INSIDE Scottsdale Art Auction • SOA: Texas • Winold Reiss • Sheldon Parsons

APRIL 2018

128
 S A T U R D AY , A P R I L 7 , 2 0 1 8
AUCTIONING OVER 350 WORKS OF IMPORTANT
WESTERN, WILDLIFE & SPORTING ART

JOHN CLYMER 24'' X 40'' OIL HOWARD TERPNING 34'' X 30'' OIL
ESTIMATE: $200,000 - 300,000 ESTIMATE: $120,000 - 180,000

WILLIAM DUNTON 39'' X 26'' OIL BERT G. PHILLIPS 14'' X 24'' OIL
ESTIMATE: $200,000 - 300,000 ESTIMATE: $30,000 - 50,000

TOM LOVELL 20'' X 30'' OIL G. HARVEY 36'' X 30'' OIL

ESTIMATE: $100,000 - 150,000 ESTIMATE: $100,000 - 150,000

SA ART
SCOT TSDALE
AUCTION
7176 MAIN STREET • SCOTTSDALE ARIZONA 85251 • 480 945-0225 • www.scottsdaleartauction.com
 Scottsdale Art Auction
Saturday, April 7, 2018

CARL RUNGIUS 25'' X 30'' OIL CHARLES RUSSELL 13 ¾'' X 10 ½'' OIL
ESTIMATE: $250,000 - 350,000 ESTIMATE: $300,000 - 500,000

JOSEPH SHARP 18'' X 12'' OIL THOMAS MORAN 20'' X 30'' OIL
ESTIMATE: $50,000 - 75,000 ESTIMATE: $400,000 - 600,000

AUCTIONING OVER 350 WORKS OF

IMPORTANT WESTERN, WILDLIFE AND SPORTING ART
S A T U R D AY , A P R I L 7 , 2 0 1 8

color catalogue available $40

For information please call (480) 945-0225 or visit www.scottsdaleartauction.com.

SA SCOT TSDALE
ART AUCTION
7176 MAIN STREET • SCOTTSDALE ARIZONA 85251 • 480 945-0225 • www.scottsdaleartauction.com
F I N E A RT O F T H E A M E R I C A N W E S T

Charlie Dye, Shoeing the String, 1958, oil on board, 16 x 20 inches

Please call for availability

SEEKING ARTWORK PURCHASES AND CONSIGNMENTS

Individual Pieces • Collections • Dealers Welcome
Contact Us for Complimentary Artwork Appraisals

www.greatamericanwestgallery.com
332 S. Main Street • Grapevine, TX 76051 • 817.416.2600
 L E T T E R F R O M T H E E D I T O R

APRIL 2018 Monthly Brick and Mortar

A
PUBLISHER Vincent W. Miller s we all know, social media and other digital platforms have
EDITORIAL increased the amount of art that is being bought online these days.
EDITOR Joshua Rose Eager collectors scour the digital version of our magazine, gallery
editor@westernartcollector.com
websites and other similar virtual spaces to find the newest art offered each
MANAGING EDITOR Rochelle Belsito
rbelsito@westernartcollector.com month from top galleries across the country. To us, all art sales are good
DEPUTY EDITOR Michael Clawson things so this is very positive.
assistanteditor@westernartcollector.com
However, we will always be fans of brick and mortar galleries.
ASSISTANT EDITOR Erin Rand
Galleries found in places like Santa Fe, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle,
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sally Cameron
Scottsdale, New York City, Boston, Charleston or wherever else one may
SANTA FE EDITOR John O’Hern
find a cluster of such spaces these days. The art market needs galleries in
EDITORIAL INTERN Maia Gelvin
order to survive and thrive. It is galleries in these cities where collectors
ADVERTISING (866) 619-0841
wander into and explore, visit old talents and happily discover fresh ones.
SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Lisa Redwine
lredwine@westernartcollector.com As we all know, it is difficult to just look unencumbered at things online;
SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Christie Cavalier online activities are designed to get in and get business done and get right
ccavalier@westernartcollector.com
back out and there is little room for discovery or spontaneity. We all know
SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Anita Weldon
aweldon@westernartcollector.com
the feeling we get when we walk into a brand-new gallery space, take in
SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Cyndi Hochberg
the art on the walls, the new show, the fresh work, turn the corner and see
cyndih@westernartcollector.com something we’ve never seen before that just speaks to you, that touches you
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Cami Beaugureau in the way that only fine art can and that you have to acquire. These are the
camib@westernartcollector.com
experiences that come from buying art in galleries and nowhere else. And,
TRAFFIC MANAGER Ben Crockett
traffic@westernartcollector.com as far as I’m concerned, it’s one of the major reasons why we all do this in
PRODUCTION
the first place. Art media outlets—not ours of course—have been quick to
MULTI MEDIA MANAGER Adolfo Castillo try and announce the death of the gallery.
ART DIRECTOR Tony Nolan But it didn’t just take David Zwirner’s new $50 million Renzo Piano
GRAPHIC DESIGNER Audrey Welch designed monolith to let us know that actually the opposite is true. Galleries
JUNIOR DESIGNER Kevin King are flourishing right now and they will continue to flourish because they
humanize the art buying process. They remind us what it is about collecting
SUBSCRIPTIONS (877) 947-0792
SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER Emily Yee
art that brings us so much joy and happiness, and they are always out there,
service@westernartcollector.com looking for new artists, curating shows, participating in art fairs and just
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE Jaime Peach generally doing all they can to promote the idea that nothing makes a home
jpeach@westernartcollector.com
more than a home than one of a kind original art on the walls—chosen by
SUBSCRIPTIONS COORDINATOR Jessica Hubbard
admin@westernartcollector.com you, found and discovered in person and brought into our lives to live with
in perpetuity.
Copyright © 2018. All material appearing in Get Social!
Western Art Collector is copyright. Reproduction in whole
or part is not permitted without permission in writing from Sincerely,
the editor. Editorial contributions are welcome and should be
accompanied by a stamped self-addressed envelope. All care will be
taken with material supplied, but no responsibility will be accepted @artmags
western WesternArt collectart
for loss or damage. he views expressed are not necessarily those of
Joshua Rose art collector Collector
the editor or the publisher. he publisher bears no responsibility
and accepts no liability for the claims made, nor for information
provided by advertisers. Printed in the USA.
P.S. Have you seen our Art City Focus section yet? We are also scouring
Western Art Collector the country looking for the best and most innovative cities to feature in
7530 E. Main Street, Suite 105, Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Telephone (480) 425-0806. Fax (480) 425-0724 or this new section. Have one you’d like us to consider? Email me at
write to Western Art Collector, P.O. Box 2320, editor@westernartcollector.com.
Scottsdale, AZ 85252-2320

Single copies $7.95. Subscription rate for one year is $36.

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PUBLISHER VINCENT W. MILLER

WESTERN ART COLLECTOR
ON THE COVER. . .
(ISSN 1936-7546) is published 12 times a year Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953), The
by International Artist Publishing Inc. Artist in the Studio Mirror, oil on canvas,
www.WesternArtCollector.com 24 x 20” Estimate: $70/100,000
Available at the Scottsdale Art Auction.

4
 TEXAS ART
May 12 | Dallas | Live & Online

JOSÉ ARPA Y PEREA (Spanish, 1858-1952) | Breckenridge Park, San Antonio, Texas, 1922
Oil on canvas | 53-1/4 x 45-1/2 inches
Estimate: $60,000 - $80,000

Inquiries: Atlee Phillips | AtleeP@HA.com | 214.409.1786

View | Bid | Track
HA.com/5352

DALLAS | NEW YORK | BEVERLY HILLS | SAN FRANCISCO | CHICAGO | PALM BEACH
LONDON | PARIS | GENEVA | AMSTERDAM | HONG KONG

Always Accepting Quality Consignments in 40 Categories

1 Million+ Online Bidder-Members
Paul R. Minshull #16591. BP 12-25%; see HA.com 48864
 S A T U R D AY A P R I L 7 , 2 0 1 8
A U C T I O N I N G S E S S I O N I AT N O R E S E RV E

ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ 30'' X 40'' OIL CLYDE ASPEVIG 20'' X 22'' OIL
ESTIMATE: $10,000 - 15,000 ESTIMATE: $8,000 - 12,000

SANDY SCOTT 50''H BRONZE HOWARD POST 24'' X 36'' OIL

ESTIMATE: $10,000 - 20,000 ESTIMATE: $6,000 - 9,000

NANCY GLAZIER 34'' X 48'' OIL GEORGE CARLSON 27''H BRONZE

ESTIMATE: $15,000 - 25,000 ESTIMATE: $15,000 - 20,000

SA ART
SCOT TSDALE
AUCTION
7176 MAIN STREET • SCOTTSDALE ARIZONA 85251 • 480 945-0225 • www.scottsdaleartauction.com
 SA ASCOTTSDALE
7, 2018 • S
ART AUCTION
I-N R
PRIL ESSION O ESERVE

SCOTT CHRISTENSEN 44'' X 60'' OIL

ESTIMATE: $15,000 - 25,000
RAY SWANSON 49'' X 30'' OIL
ESTIMATE: $20,000 - 30,000

JAMES REYNOLDS 18'' X 24'' OIL FRANK MCCARTHY 30'' X 20'' OIL
ESTIMATE: $10,000 - 15,000 ESTIMATE: $25,000 - 35,000

AUCTIONING OVER 350 WORKS OF IMPORTANT

WESTERN, WILDLIFE & SPORTING ART
W
Session I (128 lots) sold at no reserve

For information please call (480) 945-0225 or visit www.scottsdaleartauction.com. Color Catalogue Available $40.

SA ART
SCOT TSDALE
AUCTION
7176 MAIN STREET • SCOTTSDALE ARIZONA 85251 • 480 945-0225 • www.scottsdaleartauction.com
 ANATOMY OF THE MAGAZINE
Use this magazine to help you become the first to acquire
new works for sale at upcoming shows coast to coast

COAST-TO-COAST COVERAGE
Find out what’s happening across the nation. Western Art Collector is the first
magazine to provide nationwide coverage of upcoming shows and auctions
showcasing Western art from coast to coast.

PREVIEWS PRICE RANGE INDICATORS

In the Preview pages we reveal new Check out and compare each
contemporary and historic Western contemporary Western artist’s prices
works about to become available for and see what you can expect to pay for
sale at the country’s leading Western their small, medium and large works.
art galleries. You can also see how the artist’s works
have been increasing in value as they
have become more widely collected.
AUCTION AND EVENT
PREVIEWS AND REPORTS
Each month we alert you to
ART SHOW LOCATIONS
upcoming Western art auctions and At the top of each Preview page you’ll
events nationwide. Read our reports see the destination where the
on prices fetched so you can stay upcoming exhibition is showing, the
informed and up-to-date on dates, and the gallery address and
the market. contact details so you can make
inquiries about paintings and sculpture
that catch your eye—before they go on
WESTERN ART INSIGHTS sale to the general public.
Find out everything the discerning
collector needs to know. Each month our panel of art consultants,
museum curators and experts share their behind-the-scenes knowledge
SPECIAL FOCUS SECTIONS
of how the Western art market works. Each month we will feature a special supplement designed to
spotlight the most important segments of the Western art market.

STATE OF THE ART GUIDES

In this feature, we put the spotlight on a different Western state in
selected issues and present collectors with a comprehensive buyer’s
guide to collecting Western art in each of these states.
WEBSITE LINKS
At the end of each Preview you will see an icon inviting you to visit
www.WesternArtCollector.com where you can find direct links to
galleries that are hosting important upcoming shows.

