico, the pilot asked the passengers to brace for a bumpy ride down into the Albuquerque Basin. “The cabin got real quiet. You could almost hear a pin drop as everyone clung to their seats,” one of the passengers, artist Kathryn Stedham, remembers. “It was unnerving as the plane bumped all the way down. Mentally, I was prepared for the worst. I kept thinking, ‘At least I’m in New Mexico. That’s where I want to be.’” Amid the white-knuckle descent to the desert floor, Stedham looked out the window as the plane flew parallel to the Sandia Mountains. Normally, the mountains tower over Albuquerque, but from several thousand feet, she had a unique vantage point, one that “transformed a tense moment to one…