VIRTUAL ART WALK

Visit www.WesternArtCollector.com to see our sensational Virtual Art Walk. When a show
announcement catches your eye, click on it and the art will enlarge. Click again and you will
be linked directly to the gallery hosting the upcoming show.
 LOGAN MAXWELL HAGEGE

Logan Maxwell Hagege, he Rain Falls, he Sun Shines, 2018, oil on linen, 32 x 43 inches. © 2018 Logan Maxwell Hagege, courtesy Gerald Peters Gallery

MAY 10  JUNE 8, 2018

2 4 E A S T 7 8 T H S T R E E T, N E W YO R K , N E W YO R K 10 0 7 5
( 212 ) 6 2 8 - 9 76 0 | W W W. G P GA L L E RY. C O M
 SHERRIE MCGRAW x APACHE WATER JUG x 12x21 x OIL

DAN BODELSON x FLOWER WAGON x 20x30 x OIL DANIEL GERHARTZ x PAS DE DEUX x 40x30 x OIL

ROY ANDERSEN x PHIL BOB BORMAN x TOM

ALSO REPRESENTING
BROWNING x MARY ROSS BUCHHOLZ x NANCY BUSH x JILL
CARVER x TERESA ELLIOTT x WALT GONSKE x BRUCE GREENE
x ELDRIDGE HARDIE x MARK HAWORTH x ORELAND C JOE, SR
x FRANCOIS KOCH x DAVID LEFFEL x RICHARD LOFFLER x JIM
MORGAN x MIAN SITU x ROBERT PUMMILL x AMONG OTHERS

214 West Main x Fredericksburg, Texas x 888.997.9921 x insightgallery.com x info@insightgallery.com

TOM DORR x STOPPED FOR A DRINK x 32x40 x OIL BRIAN GRIMM x CREEKSIDE SIESTA x 24x30 x OIL
 CHUCK MIDDLEKAUFF

“Don’t Take Any Wooden Nickels,” 36 x 36” Acrylic on Canvas

“The Wacky West Wildlife Show,” 30 x 40” Acrylic & Watercolor on Paper on Canvas

MOUNTAIN TRAILS FINE ART ฀ DAVIS & BLEVINS GALLERY TRACY MILLER GALLERY ฀ CHUCK MIDDLEKAUFF STUDIO
Santa Fe, New Mexico St. Jo, Texas Manitou Springs, Colorado Austin, Texas
mountaintrailsfineart.com sjmainstreetgallery.com tracymillergallery.com chuckmiddlekauff.com
505-983-7027 940- 995-2786 719-650-0827 512-447-3567

chuckmiddlekauff.com
 ETHNOGRAPHIC ART:
American Indian, Pre-Columbian and Tribal
June 22, 2018 | Dallas | Live & Online

Now Accepting Consignments | Deadline: April 27

A Book of Kiowa Ledger Drawings

by Etahdleuh Doanmoe (Hunting Boy)
including 33 illustrations
Estimate: $60,000 - $80,000

Inquiries: 877-HERITAGE (437-4824)

Delia Sullivan | ext. 1343 | DeliaS@HA.com
HA.com/EthnographicArt

DALLAS | NEW YORK | BEVERLY HILLS | SAN FRANCISCO | CHICAGO | PALM BEACH
LONDON | PARIS | GENEVA | AMSTERDAM | HONG KONG

Always Accepting Quality Consignments in 40 Categories

1 Million+ Online Bidder-Members
Paul R. Minshull #16591. BP 12-25%; see HA.com 49380
 CONTENTS APRIL 2018

Previewing New Exhibitions Every Month Coast To Coast

BILLINGS

NEW YORK

JACKSON HOLE

PARK CITY

DENVER

PASO ROBLES

SANTA FE
LOS ANGELES SCOTTSDALE

PHOENIX

ALPINE FREDERICKSBURG

DUNEDIN

92 94 96 98

UPCOMING SOLO & GROUP SHOWS

92 David Grossmann 96 Andrew Bolam
Through earth and sky Visual cognition

94 Places called home 98 Wild country

Three-artist show Wildlife and Western Visions

14
 SPECIAL SECTIONS

State of the Art: Texas 66

Collector’s Focus: Emerging Artists 84

FEATURES
Global Inspiration 44
By John O’Hern

Winold Reiss: 50
A Body of Work Electric
By James D. Balestrieri

Parsons & Porter: 56

A Place Like No Other
By John O’Hern

Shifting Views 60
By Michael Clawson

Emerging Artists: Editor’s Choice 88

DEPARTMENTS
100
Scottsdale Art Auction
Calling Coast to Coast
Western Art News
28
30, 32, 34, 36
Scottsdale, AZ Recently Acquired 38
William Herbert “Buck” Dunton (1878-1936), Going In, Curating the West 40
The Bear Hunters. Oil, 39 x 26 in. Estimate: $200/300,000 Western Art Trail 42

AUCTIONS & EVENTS

PREVIEWS 114 Bonhams’ California 120 Trappings of Texas
100 Scottsdale Art Auction and Western Paintings Alpine, TX
Scottsdale, AZ & Sculpture sale
Los Angeles, CA
122 Cattlemen’s Western
106 Scottsdale Art Auction: Art Show & Sale
Session II 116 Nature’s Cadence: Paso Robles, CA
Scottsdale, AZ Paintings by Clyde Aspevig
Billings, MT
REPORT
110 Leslie Hindman Auctioneers’ 124 Masters of the American West
Arts of the American West 118 Jackson Collects: Los Angeles, CA
Denver, CO Wild Selections from
Private Collections
112 Christie’s Rockefeller Sale Jackson Hole, WY
New York, NY

15
 Sherry Harrington

Opening Weekend: March 23 & 24

Public Exhibition & Sale: March 25-May 6
San Antonio, Texas
Briscoemuseum.org/nightofartists

“Up in Chinle,” 20 x 16” Oil on Linen

B IG H ORN G ALLERIES

1167 Sheridan Avenue Cody, Wyoming 82414

(307) 527-7587 | bhgcody@bighorngalleries.com

P.O. Box 4080 • La Entrada de Tubac, Building K, Tubac, Arizona 85646

(520)398-9209 | tubac@bighorngalleries.com

"Comanche Doll," 24 x 16” Oil on Panel

 ARTS OF THE
CHICAGO AMERICAN WEST
DENVER

ATL ANTA
SATURDAY, APRIL 21 | DENVER
MILWAUK EE

NAPL ES
INQUIRIES
PAL M BEACH lesliehindman.com/denver
S COTTS DAL E denver@lesliehindman.com
S T. L OUIS 1024 Cherokee Street, Suite 200
Denver, Colorado 80204
303.825.1855

Oscar E. Berninghaus, (American, 1874-1952)

Wandering Home Seeker, 1951
To be sold at our April 21 Arts of the American West auction.

LESLIE
HINDMAN
AUCTIONEERS
“Bellow,” 24 x 3 6” Acr ylic on Canvas, $3,100

"Leader of the Pa ck," 3 0 x 3 0” Acr ylic on Canvas, $3,4 5 0

Pro f e s si o na l Wildlife A r tist

s h a n n o n m a r i e a r t i s t r y. c o m

3 07-201-1172 | thegrandjh.com | Jackson, WY

 Robbie
Fitzpatrick
w w w. r o b b i e f i t z p a t r i c k . c o m | r o b b i e @ r o b b i e f i t z p a t r i c k . c o m

Represented in Oklahoma by
Lovetts Fine Art Gallery
Tulsa, Oklahoma

Juried Memberships:
Women Artists of the West
Society of Animal Artists
Art Renewal Center Living Artist
International Guild of Realism

Impatience, watercolor, 18 X 12"

13th Annual

Art from the

Other Half of the West


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© 2017 DCWM • Illustration © Tim Zeltner
 N RS Hanna GalleryN

Marc R. Hanson,OPAM- “January Congregation” 24” x 48” Oil

Elizabeth Pollie - “Crossing the Divide” 25” x 44” Oil

Rosetta - ”Fresian Fantasy” - 16” h

Rosetta - “Jasmine II” - 6” h Bronze Bronze

RSHannaGallery.com | 244 West Main & 208 South Llano St. | Fredericksburg, TX 78624
Proudly Hosting the Women Artists of the West - Second Annual Spring Showcase | (830) 307-3071
 Roberto Ugalde

One Man Show O PENS A PRIL 14 TH - MAY

SOUTH 4500 Sigma Rd.

WEST Dallas, TX 75244
GALLERY 972.960.8935
www.swgallery.com
Faded Love, Oil on Oil Primed Panel, 14 x 24
gallery and show listings www.kathytate.com

KATHY TATE kathy@kathytate.com

254.968.4275
HIGH COUNTRY COWHANDS 36'' X 50'' OIL
ESTIMATE: $20,000 - 25,000

G ARY L YNN R OBERTS

High Country Cowhands
W

Will be sold at Scottsdale Art Auction on

Saturday, April 7, 2018

For more information please call (480) 945-0225

or visit www.scottsdaleartauction.com.
 “Little Lone Star Steer” 12x9" Watercolor

VALERIE COE
Cowgirl Artist
Watercolors | Oils | Commissions

530-233-2564
www.valeriecoe.com

33rd Annual

Bosque Art Classic

National Juried & Judged
Olana Gallery
"NOTHING BEATS EXPERIENCE!"
Representational Art Show & Sale
Listed in Who’s Who in American Art
Jason Rich, CA
since the 1970’s. Listed in the forthcoming
2018 Judge
edition of Who’s Who in America.

We stock approximately 15,000 books and

catalogs on American Art including 850
Western Art books and catalogs. Olana
Gallery was acknowledged in the National
Gallery of Art in the Washington, DC 2008
ž’Ĵȱ’—Ȃȱ’–Ž
by
Ž›–Š—ȱŠ•”Ž› catalog of Edward and Deborah Shein’s
2018 John Steven Jones Award Collection of Modernism.

$15,500 in Prizes Olana has served American art collectors

and lovers, scholars, dealers, universities
ћѡџѦȱђюёљіћђ and colleges since 1971.
May 29, 2018
WANT LISTS INVITED
Prospectus Online/By Request
254.386.6049 | art@BosqueArtsCenter.org olanagallery@comcast.net | 845-279-8077
www.BosqueArtsCenter.org | Clifton, TX
 Join us as we celebrate our milestone year
with special events and exhibitions, including…

September 15-October 28, 2018

TH ANNUAL WESTERN

THE MUSEUM 35 ART EXHIBITION & SALE

Call for artist deadline is June 1st
OF WESTERN ART Gala Evening with over 30 western artists
KERRVILLE, TEXAS
on Saturday, September 15, 2018
In the heart of the Texas Hill Country
Where the Legend Lives Visit www. museumof west ernar t . com | 830.896.2553
 Calling Coast to Coast
We ask leading galleries from coast to coast what their thoughts
are on the market and where it might be headed.

Broadmoor
GALLERY CO  D IR EC TO R Galleries
interior view
Jamie Oberloh 
Broadmoor Galleries
Colorado Springs, CO

The Broadmoor Galleries has been established for over 35 years and in
that time we’ve seen the art market transition and evolve to where the
most novice art appreciator can independently research an artist and
become an expert with the help of the internet. The buyer is savvier
than ever and they know what they want.
Fine art has been one of the last forms of physical media to resist
the powerful forces of the web and fall victim to complete online TJ, the
gallery’s dog,
commerce. And as we’ve seen the Amazon’s of the world consume
in front of
music and book stores, we still see most art buyers more comfortable Broadmoor
visiting physical galleries for the “gallery experience” that the web will Galleries in
be hard pressed to duplicate. However, we are in an age where online Colorado
commerce is ubiquitous and a generation of consumers is completely Springs,
comfortable buying high-end items online—from cars to condos. But Colorado.
just as Amazon never completely killed off the bookstore, the fine art
gallery will also sustain.  experience. We have the advantage of being located in a 5-star and
At the Broadmoor Galleries we’ve embraced technology 5-diamond resort hotel which gives us a captive audience and affords
and the digitization of the art market while placing a strong us the ability to represent such talented artists as Benjamin Wu,
focus on the fundamentals that continue to make us one of the Bonnie Marris, Gerald Balciar, Alexandr Onishenko and many more. 
strongest galleries in Colorado: quality, sophisticated work by
talented artists, true value of the work and exceeding our clients’ Broadmoor Galleries
expectation of service by providing an unparalleled art buying Colorado Springs, CO | (719) 577-5744 | www.broadmoorgalleries.com

28
 Western Art News

Returning Home
Alfred Jacob Miller’s monumental oil painting returns
to the Joslyn Art Museum after extended tour.

Alfred Jacob
Miller (1810-
1874), The
Surround, ca.
1839, oil on
canvas,
66 x 94½".
Collection
of Joslyn Art
Museum, Omaha,
NE, Museum
purchase,
1963.611.

N
ow on view at the Joslyn
Art Museum in Omaha,
Nebraska, is Alfred
Jacob Miller’s mid-1800s work
The Surround. The painting, at
nearly 8 feet wide, was a key part
of the traveling exhibition Wild
Spaces, Open Seasons: Hunting
and Fishing in American Art,
which opened in 2016 and visited
museums in Tennessee, Vermont
and Texas.
The exhibition included major
works from many important
Western artists, including William
Tylee Ranney, John George
Brown, Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait,
Charles M. Russell, William
R. Leigh, Charles Deas and
Frederic Remington. But it was
Miller’s enormous painting of
Native American hunters on
horseback surrounding buffalo
that most enthralled visitors to the
acclaimed exhibition.
The work, with its dramatic
action scene and moody tones,
was inspired by a scene Miller
saw while traveling in 1837
with William Drummond
Stewart, who asked Miller to
accompany him on a trip to the
Rocky Mountains so he could
record their adventures at the
annual fur trading fair known as
the rendezvous.  panic and furious rage, each man
“Buffalo hunts were high
points of the journey for
both men,” according to the
museum’s historical record of
the piece and its origins. “Miller
described a ‘surround’ (a Plains
Indian method of hunting): ‘On
reaching a proper distance, a
signal is given and they all start
at once with frightful yells, and
commence racing around the
herd, drawing their circle closer
and closer, until the whole body
is huddled together in confusion.
Now they begin firing, and as
this throws them into a headlong
selects his animal.’”
Miller made his pictures
in the field with pencil, ink
and watercolors. Later, in his
Baltimore studio, he translated
these early pictures into oil
paintings for Stewart and, later,
for other patrons fascinated by
the West. The Surround was
executed specifically for Murthly
Castle, Stewart’s ancestral home
in Scotland.
For more information about
the painting or the museum, visit
www.joslyn.org.

30
Clockwise from top: FREEDOM, 30 x 40" Oil on Canvas; SHE’S GOT THE LOOK, 36 x 48" Oil on Canvas; SPIRIT HORSE, 36 x 48" Oil on Canvas

2911 Garnett Ave Wichita Falls, TX 940-691-3229

lonesomedovegallery.com
 Western Art News

Art and Immigration

A new exhibition at Washington’s Tacoma Art Museum
explores Western art made by immigrants to America.

D
rawing from a vast
collection of materials,
the Tacoma Art Museum
in Tacoma, Washington, is now
exhibiting Immigrant Artists
and the American West, a new
exhibition that features work from
artists who came from outside the
United States.
The exhibition, which opened
on February 2, taps into the
personal and political issues
that are at the forefront of an
ongoing immigration dialogue. It
pulls artwork from the museum’s
Northwest Art Collection and the
vast Haub Family Collection of Robert Lougheed (1910-1982), Alberta Morning, oil on Masonite, 10 x 20”. Tacoma Art Museum, Haub Family
Western American Art, as well Collection. Gift of Erivan and Helga Haub, 2015.29.10.
as featuring prominent loans
from other museums and private France, Germany, Japan, Mexico and shifting values that affect many to personal and political issues
collections. Artists being shown and Russia, among others. people’s lives in our community around immigration.”
in Immigrant Artists and the “Immigration is a topic on many and beyond, Immigrant Artists and The exhibition will highlight
American West come from places peoples’ minds,” the museum the American West draws attention works that show how immigrants
such as China, Denmark, England, states. “With changing policies to how art relates to and responds often came to the United States
looking for better opportunities,
and how they had a profound
impact on the development of
the West. Artists featured include
Mian Situ, who was born in
China; Canadian-born painter
Robert Lougheed; Peter and
Thomas Moran, who were both
born in England; and modernist
painter Kenjiro Nomura, who was
born in Japan before coming to
the United States as a boy; as well
as many other artists.
The exhibition will be on view
through June 14, 2020. For more
information visit
www.tacomaartmuseum.org.

Kenjiro Nomura (1896-
1956), Gymnasium, 1945, oil
on canvas, 24 x 30”. Tacoma Art
Museum, Museum purchase, 2013.6.

32
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I
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with images of new work 12 Issues of the Monthly Magazine about the Western art market.
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 Western Art News

Lady of the Alamo

Texas sculptor Bruce Greene’s newest monument will
be placed at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas.

M
any years ago, before Texas painter and
sculptor Bruce Greene was even a member
of the Cowboy Artists of America, he had
completed a bronze piece of Susanna Dickinson, one of
the few survivors of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. The
work was just a tabletop-sized piece, maybe one-sixth
life-size, but it left an impression on those who saw it,
enough that the officials at the Alamo, decades later,
have asked Greene to do another sculpture of Dickinson
for the historic site in San Antonio, Texas.
The new work, the 89-inch tall The Lady of the
Alamo, is now finished in clay and at the foundry for
its bronze cast. Its next stop will be the Alamo, where it
will join more than a dozen other sculptures, both old
and new, on a new sculpture walk that will be part of
the renovated Alamo site. The sculptures will tell stories
about the Alamo and its most famous figures, from
Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett to Dickinson, who, with
her 18-month-old baby Angelina, refused to leave the
mission and were caught up in the battle.
“I just love her story. Her husband, Almaron
Dickinson, was one of the men killed in the battle. He
was in charge of an area not far from where she was
hidden in the baptistery of the mission. She had been
offered an opportunity leave, but she stayed with him,”
Greene says from his Texas studio. “She even confirms
one of the big stories from the Alamo. She saw Davy
Crockett run into the church, [fall] on his knees, [make]
peace with his maker and then [go] out to die. He
was the last person she saw before the Alamo fell. It’s
powerful, powerful stuff.”
The renovation project has no exact completion date,
but once The Lady of the Alamo is casted and finished,
likely in May, it will be taken to San Antonio, where it
will be unveiled in a garden next to the mission. The
work, of which there will be only one edition, features
Dickinson holding her baby amid the debris of the
battle, including a wagon wheel from a cannon, a sabre
sticking out of the soil and a soldier’s hat.
“If you’re a sculptor in Texas there’s not a better place
in the world to have a piece than at the Alamo,” Greene
says of the opportunity to create a work for the historic
site near and dear to many Texans. “It was a fun project
and I’m just honored they would ask me to contribute at Bruce Greene with the clay version of The Lady of the Alamo, a
new work that will be placed at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas.
this sacred site.”

34
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 Western Art News

Mini Subjects
National Museum of Wildlife Art turns spotlight on small wildlife
in exhibition now on view at the Wyoming museum.

T
he National Museum of
Wildlife Art in Jackson
Hole, Wyoming, is now
presenting TINY: Charismatic
Minifauna from the Permanent
Collection, an ongoing exhibition
that focuses on the lesser-
painted, but still important, small
mammals found in the American
wilderness.
It’s so often the case that
larger animals—buffalo, elk,
mountain lion, grizzly bears and
pronghorn—are the featured
subjects in wildlife paintings, a
trend that the Wyoming museum
will buck when it highlights
works of small animals such as
skunks, mice, lizards, insects
and petite, delicate birds of
many different varieties. The
works range from scientific
renderings done with exquisite
attention to detail to more
abstract paintings that capture
the mood and attitude of the Michael Coleman, Skunk, oil on board, 11 x 14”. JKM Collection, National Museum of Wildlife Art. © Michael Coleman.
creatures.
Artists in the exhibition include
William Jacob Hays Sr., Dwayne
Harty and Michael Coleman,
whose works are often vast
landscapes that show the epic
scale of the American wilderness.
For this exhibition, Coleman turns
his attention to a baby skunk,
which is dwarfed by tall green
grass that stretches above the
subject like a tall forest—a forest
just a foot or so tall. The exhibition William Jacob Hays Sr. (1830-1875), The Pond: Snipes John James Audubon (1785-1851), Two Bank Mice,
will also feature works by noted and Frog, 1862, oil on canvas, 8 x 12”. Gift of the 1999 1846, watercolor and pencil on paper, 12¾ x 18/”.
Collectors Circle, National Museum of Wildlife Art. JKM Collection, National Museum of Wildlife Art.
ornithologist John James Audubon,
who is most widely known for
his bird paintings, but did a great expeditions. The exhibition will master Pablo Picasso. continues through April 15. For
number of works on mammals feature work by wildlife painter TINY: Charismatic Minifauna more information visit
he encountered on his various Wilhelm Kuhnert and modern art from the Permanent Collection www.wildlifeart.org.

36
 32nd annual
Jack of All Trades
TRAPPINGS of TEXAS Etching by Chessney Sevier
2018 Premier Artist
Exhibit & Sale of Traditional Western
Art & Custom Cowboy Gear

April 12-14
Opening Weekend Reception & Sale
Exhibit runs through May 27, 2018

At the Museum of the Big Bend on the campus of

Sul Ross State University in ALPINE, TEXAS

For more information, call 432-837-8143

museumofthebigbend.com

Bronze Sculptures Doug@DouglasBClark.com

he Back Scratcher Bufalo Pies

bronze on granite, 7 x 5 x 9 3/4", edition of 33 bronze on granite, 12 x 6 x 9", edition of 30
 Recently Acquired
Denver Art Museum:
Birger Sandzén
T
he Denver Art Museum has acquired a
number of new works throughout 2017,
including a major work by Swedish-
American Birger Sandzén, whose impressionist
works of the American West have thrilled
collectors and art enthusiasts.
The 1927 piece, A Mountain
Symphony  (Longs Peak, Rocky Mountain
National Park, Colorado), was purchased
by the museum’s Petrie Institute of Western
American Art, which governs the Denver Art
Museum’s extensive collection of Western art.
The oil painting was done in Colorado and has
strong ties to the Centennial State. The work
has not been viewable by the public since the
year it was painted, more than 90 years ago.
“After moving from Europe to Kansas,
Sandzén visited Colorado every summer
between 1908 and 1952,” the museum states
38
about the work. “In this painting, Longs Peak
crowns the colorful visual ‘symphony’ of
Sandzén’s interpretation of Rocky Mountain
National Park. The vibrant palette, broad
brushstrokes and sculptural quality of the
paint surface reflect the influence of late-19th
and early-20th century modernist techniques,
many of which Sandzén absorbed while
studying in Paris.”
In addition to the Sandzén, the museum
announced a number of other acquisitions
made throughout 2017, either through
purchasing or received as donations: a work
by French impressionist Eva Gonzalès, two
designs by American fashion designer Ralph
Rucci, a monumental work by contemporary
American artist Mark Bradford, a large work
by First Nations artist Kent Monkman (Fish
River band Cree/Irish), 30 photographs by
Birger Sandzén (1871-1954),
A Mountain Symphony (Longs
Peak, Rocky Mountain National
Park, Colorado), 1927, oil on canvas,
48 x 60”. Funds from the DAM
Westerners, 2017.28
American photographer Brett Weston, and
many other important works across many
different catagories.
“During 2017, the Denver Art Museum
strategically enhanced the breadth and depth
of its collection through a variety of major
acquisitions, both purchases and gifts from
generous museum supporters,” the museum
stated in a release announcing the acquisitions.
“This ongoing refinement and expansion of
the museum’s collection exemplifies the
[museum’s] enduring commitment to maintain
a diverse collection that reflects the community
and provides invaluable ways for audiences to
learn about cultures from around the world.”
Calling all Western Art museums! Have a recently
acquired painting or sculpture? Email the details
to editor@westernartcollector.com.
SOUTH RIM STALKER, 36 x 48" OIL ON CANVAS

J ulie A sher Lee PAINTING

VISIONS OF THE
www.julieasherlee.com 8 l 7-487-2478 WILD WEST

ADOBE WESTERN ART GALLERY

Fort Worth Stockyards
2400 North Main Street, Fort Worth, TX 76164 817- 624 - 4242

JOHN COLEMAN

Spring
1-888-779-2240
Art Show
www.plainsmen.com April 21 - May 26 
 Curating the West

Each Month We Ask Leading Museum

Curators About What’s Going On In Their World.
I attended the opening of inspiration that comes from
Bryan W. Knicely the Louvre Abu Dhabi back each exhibition. My goal in
Executive Director in November. Words cannot the museum world is to make
describe how fantastic that a connection, sometimes for
Yellowstone Art Museum
Billings, MT experience was and the museum the first time, between people
(406) 256-6804 itself (architecturally)! and art. Every exhibition has
www.artmuseum.org the opportunity to engage a
What are you researching at
community on a thought or
the moment?
theme and allow each patron to
The YAM staff is researching the view their world through a newly
What event (gallery show, What are you reading? historic and contemporary works inspired lens. We all know that art
museum exhibit, etc.) in the Currently reading Being a Dog: of art and their deep connections transforms our lives daily, and it
next few months are you Following the Dog Into a World to the region. has been my career goal to break
looking forward to, and why? of Smell by Alexandra Horowitz down the barriers of inclusion in
What is your dream exhibit to
Looking forward to the Rough and and The Three-Box Solution: A curate? Or see someone else the museum world. We all have
Tumble: Smoke and Rope show Strategy for Leading Innovation by curate? creative talents and abilities...
and documentary that is a unique Vijay Govindarajan. when we are encouraged and/
My dream exhibit is less or inspired to realize them. Each
look at what many think is a lost
Interesting exhibit, gallery traditional than what one may
world in the West, but one that is piece of art provides a new
opening or work of art you’ve consider a major blockbuster,
still alive and “kicking” in eastern opportunity for this personal
seen recently. but instead one of personal
Montana. transformation.

reading to educate myself and second of two catalogs funded

Tricia Laughlin Bloom
Curator, American art
Newark Museum
Newark, NJ
(973) 596-6550
www.newarkmuseum.org
What event (gallery show,
museum exhibit, etc.) in the
next few months are you
looking forward to, and why?
I’m excited about the opening
of the Rockies and the Alps:
Bierstadt, Calame, and the
Romance of the Mountains.
This is a great show we’ve been
working on for three years,
pairing our Western landscape
painting collection with paintings
of the Alps by both American and
European artists. I’m also looking
forward to seeing Tarsila do
Amaral: Inventing Modern Art in
Brazil at the Museum of Modern
Art. She’s a great artist due for this
kind of broader attention.
What are you reading?
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer.
It’s fiction that crosses the
genres of sci-fi and horror, set
somewhere in the panhandle
of Florida. I alternate between
reading to escape.
Interesting exhibit, gallery
opening or work of art you’ve
seen recently.
Louise Bourgeois: An Unfolding
Portrait at MoMA was terrific. I’ve
always loved her work but hadn’t
seen that many of her prints
together in one show before.
She was a great draughtsman—
such confidence in terms of line
and imagery—and her imagery
is strong and imaginative and
feminist in a way that also feels
universal.
What are you researching at
the moment?
I’m researching works of abstract
art in our collection for a catalog
we’re producing for publication
next year. This will be the
by the Henry Luce Foundation,
in a new series titled Seeing
America to showcase the ongoing
reinstallation of our American and
Native American galleries.
What is your dream exhibit to
curate? Or see someone else
curate?
Reconceiving our permanent
modern and contemporary
galleries and continuing to
integrate Native American, Latin
American and African American
art as a part of that process is
honestly a dream project. For
instance, as part of our 2019
reinstallation I’m working on a
new gallery of indigenous and
modern art that will range from
pre-Columbian to contemporary
works.

40
 Now Proudly Representing

Greg Newbold

Greg Newbold “Haycropolis” | Oil | 36'' x 60''

Greg Newbold, A Gold Medal Winner

Society of Illustrators Los Angeles
 Western Art Trail Calendar

Our guide to special events, sales

& auctions from coast to coast

APRIL
April 5-June 16
HOCKADAY MUSEUM OF ART
The Surging, Thundering Herd:
Vintage Bison Engravings
Kalispell, MT – (406) 755-5268
www.hockadaymuseum.og

April 6-8
PASO ROBLES EVENT CENTER
Cattlemen’s Western
Art Show & Sale
Paso Robles, CA – (805) 464-9335
www.cattlemenswesternartshow.com

April 6-27
INSIGHT GALLERY
Places I Call Home
Fredericksburg, TX – (830) 997-9920
www.insightgallery.com
Ending April 7
HOCKADAY MUSEUM OF ART
Beyond Craft: The Art of Ceramics
Kalispell, MT – (406) 755-5268
www.hockadaymuseum.og
April 8-May 5
CHEROKEE HERITAGE CENTER
47th annual Trail of Tears
Art Show and Sale
Tahlequah, OK – (888) 999-6007
www.cherokeeheritage.org
April 12-14
MUSEUM OF THE BIG BEND
32nd Annual Trappings of Texas
Alpine, TX – (423) 837-8143
www.museumofthebigbend.com
Ending April 13
NEW MEXICO MUSEUM OF ART
A Place Like No Other: Two Views
of the New Mexico Landscape
Santa Fe, NM – (505) 476-5072
www.nmartmuseum.org
April 21-May 25
HIRSCHL & ADLER
Winold Reiss
New York, NY – (212) 535-8810
www.hirschlandadler.com
Kyle Polzin, Letters from Libbie, oil on canvas, 21 x 37" Estimate: $30/40,000
April 7: Scottsdale Art Auction
Scottsdale, AZ | (480) 945-0225 | www.scottsdaleartauction.com
April 21-May 26 Ending April 27
PLAINSMEN GALLERY MEDICINE MAN GALLERY
MAY
Wildlife and Western Visions Josh Elliott: Desert Time Travels May 1-May 31
Dunedin, FL – (888) 779-2240 Tucson, AZ – (520) 722-7798
PHIPPEN MUSEUM
www.plainsman.com www.medicinemangallery.com
5th annual Miniature
Ending April 22 April 27-29 Masterpiece Show and Sale
Prescott, AZ – (928) 778-1385
PHIPPEN MUSEUM CIVIC CENTER PLAZA
www.phippenartmuseum.org
Portraits of the West 42nd Annual Fine Art show
Prescott, AZ – (928) 778-1385 San Dimas, CA – (909)599-5374 May 5-6
www.phippenartmuseum.org www.sandimasarts.org
FALLBROOK ART CENTER
Ending April 22 Ending April 28 Reflections of Nature: Wildlife
EITELJORG MUSEUM NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WILDLIFE ART and Landscape Show & Sale
Fallbrook, CA – (760) 728-1414
In Their Honor 30 Wonders/30 Years: A History www.fallbrookartcenter.com
Indianapolis, IN – (317) 636-9378 of the Museum in 30 Works
www.eiteljorg.org Jackson, WY – (800) 313-9553 Ending May 6
www.westernvisions.org
April 24 NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WILDLIFE ART
BONHAMS Ending April 29 Jackson Collects: Wild Selections
California and Western BOOTH MUSEUM from Private Collections
Jackson, WY – (307) 733-5771
Paintings and Sculpture Laura Wilson: That Day www.wildlifeart.org
Los Angeles, CA – (323) 850-7500 Cartersville, GA – (770) 387-1300
www.bonhams.com www.boothmuseum.org

42

Ending May 13
DESERT CABALLEROS WESTERN MUSEUM
Cowgirl Up! Art from the
Other Half of the West
Wickenburg, AZ – (928) 684-2272
www.westernmuseum.org
Opening May 19
EITELJORG MUSEUM
Harry Fonseca: The Art of Living
Indianapolis, IN – (317) 636-9378
www.eiteljorg.org
Ending May 20
MUSKEGON MUSEUM OF ART
Thunder Boy Jr.:
Illustrations by Yuyi Morales
Muskegon, MI – (231) 720-2570
www.muskegonartmuseum.org
May 21-25
ROCKPORT CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Plein Air Soutwest Painting
Competition & Show
Rockport, TX – (972) 960-8935
www.outdoorpainterssociety.com
Ending May 28
MUSEUM OF NORTHERN ARIZONA
Confluence of Color: George
Averbeck & Serena Supplee
Flagstaff, AZ – (928) 774-5213
www.musnaz.org
JUNE
June 2-4
THE FORT RESTAURANT
Tesoro Indian Market and Powwow
Morrison, CO – (303) 839-1671
www.tesoroculturalcenter.org
Ending June 3
TACOMA ART MUSEUM
Anne Appleby: We Sit Together
the Mountain and Me
Tacoma, WA – (253) 272-4258
www.tacomaartmuseum.org
June 8-9
NATIONAL COWBOY & WESTERN
HERITAGE MUSEUM
Prix de West
Oklahoma City, OK – (405) 478-2250
www.nationalcowboymuseum.org
Ending June 10
GILCREASE MUSEUM
Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera
Tulsa, OK – (918) 596-2700
www.gilcrease.org
Ending June 10
GILCREASE MUSEUM
Seasons of the Desert: Landscapes
of the American Southwest
Tulsa, OK – (918) 596-2700
www.gilcrease.org
Ending June 10
BOOTH WESTERN ART MUSEUM
Z.Z. Wei: Shadow Stories
Cartersville, GA – (770) 387-1300
www.boothmuseum.org
June 10-July 1
NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM OF LOS ANGELES
107th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition
Los Angeles, CA – (626)583-9009
www.californiaartclub.org
Ending June 23-24
SANTA FE COMMUNITY CONVENTION CENTER
Brian Lebel's Old West Show & Auction
Santa Fe, NM – (480) 779-9378
www.oldwestevents.com
JULY
Ending July 8
YELLOWSTONE ART MUSEUM
Nature’s Cadence: Paintings
by Clyde Aspevig
Billings, MT – (406) 256-6804
www.artmuseum.org
Ending July 8
YELLOWSTONE ART MUSEUM
Emil Carlson’s Quiet Harmonies
Billings, MT – (406) 256-6804
www.artmuseum.org
Ending July 22
PHIPPEN MUSEUM
Cool, Cool Water
Prescott, AZ – (928) 778-1385
www.phippenartmuseum.org
July 28
GRAND SIERRA RESORT
Coeur d'Alene Art Auction
Reno, NV – (208) 772-9009
www.cdaartauction.com
In every issue of Western Art Collector, we
will publish the only reliable guide to all
major upcoming sales, events and auctions
nationwide. Contact Erin Rand at
erand@westernartcollector.com to
discuss how your event can be included
in this calendar.
TOP WESTERN EVENTS AND
AUCTIONS AT A GLANCE
April 6-8
Cattlemen’s Western Art Show & Sale
Paso Robles, CA – (805) 472-9100
April 7
Scottsdale Art Auction
Scottsdale, AZ – (480) 945-0225
May 4
Heritage Auctions’ American
Signature Art Auction
Dallas, TX – (877) 437-4823
May 26-28
Phippen Museum’s 44th annual
Western Art Show & Sale
Prescott, AZ – (928) 778-1385
May 2018 (Date TBA)
Christie’s American Art Auction
New York, NY – (212) 636-2000
June 8-9
Prix de West
Oklahoma City, OK – (405) 478-2250
June 23-24
Brian Lebel’s Old West
Show & Auction
Santa Fe, NM – (480) 779-9378
July 28
Coeur d’Alene Art Auction
Reno, NV – (208) 772-9009
Aug. 18-19
SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market
Santa Fe, NM – (505) 983-5220
Aug. 22-25
Maynard Dixon Country Camp Out
Mt. Carmel, UT – (800) 992-106
Aug. 2018 (Date TBA)
Heart of the West Contemporary
Western Art Show and Auction
Bozeman, MT – (406) 781-0550
Aug. 2018 (Date TBA)
Altermann Galleries’ & Auctioneers
Santa Fe August Auction
Scottsdale, AZ – (480) 945-0448
Sept. 5-16
Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival
Jackson, WY – (307) 733-3316
Sept. 5-16
Western Visions
Jackson, WY – (800) 313-9553
Sept. 9-Oct. 14
Quest for the West
Indianapolis, IN – (317) 636-9378
Sept. 21-22
Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale
Cody, WY – (888) 598-8119
Oct. 4-6
Cowboy Crossings
Oklahoma City, OK – (405) 478-2250
Dec. 2018 (Date TBA)
SWAIA Winter Indian Market
Santa Fe, NM – (505) 983-5220
Jan. 26-27
Brian Lebel’s Old West
Show & Auction
Mesa, AZ – (480) 779-9378
Jan. 2019 (Date TBA)
WinterWest Symposium
Denver, CO – (303) 291-2567
Jan. 2019 (Date TBA)
Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale
Denver, CO – (303) 291-2567
Feb. 2019 (Date TBA)
Masters of the American West
Los Angeles, CA – (323) 667-2000
Feb. 2019 (Date TBA)
Cowgirl Up! Art from the
Other Half of the West
Wickenburg, AZ – (928) 684-2272
March 2019 (Date TBA)
Heard Museum Guild
Indian Fair & Market
Phoenix, AZ – (602) 252-8840
March 2019 (Date TBA)
Out West Art Show & Sale
Great Falls, MT – (406) 899-2958
March 2019 (Date TBA)
The Russell: An Exhibition and Sale to
Benefit the C.M. Russell Museum
Great Falls, MT – (406) 727-8787
March 2019 (Date TBA)
March in Montana
Great Falls, MT – (307) 635-0019
March 2019 (Date TBA)
Briscoe Museum’s Night
of Artists Sale
San Antonio, TX – (210) 299-4499
43
 The large painting to the left in the living room is Walt
Wooten’s oil The Peace Delegation. Next is Christmas
Eve Processional, an oil by Helen Greene Blumenschein
(1909-1989), above San Miguel de Allende, 1947, an oil
by Richard Riblet, Kaki Grubb’s father. Above the bench is
Taos Pueblo, an oil by Kirby Kendrick. To the right is Glacier
Peak, an oil by Parke Goodman, on top and an untitled oil
by Franz Biberstein (1850-1930) beneath it. At the end of
the wall is In Perpetuum, an oil by Douglas Kirsop. To the
left of the door is Tom Russell’s oil, Rolling Thunder.

44
 Global
Inspiration
Santa Fe residents bring art from around the world into
their collection of stunning Southwest materials.
By JOHN O’HERN Photography by LEE KLOPFER

45
 On the left in the dining room is In Perpetuum, an oil by Douglas Kirsop. To the left of the door is Tom Russell’s oil, Rolling Thunder. His oil,
Spotted Eagle, is on the right. Outside the door is Bill Worrell’s steel and stone Spiral and Cross. In the kitchen is The Monaros, an oil by Kate
Reynolds. On the right is Brighton Glow by Philip Chen.

K
ent and Kaki Grubbs have traveled and
lived around the world through his
work as a geologist in the petroleum
industry. Their new home in Santa Fe is a
reflection of their eclectic taste, their interests
and their travels.
Their home also reflects the Pueblo revival
traditions of Santa Fe partly because of choice
and partly because of the strict guidelines for
building in an historic district.
They had contacted Cody North of True
North Builders, a custom home builder in
Santa Fe, to show them a piece of land.
At the top of a narrow lane they saw a
scrubby, rocky, cactus-filled lot that would
have scared away less-adventurous clients—
and had. When they turned around they saw
there was a view of the nearby Sun and Moon
Mountains.
The Grubbs and North worked well
together. “We started out with a basic floor
plan and Cody had a good sense of design and
how to build it,” Kent says. “It was such a big
project we got to a point where we needed
help. Erica Ortiz of Neubleu Interior Design
brought in a perspective we wouldn’t have
had and brought design ideas we wouldn’t
have thought of. Both Cody and Erica steered
us from overdesigning.”
Kaki Grubb’s father, Richard Riblet, was
a painter who studied at the Art Institute of
Chicago and at the Escuela Universitaria de
Bellas Artes, in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico,
on the GI Bill. Riblet wooed his future wife by
convincing her mother to allow him to paint
a portrait of her. He wooed and won and the
couple moved to Mexico. “Just in case” she
sewed $500 dollars into the hem of her dress.
They had two children and were married for
nearly 50 years.
Kent remarks, “We didn’t have any art in
the house to speak of. My brother was artistic
from the get go and, eventually, we had his
watercolors hanging at home.” His brother, Chris
Grubbs, eventually went to architecture school
and became a well-known architectural renderer.
“Growing up in Tulsa,” Kent says, “we had
what was then the Gilcrease Institute. I’ve
always been a fan of Western art, the classic
late-19th century painters and, later, the Taos
Society. Our home in Breckenridge, Colorado,
has more Western art.
“The first piece we bought together was
from a street artist in New Orleans for $25.” “It
had the red and blue palette we both like,” Kaki
adds. “We’ve always gravitated toward primary
and bold colors. I love portraiture and Kent got
me interested in Western art. I like a little more
contemporary art than he does. We learn from
each other.”
She continues, “We got art as gifts from my
father and Kent’s brother and bought a number
of pieces from my father.”

46
At the top of the stairs is an acrylic
My Country by the Australian
Aboriginal artist, Kudditji
Kngwarreye (1938-2017). Next to
the door are an antique Fang mask
and Luba Heba statue from western
Africa. On the right is an untitled
acrylic by Patrick Tjungurrayi
Olodoodo, who was the winner of
Western Australia’s Indigenous Art
Award in 2008. On the facing wall
are, top to bottom, Majorca, an oil
by Leila Ward and Kungka Kutjara,
an acrylic by Makinti Napanangka
(1930-2011). The Art Gallery of New
South Wales, Australia, which has
four of her paintings in its collection,
notes “Napanangka’s paintings often
depict designs associated with the
travels of the Kungka Kutjarra (Two
Ancestral Women).”

Above the fireplace is Yellowstone River in Paradise Valley, an oil by Parke Goodman. The San Felipe pot which the couple recently
purchased in Taos, is by Joseph and Nora Latoma. Outside is Protection Yea, steel, by Fred Begay. The antique chairs belonged to Kaki Grubb’s
grandparents, John and Malvina Rugee.

47
 A 19th century portrait of Kaki’s great-great grandfather hangs in the hall next to a portrait of her mother, Caroline Rugee, 1947, painted
by her father, Richard Riblet. At the end of the wall is a 19th century portrait by an unknown artist of John Rugee’s wife Malvina Rugee. On
the right in the foreground is an oil, Old Man with Jug, 1947, by Richard Riblet; his oil, Pedro, 1953; and his oil The Old Gentleman, 1947. The
Acoma Pueblo pot is by Adrian Trujillo, circa 1990.

“We started buying more systematically in

the mid-1990s,” Kent explains. “But I started
the map collection in the mid-1980s. We
were living in Africa as a young couple and
were invited to the home of an older couple,”
Kaki explains. “He was the head of Kent’s
company. They had a large map of the entire
continent of Africa.”
“I had no idea there were maps like that
that could be framed and hung as art,” Kent
adds. “A couple of weeks later we walked
into a shop and saw two framed maps. One
was an 18th century map of West Africa where
we were living. We couldn’t believe you
could buy something like that, 250 years
old, for a couple hundred bucks! We bought
both. Initially the geographical connection
was important and we bought maps of places
where we were living. As I learned more and
Rocky Falls, an oil by John Tayson, hangs in the master bath. more,” he continues, “I developed an objective.

48
George Coll’s oil, Two Sisters in Monument Valley, A selection from Kent Grubb’s collection of maps lines
hangs in a powder room. a hallway. They date from the early 1500s through
the mid-1700s, the “golden age” of map making

I wanted to have a representation of the notable
cartographers from 1500 to the 1750s which
I consider to be the ‘gold age’ of map making.
They needed to have some geographic interest
like the depiction of California as an island as
it appeared in early maps. Plus, they had to be
pretty to look at. Building the house we knew
we had to have a long wall without direct
sunlight to the display them. There are 25 of
the best hanging and about 10 or 15 others
stored away.”
Kent’s interest in Australia began in 1966
when his family hosted an Australian exchange
student. Since then it’s been a life-long
connection to Australia. “I began work with an
Australian petroleum company,” he explains,
“and we lived there a total of five years on
several assignments. Out of grad school I was
assigned to Africa and we gravitated toward
African tribal art. Growing up in Oklahoma
I learned about Native American culture. When
we went to Australia the first time in 1996,
Aboriginal art didn’t speak to us very much.
When we returned in 2001, it was still of no
interest. When we went back again in 2011,
our children were grown and it was just the two
of us so we could spend more time in galleries.
Suddenly a light bulb came on. We began to
pay more attention.”
That year they bought a large and
surprisingly colorful painting, My Country,
by Kudditji Kngwarreye (1938-2017) and
a small painting by Makinti Napanangka
(1930-2011). They had seen a large painting
by Makinti in a gallery but were overwhelmed
by the $100,000 price tag. The smaller
painting represents the artist well and fit the
couple’s budget.
Kaki also has a childhood connection to
Australia. Her father had been there during
World War II and often told the family stories.
“It was thrilling to stand in some of the places
he stood. He had liked the work of Norman
Lindsay and we went to Lindsay’s home and
studio which are now a museum. He painted
rather bawdy nudes. We have a small etching
in our collection.”
“We’ve only just started collecting Native
American pottery,” Kent says. “In grad school
I had a thesis advisor who came to Santa Fe
often, primarily for the opera. He had a great
collection of Native pottery in his office and at
his home where he would often invite students
for pool parties. I always admired the pots but
I didn’t know much more than the name of
Maria Martinez.”
The Grubbs’ new home in Santa Fe is a
result of teamwork—the owners working with
their builder and designer, and their celebrating
their rich life together.

49

A Body of Work
ELECTRIC
WINOLD REISS
eludes classification at
Hirschl & Adler Galleries
exhibition in New York.
BY JAMES D. BALESTRIERI
Winold Reiss (1886-1953),
“Montana Red” Shy, ca.
1931, pastel on Whatman
board, 39 x 26". Collection
of the artist’s estate; photo
courtesy of Hirschl & Adler
Galleries, New York.
T he new exhibition at Hirschl & Adler
Galleries in New York takes its title from
an interesting, and quite funny, article
in the March 1931 issue of Du Pont magazine,
the trade publication of the manufacturer of
chemical compounds and coatings, that is
titled “Winold Reiss will not be classified.”
As the author finds Reiss in his studio, he is
teaching a class, preparing portraits, wrapping
up illustrations, looking at swatches and samples
for a hotel lounge, planning a new expedition
to the West, and talking on the phone to his
wife. He even gets a plug in for two of Du Pont’s
products: Fabrikoid, for upholstery, and Muralart,
as a wall covering. The more you study Reiss, the
more you see him as a Renaissance man in the
tradition of artists like da Vinci, Michelangelo,
and Cellini (the author calls Reiss “A Modern
Cellini”) who worked in many fields. But while
he is well known among art historians, curators,
dealers and collectors, it is curious that he is not
better known to the American public at large.
Because without any real stretch, Winold Reiss
could be, and perhaps should be, to American
art what Walt Whitman is to American poetry
and letters. Reiss was not only open-minded, but
relentlessly optimistic, painting portraits from
Native Americans to Mexican revolutionaries
and peasants, from the leaders of the Harlem
Renaissance to fashion models, from artist
friends to hobos he approached on the street,
reveling in the diversity and seeing the dignity
in every one of his subjects. A glance through
Jeffrey C. Stewart’s Winold Reiss: An Illustrated
Checklist of His Portraits, which accompanied
the 1989-1990 Reiss exhibition at the National
Portrait Gallery, will confirm the artist’s multiform
fascination with the human face and condition.
A very good place to begin to take in both
the philosophy and artistry of Winold Reiss can
be found in an excellent essay written by John
Heminway to introduce the Thomas Nygard
Gallery’s 1997 Reiss exhibition, Native Faces.
Heminway quotes Reiss’ son, Tjark, “I can
remember walking through Union Square on
our way to Luchow’s. Invariably, Dad would
spot someone sitting on a bench or on the
curb…Negotiations would begin…The first
question he ever asked anyone posing for him,
whether it was a fashionable New York society
lady or somebody he’d found on the street, was
their ethnic origin. It was important to him to
know this background and he felt people should
be proud of who they were. He had absolutely
no racial prejudice. He defended every race,
exalting in racial differences.”
Despite there being no major monograph
on his work—a serious oversight in American
art history—the material facts of Reiss’s life are
readily available. He was born in Karlsruhe,
Germany, in 1886. His father, a painter
whose subject was the German peasantry and
landscape, was Winold’s first teacher. Later,
Reiss traveled to Munich, studying with Franz
von Stuck at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts
and with Julius Diez at the School of Applied
Arts. Between the two, Reiss received training
across artistic disciplines and media, including
interior design, textiles, mural painting, and
printmaking, skills that would allow him to
advance his career in numerous directions after
he sailed for America in 1913.
Reiss brought the strong, often repeated
patterns, long, curving lines, splashes of bright
color, often termed “imaginative symbolism,”
that characterized Art Nouveau and the
Jugendstil movement in European art but was
acutely aware of newer currents, including
cubism, that were taking Western art by storm.
Avoiding the horrors of World War I that
would begin in 1914, Reiss met with early
success in New York but suffered for a time once
America’s position and eventual participation
in the war against the Triple Alliance became
evident. But this idea of avoiding the horrors,
of missing the war, is a formative one that
shouldn’t be overlooked. Pacifistic if not an
outright pacifist, Reiss’s positive, hopeful
outlook, his ability to embrace and see the
dignity in difference, might have taken the dark
turn that influences much of modernism after
the war. Compare Reiss’s work, for example,
with a quick internet search of images of the
works of Max Beckmann or George Grosz and
see the destabilization of the self, the struggle
to maintain dignity, the feeling that, perhaps,
dignity is a pose, a mask.
51
 Winold Reiss (1886-1953), City of the Future, Panel I,  ca. 1936, oil on canvas, 46 x 101¼". Courtesy of Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York.

52
Winold Reiss (1886-1953), Chief Buffalo Hide; Bob Riding Horse and Chief Shot Both Sides; Mike Little Dog [Triptych] 1927-28,
gouache on illustration board, 303/8 x 23¼". Courtesy of Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York.
But why did Winold Reiss come to the United
States in the first place? The one-word answer
is: Indians. Infatuated, as so many German
artists were, by Karl May’s German-language
dime Westerns and by the translations of James
Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales, Reiss
apparently expected to be met at the boat in
New York by a war party and was disappointed
when he was not.
But it wasn’t until 1919 that Reiss headed
to Montana, where he turned his amicability
onto the Blackfeet, completing some 35
portraits in 30 days and earning the name
“Beaver Child” for his assiduity when, on one
of his many Montana sojourns, he made a
member of the nation. A 1928 work, Triptych
Design for a Mural Commission, a major work
intended for the Chrysler Building but derailed
by the Depression, combines portraits of
Buffalo Hide, Bob Riding Black Horse, Chief
Shot Both Sides, and Mike Little Dog, four
Blackfeet elders, survivors of the last battles
of the Indian Wars. The faces and hands of the
men tell their stories, but Reiss dresses them
in their brightest regalia as they sit and stand
beside tepees that recount buffalo hunts and
battles. The landscapes behind the four chiefs
explode with pattern and color, a precursor to
Pop Art, maybe, but also in line with 1930s
animation. At right, Mike Little Dog looks
at the story unfolding across the hide of the
teepee. His right hand is curious, as if he is
imagining himself holding a brush of some
kind, as if he is an artist adding his story to
the story on the skin. The maturation of Reiss’
style, seen here in the Triptych, is discussed
in the literature accompanying the Hirschl &
Adler exhibition, “As he traveled, Reiss’s style
began to reflect the influence of the aesthetics,
color palette, and patterns of indigenous
American visual culture. He blended this
into his now hyphenated German-American
vocabulary, reaching for an artistic language
expressed in the most universally accessible
terms that would convey the respect he felt for
all his subjects.” When Reiss died, his widow
sent his ashes to Montana. The Blackfeet
honored “Beaver Child” and scattered his
remains to the winds.
Reiss was a walker and hiker—what better
way to find subjects than to encounter them
on foot?—and in 1920, Reiss walked through
northern Mexico, painting veterans of the
Revolution and peons, people who, like the
German peasants his father painted, were tied
to the land.
Back in New York, Reiss took note of the
artistic revolution taking place in Harlem and
he began to document key figures in what has
come to be known as the Harlem Renaissance.
53
 Winold Reiss (1886-1953), Blackfeet Girl (Sacred Bird Woman,
Pauline Running Crane, Natoyepekzaki), 1943, pastel on
Whatman board, 30 x 22". Collection of the artist’s estate; photo
courtesy of Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York.
Winold Reiss (1886-1953), Original Painting for Cincinnati Union Terminal Mosaic
Murals: Inks...Printing and Writing, 1930-31, oil on muslin, 111 x 116". Collection of
the artist’s estate; photo courtesy of Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York.
54
Winold Reiss (1886-1953), Short Haired Young Man in Collarless
Shirt, color pencil on black paper, 25 x 20". Collection of the artist’s
estate; photo courtesy of Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York.
Among many others, Reiss painted Langston Hughes, W.E.B.
Du Bois, and Zora Neale Hurston. He also taught Aaron
Douglas and encouraged the young painter to look to African
art for inspiration.
The subject of Short Haired Young Man in Collarless Shirt
isn’t a celebrated poet or thinker, but you can see many of
the hallmarks of Reiss’ portraiture. Outlines of the young man
radiate out like ripples, as if his likeness has been dropped
into a still pond. Or, perhaps, despite his stolid expression,
these represent the sitter’s life force, his “body electric,” as
Whitman wrote, charging the very air around him.
Even as the Harlem Renaissance occupied him, Reiss
began to incorporate aspects of cubism and other modernist
practices in what he called his “imaginatives,” untitled
watercolors and drawings with parallel lines and curves,
wild Art Deco cities of fantasy with jazz age rhythms. These
are explorations, geometry meeting physiognomy in an
architectonics of radiance that connects individuals with
one another and with their surroundings. It will come as no
surprise, then, that Winold Reiss was something of a futurist,
almost a kind of sci-fi optimist and City of the Future (Panel
I) offers a glimpse into Reiss’s dreamlike vision in which
beautiful design would unite the world.
This union of person and place comes together in the
portrait of “Montana Red” Shy. Gunman, cowboy cattle rustler,
a son of his soil, Reiss pictures him with his hand on his sixgun,
his hawk-like eyes looking off. As the saloon he once shot up

Winold Reiss (1886-1953), Untitled, ca. 1925-30, colored pencil on paper, 197/8 x 14".
Collection of the Reiss Partnership; Photo courtesy of Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York.
appears behind him in a hazy, surreal dream,
something about the bold, pink, candy-striped
shirt—clean and pressed—hints at another side to
the old outlaw who may have outlived his time.
Intelligibility, making sure his art read to his
audience, whether that audience was looking
at his portraits or having a drink at the bar he
designed, was important to Reiss. Making sure
that he wasn’t condescending to those who
looked at his work went hand in hand with his
notion of human dignity.
Winold Reiss’s vision is positive, communal
and gregarious, running counter to the romantic
myth (and it is a myth) of the solitary, alienated
artist, ever at odds with society and its forms.
WINOLD REISS (ABOUT 1934).
PHOTO BY W. TJARK REISS.
COURTESY REISS ARCHIVES.
As individuated as his portraits are, they are
meant to connect the individual to humanity as
a whole. For Reiss, there is no race other than
the human race. This, Reiss’ liberal yet patriotic
vision, is the key to his artistic legacy; it is the
reason for his relative obscurity and it is one of
the best reasons to revisit him and his work. You
Winold Reiss
can almost hear all the people Reiss painted, will not be
singing the words Walt Whitman wrote in For classified
You O Democracy in electrifying unison:
April 12-May 25, 2018
I will plant companionship thick as trees
Hirschl & Adler Galleries,
along all the rivers of America, and along the 41 E. 57th Street, 9th Floor,
shores of the great lakes, and all over the prairies, New York, NY 10022  
I will make inseparable cities with their arms (212) 535-8810  
about each other’s necks… www.hirschlandadler.com
55
 PARSONS
PORTER
New Mexico Museum of Art highlights Sheldon Parsons’
and Eliot Porter’s time in Santa Fe.
BY JOHN O’HERN

I
n 1962, the Sierra Club published In
Wildness is the Preservation of the World
by Eliot Porter (1901-1990) and Henry
David Thoreau (1817-1862). Although they
lived a century apart, their dedication to nature
and to conservation matched perfectly. Porter
coupled his magnificent color photographs of
the woods of New England with passages from
Thoreau’s writings.
Porter grew up in Chicago and went to Harvard
where he received his undergraduate degree in
mechanical engineering and later his M.D. He
had been photographing since he was a child
and his brother was the painter Fairfield Porter.
His black-and-white photographs impressed
Alfred Stieglitz so much that he gave him a
one man show at his influential gallery, An
American Place. The exhibition established

Above: Sheldon Parsons, ca. 1930, Courtesy Palace of the Governors Photo Archives
(NMHM/DCA), 135183. Right: Sheldon Parsons (1866-1943), The Coming Storm, oil on
canvas. Gift of the Estate of Joan Higgins Reed, 1983. Museum number 1983.34.7.

56
 Sheldon Parsons (1866-1943), Santuario, 1918, oil on wallboard panel. Gift of
New Mexico Archaeological Society, 1919. Museum number 280.23P.

58
A Place Like No Other on display at the New Mexico Museum of Art.

Porter as a major photographer and he gave up Sheldon Parsons

his scientific career to join his brother in the
art world.
He moved to Tesuque, New Mexico,
in 1946, to pursue the new world of color
photography despite black and white
photography’s dominance in the field. His first
exhibition at the New Mexico Museum of Art
was of black and white images primarily of New
Mexico architecture.
Some of those photos are included in the
exhibition A Place Like No Other: Two Views
of the New Mexico Landscape at the New
Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe through
April 13. The museum celebrates the 100th
anniversary of its opening with this exhibition
which also includes the paintings of Sheldon
Parsons (1866-1943). The museum notes, “Both
men came west and found themselves deeply
inspired by the land, skies and culture of New
Mexico…Both artists looked to New Mexico’s
most iconic features for their subject matter, the
stark and stunning land and the characteristic
adobe of its traditional buildings. In the wake
of the recent World War, they chose to portray
New Mexico as a rustic and pastoral land,
seemingly untouched by time.”
Parsons came to Santa Fe in 1913 when he
suffered a flare up of tuberculosis on his way to
San Francisco. Many artists of the period came
to Santa Fe and Albuquerque at the time looking
for relief and recovery from the disease. He
stayed on and switched from painting portraits
to painting the landscape of his new home.
(1866-1943),
Clouds, ca. 1942,
oil on plywood
panel, 36¼ x 36¼”.
Collection of the
New Mexico Museum
of Art. Gift of Sara
Parsons Mack, 1948
(19.23P). Photo by
Blair Clark.
Edgar Lee Hewitt showed his work at the Palace
of the Governors in 1915 and Parsons became A Place Like No
the first director of the museum when it opened
two years later. Other: Two Views
Parsons was born in Rochester, New York, of the New Mexico
and studied at the National Academy of
Design with William Merritt Chase. Among his Landscape
portrait commissions were paintings of William Through April 13, 2018
McKinley and Susan B. Anthony. After moving New Mexico Museum of Art, 107 W.
to New Mexico and regaining his health he not Palace Avenue, Santa Fe, NM 87501
only changed his subject matter but he began (505) 476-5072, www.nmartmuseum.org
painting in a looser impressionist style. His
palette was the soft colors of the year ‘round
landscape with the vibrant yellows of fall.

59
 Walter Ufer (1876-1936), Summer Trail, Taos, oil on canvas, 20 x 24”. Courtesy Gerald Peters Gallery.
Collection of Gil Waldman and Christy Vezolles.

T
he desert is everything all at once.

SHIFTING It’s dusty and hot, and yet a single

thunderhead can saturate the sandy
soil and flood the desolate creek beds and water-

VIEWS starved arroyos. The desert can be all sharp

angles, cacti spines and jagged rock edges, and
yet also soft and gentle like the rolling buttes in
the distance or the yellow-tipped chamisa that
Oklahoma’s Gilcrease Museum highlights selections from blooms bouquets of golden flowers. It can be
vast, and yet confining. Quiet and still, and yet
the collection of Gil Waldman and Christy Vezolles. explosively powerful. Like looking through a
BY MICHAEL CLAWSON diamond, the desert shimmers with possibility,
a kaleidoscope of shattered images each more
limitless than the one before it.
A new exhibition at the Gilcrease Museum
in Tulsa, Oklahoma, will explore the shifting
nature of the desert, particularly locations in
Arizona and New Mexico, when it presents
Seasons of the Desert: Landscapes of the

60
American Southwest. The exhibition, which
opens March 16 and continues through June
10, will present new views of the desert and
ask museum visitors to expand their horizons of
what the desert is and what it represents.
“In popular imagination, desert climates
are often stark—dusty, barren wastelands of
lifeless, parched earth. Over the years, writers,
artists and filmmakers have portrayed the desert
as a metaphor for emptiness and death. All too
often, deserts are defined only by what they
lack. But there is another side to the story,”
writes senior curator Laura Fry in the exhibition
catalog. “For millennia, the dry climates of
the American Southwest have been home to
flourishing civilizations, unique architecture,
and sophisticated arts. Far from a place of
emptiness, this desert is full of life with a rich
cultural heritage. Beginning in the early 20th
century, after railroads made the Southwest
increasingly accessible for travelers, modern
William Penhallow Henderson (1877-1943), Two Riders in the Canyon, ca. 1919,
oil on board, 16 x 20”. Collection of Gil Waldman and Christy Vezolles.
American painters began to recognize the
distinct beauty of this place. In their work, the
brilliant colors of the changing seasons reveal
the vibrancy of the desert landscape.”
The exhibition draws from the collection of
Arizona collectors Gil Waldman and Christy
Vezolles, who are familiar faces at many
Western art events and museums—Waldman is
a founding trustee at Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s
Museum of the West in Arizona, Vezolles is a
trustee at the Heard Museum, and they both
serve on national advisory boards for the
Gilcrease and Eiteljorg museums.
Waldman became interested in Western art
after moving to Tulsa in the 1950s. His wife
at the time, Nancy, would visit the Gilcrease
and they would eventually become volunteers,
as well as attending seminars on the Taos
Society of Artists and other subjects. They
began collecting in the 1980s. Vezolles taught
art and design classes in Ohio for 14 years
before moving to the Navajo Nation in the
1990s, when she began creating and collecting
art before moving to Phoenix to become an
appraiser of fine art and American Indian art, as
well as a docent at the Heard Museum. In 2011,
Nancy passed away and Waldman and Vezolles
struck up a bond over their shared interest in
travel, museums and modernist and Native
American art. They’ve been married since 2014,
and they’re separate collections are now one.
Works in the exhibition include important
Taos Society of Artists works such as Walter
Ufer’s Summer Trail, Kenneth Adams’ still life
Iceland Poppies, William Herbert “Buck”
Dunton’s landscape with deer Heart of the
Rockies, and B.J.O. Nordfeldt’s New Mexico
Landscape. Other works include pieces by
Nicolai Fechin, Victor Higgins, Woody Gwynn,
Dorothy Brett, Maynard Dixon and Dixon’s
third wife, Edith Hamlin.
Many of the works, including the Nordfeldt,
61
 Edith Hamlin (1902-1992), Sand Wash in Spring, 1949, oil on canvas, 20 x 24”.
Collection of Gil Waldman and Christy Vezolles.

62
Gene Kloss (1903-1996), Arroyo Hondo, Taos, 1937, oil on canvas, 22 x 28”.
Collection of Gil Waldman and Christy Vezolles.
are quite modern with fragmented aspects of
the landscape, refracted light that cuts jagged
paths through the sky and abstracted human
elements, from figures on horseback to adobe
structures. Modernist artists represented
include Gene Kloss, Alexandre Hogue, Andrew
Dasburg, Emil Bisttram and Fremont Ellis, as
well as works from living artists such as Ed Mell
and Navajo painter Tony Abeyta. Mell’s piece,
Cloud Flower, is a single blue flower framed
within an immense cloud, while Abeyta’s work,
The Village that was once people of this earth, is
a rhythmic pulse of paint set to the steady beat
of a Santa Fe shower that drums over the adobe.
“One aspect of modernism that is so
appealing is the way the artists distill a scene
to its essence, capturing the spirit without
specifying every detail,” Vezolles says. “This
allows for a more personal interaction and
interpretation on the part of the viewer.”
Although the collections were started
separately, they each recall their first major
purchases. For Waldman, it was a Joseph
Henry Sharp in 1988. “It was displayed in the
window at Golden West Gallery in Scottsdale,
along with a Maynard Dixon,” he says. “Being
cautious, I only purchased the Sharp, but often
wished I had bought them both.” For Vezolles,
her first big purchase was a piece by Mell,
and was later delighted to learn that her future
husband was also a collector of the Phoenix
painter’s works.
The exhibition is filled with works that mark
important times of their lives and in the lives
of the artists who created them. For instance,
the Hogue piece, Rabbit Weed in Bloom – Late
Evening was an early acquisition that was given
renewed importance after Waldman met an
elderly Hogue late in his life. For Vezolles, she
cherishes William Penhallow Henderson’s Two
Riders in the Canyon, depicting the artist and
his daughter, which “exemplifies the modernist
aesthetic exceptionally well and is drawn to its
vibrant color palette,” she says, adding that the
Abeyta work is important to them as well since
the artist is a long-time friend.
Although the exhibition only focuses on 27
paintings, the couple’s collection is vast and
includes a considerable amount of historic
paintings of the American West, including
works from Albert Bierstadt, Charles M. Russell,
Frederic Remington, Taos Society of Artists
members, N.C. Wyeth, Robert Henri, Marsden
Hartley and Georgia O’Keeffe, to name just a
few. They also collect a variety of American
Indian art forms such as Navajo weavings, Hopi
katsinam, Pueblo pottery and jewelry.
“A collection like theirs really shows you
how good their eye is for art,” says Fry, who
helped curate the show from the collection.
“When looking at everything together you really
get a sense for their range of tastes and interests.
The variety is just wonderful. And not only are
they collecting a wide range of works, they are
truly collecting some of the best works from
these artists and the eras they painted in.”
Fry says she viewed the collection in their
home, and narrowing down which paintings
to take was difficult because of the quality and
importance of many of the pieces. One thing
that she was drawn to was their interest in works
by women painters. “They have some fantastic
63
 B.J.O. Nordfeldt (1878-1955), New Mexico Landscape, oil on canvas, 26 x 32”. Collection of Gil Waldman and Christy Vezolles.

Gil Waldman and Christy Vezolles in Tony Abeyta, The Village that was once people of this earth, 2014, oil
Taos, New Mexico. on canvas, 42 x 48”. Collection of Gil Waldman and Christy Vezolles.

64
Ed Mell, Cloud Flower, 2013, oil on linen, 30 x 30”. Collection of Gil Waldman and Christy Vezolles.
examples of women painters of the West from the
20th century, from Olive Rush to Edith Hamlin,”
Fry says. “The Hamlin is especially wonderful
because you can see her painting the Sonoran
Desert in Southern Arizona and being inspired by
Maynard but putting her own spin on it.”
Waldman and Vezolles hope that visitors
to the museum can appreciate the stunning
qualities of the desert and the works that were
inspired by it. “The exhibit shows a range of
styles and interpretations of the landscape and
nature amongst the Southwestern artists, even
within a modernist ethos,” they say. “Also, the
works in the exhibition defy the stereotype that Seasons of the
the great Southwest is a barren land with sand, Desert: Landscapes
rock formations and the occasional saguaro
cactus. Some people appear to have gotten their of the American
concept of the landscape from Bugs Bunny and Southwest
Roadrunner cartoons and John Wayne movies.
Through June 10, 2018
Hopefully after seeing this show, people will
Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American
have a broader perspective.”
History and Art, 1400 N. Gilcrease
Seasons of the Desert: Landscapes of the Museum Road, Tulsa, OK 74127
American Southwest continues through June (918) 596-2700, www.gilcrease.org
10 at the Gilcrease Museum.
65
 State of the Art:
Sculptures at Pioneer Plaza in Dallas. Photo by Clay Coleman. Courtesy Dallas CVB.
W
ith fields dotted violet and red
from bluebonnets and prairie-fire
and lands filled with longhorn,
the country scenes and wild plains of Texas
draw to mind the life of the cowboy. It is no
wonder so many Western artists call the Lone
Star State home. That same spirit is celebrated
throughout the state in art districts, galleries
and museums.
Houston is famed across the United States
for its annual rodeo and livestock show.
Carrying the spirit of that event is the American
Cowboy museum, housed on the Taylor-
Stevenson Ranch just outside of Houston.
66
Showcased at the museum are historic letters,
photographs, oral histories and artifacts of
Texas heritage. Downtown, the 19 museums
are clustered in the Houston Museum District,
all located within a mile and a half of the
famous Mecom Fountain.
Though the phrase “Remember the
Alamo” predates Texas as an American state,
it indelibly marks San Antonio’s role in the
Old West. Just a few blocks away from the
historic landmark is the Briscoe Western Art
Museum, which brings Western works to the
city’s scenic River Walk. Every year in March
the museum hosts its Night of Artists, which
showcases artwork alongside cowboy gear.
In the city’s Brackenridge Park, the Witte
Museum has a gallery devoted to early Texas
history, and the King William Historic District
and Southtown are also home to numerous art
galleries and museums.
Deep in the heart of central Texas, Austin’s
University of Texas campus hosts the Blanton
Museum of Art and the Lyndon Baines Johnson
Presidential Library. Also located in downtown
Austin is the Bob Bullock Texas State History
Museum, which gives visitors and locals alike
a lesson on the state’s history.
In between Austin and San Antonio,
 Horse and carriage at the Inn at Dos Brisas in Houston. Courtesy Katie Park.

Bluebonnets in bloom. Courtesy kan_khampanya / Shutterstock.com

art lovers with a taste for small towns can institutions. With Public ArtWalk Dallas,
find multiple destinations within the Texas visitors can lead themselves on a 3.3-mile
Hill Country. The German-settled town of self-guided tour that highlights the city’s public
Fredericksburg is the location of a fast-growing art. In the West End Historic District, patrons Lubbock
Grapevine
art scene. Galleries in town host a monthly can shop at Wild Bill’s Western Store and view Wichita Falls
Dallas
First Friday Art Walk during which operating works in the neighborhood’s many museums. Cleburne Fort Worth
hours are extended from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The Dallas Art Fair takes place this year April Stephenville Clifton
Also in the region, Boerne, Orange and 13 through 15. Alpine
Fredericksburg Magnolia
Gruene offer fine art and restaurants to visitors. Dubbed the “City of Cowboys and
Kerrville Austin
The northern portion of the state is home Culture,” Fort Worth gives the Old West Houston
to the twin cities of Dallas and Fort Worth. an urban feel. At the heart of downtown, TEXAS
The Dallas Arts District is a massive 68-acre Sundance Square highlights the city’s cowboy
campus, which houses the Dallas Museum history via its many art museums. The National
of Art along with a number of other cultural Cowgirl Hall of Fame also calls the city home.

67
State of the Art: TEXAS

A view of the San Antonio River Walk. Courtesy Shutterstock.com.

Taking place this year April 19 through 22, the

Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival stretches nine
blocks through the city, showcasing fine arts,
crafts and live music.
In the pages of this destination guide,
readers will find galleries including Dove’s
Gallery, Great American West, InSight
Gallery, RS Hanna Gallery and Southwest
Gallery; auction houses such as Heritage
Auctions; and other Western art institutions
like the Bosque Arts Center, Museum of the
Big Bend, Museum of Western Art and the
National Ranching Heritage Center. Also
featured are the artists that call Texas home,
such as Chuck and Barbara Mauldin, Chuck
Middlekauff, Douglas Clark, Julia Asher Lee,
Kathy Tate, Robbie Fitzpatrick and Sherry
Harrington.

The Monument au Fantôme by Jean Dubuffet

in Houston. Courtesy Visit Houston.

68
InSight Gallery

State of the Art: TEXAS

214 W. Main Street, Fredericksburg,
TX 78624, (830) 997-9920
www.insightgallery.com
InSight Gallery represents a select group
of fine painters and sculptors living and
working today in landscape, figurative, still
life impressionistic, wildlife, sporting and
Western art. The gallery is home to numerous
award-winning Master Oil Painters of America,
Cowboy Artists of America, Prix de West,
American Impressionist Society Masters,
American Pastel Society Masters and Masters
of the American West artists.
Located in charming Fredericksburg,
Texas, an art destination in the heart of the
Texas Hill Country, the gallery is housed in
an immaculately restored historic building
with 8,000 square feet of gallery show
space. Featured in Western Art Collector in
2012, John Geraghty, late former trustee and
special advisor for the Autry’s Masters of the
American West, called InSight Gallery “one
of the more prominent fine art galleries in
the country.”
“Texas is an exciting place to be in the
art market,” says gallery owner and director,
Elizabeth Harris. “Besides the enormous
amount of talent coming out of the state
of Texas, and being located in a tourist InSight Gallery features a select group of fine painters and sculptors, many who are members of
prestigious art organizations and exhibitions.
destination of Fredericksburg, the economy of
the state is strong, which we find spreads far
and wide to bolster sales at galleries all over
“[B]eing located in a tourist destination of
the country.”
In April InSight will host a show called Fredericksburg, the economy of the state is
Places I Call Home, which brings together strong which we ind spreads far and wide to
three artists working in three different
bolster sales at galleries all over the country.”
mediums—acrylic artist Jeremy Browne,
oil painter Calvin Liang and pastelist Clive — Elizabeth Harris, owner and director, InSight Gallery
Tyler—who will each paint the landscapes of
their homes and regions of interest.
Browning, Mary Ross Buchholz, Scott JoAnn Peralta, Robert Pummill, Gladys
Also found at the gallery is artwork by
Burdick, Jill Carver, John Coleman, Teresa Roldan-de-Moras, Mian Situ and Ann Kraft
Carolyn Anderson, Phil Bob Borman, Tom
Elliott, John Fawcett, George Hallmark, Walker, among a number of others.

InSight Gallery, Response to a Call, oil, 23 x 40", by Brian Grimm. InSight Gallery, Precarious Horizon, oil, 24 x 36", by Mark Haworth.

69
State of the Art: TEXAS

Heritage Auctions, Winter in the Meadow, oil on canvas, 30 x 40", by Heritage Auctions, Joining the Posse, Palo Duro Canyon, oil on canvasboard,
Dawson Dawson-Watson (1864-1939). Available at the May 12 Texas Art 16 x 20", by Fred Darge (1900-1978). Available at the May 12 Texas Art
Signature Auction. Estimate: $15/25,000 Signature Auction. Estimate: $4/6,000

Heritage Auctions
Dallas, TX, (800) 437-4824, www.ha.com
Heritage Auctions is one of the largest
auction houses in America, and has annual
sales of more than $815 million. Through
40 categories—from Americana to fine
art—Heritage Auction offers a broad range
of services for high-net-worth collectors,
art lovers, investors and fiduciaries from its
offices in New York, Dallas, Beverly Hills,
San Francisco, Chicago, Palm Beach, London,
Pairs, Geneva, Amsterdam and Hong Kong.
This May 12, the auction house will host
its next Texas Art Signature Auction live in its
Design District Showroom at 1518 Solcum
Street in Dallas, with bidding opening mid-
April. Routinely the annual Texas art sales
achieve world record prices for artists such as
Julian Onderdonk, and others.
“Right now, we’re strongest with regional and
modernist work,” says Atlee Phillips, Heritage’s
director of Texas art. “In our May 2018 auction,
we are offering great, early Texas art that spent
decades outside the country. Spanish and
Mexico paintings by José Arpa y Perea, such as
Cupulus de Iglesia Entre El Follaje Mexico, 1902,
are finding their way back to Texas.”
Phillips says she’s encouraged by a younger
generation of collectors showing an interest in
the market, with many people in their 30s and
40s starting with prints and then moving to larger
works. “The market is holding strong. Particularly
since 2008, the best artists and the best
paintings—the cream of the crop—will always
rise to the top and have the best prices. However, Heritage Auctions, Breckenridge Park, San Antonio, Texas, oil, 53 x 45", by José Arpa y Perea (1858-
the market has stayed steady,” she says. “The 1952). Available at the May 12 Texas Art Signature Auction. Estimate: $60/80,000
highest-level Texas artists are extremely hot right
now. Nevertheless, mid-rage, solid Texas artists, lot of younger collectors.” $60/80,000) along with Dawson Dawson-
artworks by Robert Woods and Fred Darge and Other works in the sale include Arpa’s Watson’s Winter in the Meadow (est.
contemporary art are attracting demand from a Breckenridge Park, San Antonio, Texas (est. $15/25,000).

70
RS Hanna Galleries

State of the Art: TEXAS

244 W. Main Street & 208 S. Llano Street “The market in Fredericksburg is strong and
Fredericksburg, TX 78624, (830) 307-3071 growing stronger with its recognition as an
www.rshannagallery.com
RS Hanna Galleries welcomes visitors to
art destination town, fueled by the
two Fredericksburg locations: 244 W. Main phenomenal number of new galleries,
Street and 208 S. Llano Street. Each gallery wineries and restaurants.”
has an emphasis on new, fine-quality work
of highly collectible, nationally recognized — Shannon Hanna, Owner, RS Hanna Gallery
artists from fresh, contemporary works
to traditional, representational paintings,
sculpture and heirloom-quality furniture. Its
Llano Street location promotes and displays
national nonprofit art groups and juried shows
throughout the year.
Among the artists on the gallery roster are
Marc R. Hanson, Jeff Legg, Robert A. Johnson,
Lori Putnam, Dianne Massey Dunbar, Rosetta,
Jennifer McChristian, Denise LaRue Mahlke
and John Cook.
“The market in Fredericksburg is strong
and growing stronger with its recognition
as an art destination town, fueled by the
phenomenal number of new galleries,
wineries and restaurants. As this trend
continues to be a tide that raises all boats...
it’s often compared to a young Santa Fe or
Jackson Hole. Texans are finding what they
want in their own backyards,” says gallery
owner Shannon Hanna.
“We have seen trending toward ‘the
RS Hanna Gallery’s 244 W. Main Street location.

timeless’ in sleek new ways,” she continues,

“in exciting colors, unexpected perspectives
and immediacy of the artists’ images, which
brings your interest in to the paintings;
bringing with it a certain sense of refined
presence to their strong design elements. This
is generally happening across all the genres
and mediums.”
RS Hanna Gallery is proud to host the
second annual Women Artists of the West Spring
Showcase with more than 180 pieces by 38
artists from 17 states. This event will be a part of
First Friday Art Walk Fredericksburg on April 6,
May 4 and June 1. Artists will be on hand during
the day and evening hours doing demonstrations
and the gallery will host gala receptions on these
dates from 6 to 8 p.m.

Top left: RS Hanna Gallery, January Congregation,

oil, 24 x 48”, by Marc R. Hanson.

Left: RS Hanna Gallery, Crossing the Divide, oil,

25 x 44”, by Elizabeth Pollie.

71
State of the Art: TEXAS

This April, Southwest Gallery will showcase the work of Roberto Ugalde.

“We know artists are painting great

paintings as always and collectors will
seek out those great paintings…so, just
let art feed your soul.”
— Melissa Butler, Gallery Manager, Southwest Gallery

Southwest Gallery
4500 Sigma Road, Dallas, TX 75244
(972) 960-8935, www.swgallery.com
Southwest Gallery is celebrating 50 years as one of the leading
art sources in Dallas for all styles of artwork. As one of the
largest galleries in Texas, representing hundreds of respected
and established artists, the gallery offers visitors an unsurpassed
selection of paintings and sculptures from antiques to
contemporary. Also explore an impressive offering of art glass at
Kittrell/Riffkind Glass Gallery housed inside Southwest Gallery.
“Just when we think we know the art market, it surprises
us,” says gallery manager Melissa Butler. “Ups and downs are
the norm, mirroring trends in stock market, oil prices and most
everything else! We know artists are painting great paintings as
always and collectors will seek out those great paintings…so,
just let art feed your soul.’’
April brings the work of Roberto Ugalde to the gallery
with his excitingly vivid interpretations of sunlit landscapes
inhabited by captivating aspen trees. Ugalde uses energizing
color to engage the viewer on multi-levels. Layering textures
and color so the eye lingers to explore, literally creating a world
of visual delight.

Top right: Southwest Gallery, Autumn Up View, oil

on panel, 48 x 24", by Roberto Ugalde.

Right: Southwest Gallery, Aspen Sunshine, oil on panel, 36 x 36",

by Roberto Ugalde.

72
 State of the Art: TEXAS
“We are experiencing
strong activity from our
client base acquiring
high-quality pieces for
their collections from
blue-chip artists. Quality is
key and our customer base is
willing to pay for the best works
from the best artists. Brand-
new buyers are also showing
up in greater numbers and we
spend a good deal of our time
advising them as they start to
build their collections. We feel
very good about the Western art
market for 2018 and beyond.”
— Phil Berkebile, Owner,
Great American West Gallery

Great American West Gallery

Howard Terpning, Wisdom from an Elder, Martin Grelle, Passage at Falling Waters, oil on linen, 52 x 66"
oil on canvas, 30 x 22"

Great American
West Gallery
332 S. Main Street, Grapevine,
TX 76051, (817) 416-2600
www.greatamericanwestgallery.com
The Great American West Gallery specializes
in original Western fine art, including paintings
and sculpture from the best living and
deceased Western masters. The gallery also
features Texas landscape paintings depicting
the Texas Hill Country, West Texas and other
areas of the Lone Star State.
Featured Western artists include Martin
Grelle, G. Harvey, Melvin Warren, James
Reynolds, Howard Terpning, Bill Owen, Tom
Ryan, Bill Anton, Tom Lovell, Frank Tenney
Johnson, Charlie Dye, Sonya Terpening, Robert
Scriver, James Fraser, George Phippen, Olaf
Wieghorst and more. Texas landscape artists
include Porfirio Salinas, William Slaughter and
Julian Onderdonk.

73
State of the Art: TEXAS

Clockwise
from left:

Lonesome Dove
Gallery, Sunset
Ridge, oil on
canvas, 30 x 40",
by Robert Dove.

Lonesome Dove
Gallery, Dancing
Horses, oil on
canvas, 48 x 36",
by Robert Dove.

Lonesome Dove
Gallery, Willie,
oil on canvas,
40 x 30", by
Robert Dove.

Lonesome Dove Gallery

2911 Garnett Avenue, Wichita Falls,
TX 76308, (940) 691-3229
www.lonesomedovegallery.com
When it comes to painting, what inspires
Robert Dove is “the pure beauty of capturing
nature, horses, sunsets, etc.—the subject
matter, the color, and taking a white canvas
and making something of it.” Dove derives
from his comfort with horses and cowboy life.
He’s also well-acquainted with team roping
and ranch sorting. He says, “The different
positions you are in while roping or riding
your horse help in portraying the action in my
paintings accurately…You are amongst the
action. I get to see some of the best cowboys
in the country. How they work their horses
and the unique character of the cowboy.”
Dove’s style resonates—sometimes
mysteriously. He’s done work for clients that
said, ‘That is my horse Sarge.’” that lead that keeps him in North Texas; he
run the gamut from LeAnn Rimes and ZZ Top
Dove’s Wichita Falls, Texas, studio faces his says, “I’ve got a beautiful little ranch home
to MasterCard, Coca Cola, Ocean Spray and
arena and barn, so “it’s handy to use my horses and gallery right here. Wichita Falls is horse
Texas Motor Speedway. Dove recalls specific
for models for the correct composition.” Along country; some of the ranches are among the
instances of people making a profound
with his work, his Lonesome Dove Gallery biggest in Texas.”
personal connection. “[I] was commissioned
displays another talent: custom jewelry and Besides that, he says, there’s this essential
to do a painting of Randy White, the Dallas
Western-accessory design. Western artist’s truth: “A horse looks just as
Cowboys football star, as a Western cowboy,”
Sometimes Dove considers moving to good here as any other place.”
he recalls. “When Randy saw the finished
New Mexico, but he’s Wichita Falls born June 1 to July 21, Red River Valley Museum
painting he asked if I had a photo of his horse.
and raised and is content to “see where the in Vernon, Texas, will mount an exhibition of
I replied, ‘No, I just made up a horse.’ Randy
good Lord leads me.” It’s not just following Dove’s artwork.

74
Chuck & Barbara

State of the Art: TEXAS

Mauldin
www.chuckmauldin.com
www.barbaramauldinart.com
Barbara and Chuck Mauldin have
many things in common. Native
Texans, they both love oil painting
in general and the Hill Country
scenery in particular—not to mention
family, friends and each other! But
Chuck loves to paint rocks while
Barbara loves cactus flowers and the
beach. It all works out, as they paint
together in their studio and outdoors
to produce personal compositions
in their own styles. Depicting light
remains Chuck’s main focus, achieved
by proper choice of values and
color temperature. Barbara routinely
uses a limited palette to explore the
nuances of color. A recent trip to the
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
provided a wonderful opportunity to
paint this spectacular, isolated part of
Texas. Plein air works, created in the
wind and cold, are inspiring larger
studio paintings. Their most recent
work depicting all things Texas will
be featured in their Texascapes show
in May at Fredericksburg Art Gallery.
Chuck will sneak in a pencil drawing
or two, just to add another wrinkle
to the show and remind viewers of
his long-held love of that classical
medium as well.

Barbara Mauldin, Lunch Break, oil, 20 x 16"

Chuck Mauldin, Jane Doe, oil, 9 x 12" Chuck Mauldin, Morning Moos, oil, 20 x 24"

75
State of the Art: TEXAS

Sherry Harrington, Slow Steps on Native Land, oil, 24 x 30"

Sherry Harrington
(254) 722-8387, sherry@sherryharrington.com
www.sherryharrington.com
Sherry Harrington, a fifth-generation Texan who grew up
in Fort Worth, has only made one big move in her lifetime.
Harrington and her husband moved just outside of Waco to
raise their two sons in the country. Being just a 30-minute
drive to Clifton—home of several well-known Western
artists—she has found plenty of artist and patron support.
Harrington says traveling to the Western states and
reservations has continued to be important for inspiration for
her new work. She says, “It has been extremely exciting and
humbling recording some of the Plains Native Americans
and the traditionally dressed Navajo people. Lifelong
friendships have been made along the way.” During her
travels, she also has been able to paint the traditional horse
and rider, both cowboy and Native American.
She will participate in the Briscoe Western Art
Museum’s 2018 Night of Artists, and will have her painting
Slow Steps on Native Land on display. As a member of the
American Women Artists, she will be participating in their
upcoming exhibitions, and her work is represented by Big Sherry Harrington, Holding On, oil on panel, 20 x 24"
Horn Galleries of Cody, Wyoming, and Tubac, Arizona.

76
 State of the Art: TEXAS
Clockwise from above:

Chuck Middlekauff,
Kick Start, watercolor
and acrylic on paper
mounted on canvas,
14 x 20"

Chuck Middlekauff,
Rope Trick, watercolor
and paper mounted on
canvas, 12 x 16"

Chuck Middlekauff,
Power Nap, acrylic on
canvas, 20 x 16"

Chuck Middlekauff
Austin, TX, (512) 447-3567
www.chuckmiddlekauf.com
Austin-based artist Chuck Middlekauff paints his
own vivid, colorful view of American culture,
embellished by nostalgia, twists, puns and some
laughs. It’s a combination of inspirations from
real cowboys and matinee and TV cowboy
heroes, cartoons, toys, music and road trips he
took with his family as he grew up through the
1950s and ’60s, and of contemporary imagery
he soaks in as he travels with his wife, Carol.
As he goes, encountering American
roadside culture, his observations of cowboys
reveal that they don’t just ride horses and
chase cows; they also play with yo-yos, drink
Cokes, eat M&M’s, and just hang out. So, with
or without a cowboy, a painting might include
a gas pump, Coke machine, sign, mural,
pickup truck, boots or other weathered, rusted,
textured and disappearing American icons.
“Everybody sees America differently,” he
says. “Each scenario I paint, whether real or
invented in my mind, is the way I see it.”

77
State of the Art: TEXAS
Main Gallery of the Museum of Western Art.
Courtesy Kerrville Photo.
Oscar E. Berninghaus (1874-1952), Sagebrush
in Bloom, oil, 24 x 28”. Courtesy Kerrville Photo.
The Museum of Western Art
1550 Bandera Highway, Kerrville, TX 78028
(830) 896-2553, sturnham@mowatx.com
www.museumofwesternart.com
This year marks the 35th anniversary of
the Museum of Western Art’s opening on
April 23, 1983. It originated as the Cowboy
Artists of America museum with a focus on
Western art from the mid-20th century to the
present day. The museum now features 150
sculptures and 250 paintings in its permanent
collection, including works from members of
the Cowboy Artists of America, among them
Roy Andersen, Wayne Baize, Joe Beeler, Bruce
Greene, George Phippen and Oreland Joe.
Opened last year is the L.D. “Brink” Brinkman
Central Courtyard Gallery that expands
the total square footage of exhibit space to
17,000 square feet. The museum sits high on
a hill overlooking the city of Kerrville and
features the distinct architectural elements
of its designer, famed Texas architect O’Neil
Ford. Kerrville is in the heart of the Texas Hill
Country, a short 60-mile ride northwest of San
78
The L.D. “Brink” Brinkman Central Courtyard Gallery. Courtesy Kerrville Photo.
“To mark the museum’s 35th year, we have an exceptional
lineup of artists, special exhibitions and workshops
scheduled that complement our mission to preserve our
western heritage through art and education. Our major
fundraiser will be September 15 as we launch our 35th
Annual Western Art Show and Sale. We invite you all to
visit us here in Kerrville, the cultural hub of the beautiful
Texas Hill Country.”
— Stephanie Turnham, Executive Director
Antonio and 100 miles west of Austin. unique Native art form, on loan from the
The Museum has numerous special Heritage Center at Red Cloud Indian School in
exhibits coming up, including Imprinting the Pine Ridge, North Dakota.
West: Manifest Destiny, Real and Imagined, On September 15 the museum will hold
a timeless collection of 48 hand-colored its Annual Western Art Show and Sale. As
engravings and lithographs by artists such as the museum’s major fundraiser of the year,
Frederick Remington, Charles Bird King and it will kick off with a gala evening including
George Catlin, from April 7 through May 26. an artist’s reception, silent auction and lavish
From June 9 to July 28, the museum will cocktail buffet. The works of more than 30
see the Quilts of the Lakota, a collection of renowned Western artists will be featured, and
Lakota quilts that recount the story of this will be on display through October 28.
 State of the Art: TEXAS
National Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock.

National Ranching
Heritage Center
3121 Fourth Street, Lubbock, TX 79409
(806) 742-0498, ranchhc@ttu.edu
www.nrhc.ttu.edu
Western art and gear collectors will have an
opportunity not only to purchase new art pieces,
but also to meet the artists June 2 at the Fifth
Annual Summer Stampede Art and Gear Show
from 6 to 11 p.m. at the National Ranching
Heritage Center in Lubbock, Texas.
More than 30 artists and craftsmen will
exhibit original art and gear at the annual
event, which includes both a dinner and
a Western swing dance. A portion of the
proceeds will benefit the educational and Summer Stampede in 2017.
restoration programs of the NRHC, which
is a unique 27-acre museum and historical the paintings.” work on June 2 include Russell Yates, Baru
park established to preserve and interpret the White said the Summer Stampede Art Forell, Edgar Sotelo, Peter Robbins, David
history of ranching. and Gear sale “is unique for this part of the Griffin, Tyler Crow, Bob Moline, Doug Clark,
Supported by Texas Tech University and country.” The NRHC takes a lower commission Wilson Capron, Mike Capron, Mary Baxter,
the Ranching Heritage Association, the center than most galleries and doesn’t require a Billy Klapper, Brian Asher, Wayne Baize,
features a 44,000-square-foot museum with bidding process. Buyers can meet the artist, Mary Ross Buchholz, Jason Scull, Garland
seven galleries and a 19-acre historical pay the posted price and take the artwork Weeks, Michael Tittor, Stewart Williamson,
park with 50 authentic dwellings and ranch home that day. Herman Walker, Toni Arnett, Jayson Jones,
structures from some of the nation’s most “We’ve been able to do something that JaNeil Anderson, Kim Mackey, Jan Mapes,
historic ranches. most shows can’t do, and that’s please the Emily McCartney, Billy Albin, Beau Compton,
Although the NRHC only sells art once artists,” White said. “From the very first show Buddy Knight, Dustin Payne, Tanner Crow, Rex
a year in June, Western art is on exhibit five years ago, every artist has asked to come Crawford and Matt Humphreys.
in the museum galleries throughout the back every year.” Limited tickets are available for Summer
year. “Western art and museum artifacts Even though Summer Stampede is relatively Stampede and can be purchased online at
complement each other,” says Scott White, new among Western art shows, White said sales www.ranchingheritage.org or by calling Vicki
Director of Collections, Exhibits and Research. have been equivalent to other long-established Quinn-Williams at (806) 834-0469. The cost
“Our galleries depict the ranching life. You can shows and “we were able to prove ourselves is $75 for Ranching Heritage Association
see the art and then walk into the historic park immediately right out of the blocks.” members, $100 for non-members, $1,250 for a
and see authentic ranch structures like those in Artist participation is by invitation only. reserved table for eight under the tent or $1,000
Those tentatively scheduled to exhibit their for a reserved table in on the open patio.

79
 Museum of the Big Bend
State of the Art: TEXAS
400 N. Harrison Street, Alpine, TX 79832
www.museumofthebigbend.com
The Museum of the Big Bend hosts four exhibits
annually in its gallery. Beginning in mid-January,
the late-winter exhibit reflects how the Texas
landscape influences who and what decides to
call Texas home. In April the museum celebrates
their Western and cowboy culture and tradition
through works shown in Trappings of Texas.
Trappings of Texas began in 1985 and is the
longest continually running exhibit and sale in
the country, showcasing together contemporary
cowboy gear and fine Western art. In June, the
gallery is devoted to the art of photography.
September the gallery showcases art exhibits
with shows ranging from historic maps, to works
by Charles M. Russell to contemporary artists.
The Museum of the Big Bend will be
hosting the 32nd Trappings of Texas with an
opening weekend of events April 12 through
14. Weekend events include a preview and
after-preview party, lunch with the artists,
grand opening reception, exhibit and sale
and the fourth annual Ranch Round-Up Party.
The exhibit opens to the public on Saturday,
April 14 along with talks and demonstrations.
Chessney Sevier of Buffalo, Wyoming, is the
2018 Trappings of Texas Premier Artist. New
artists to Trappings of Texas include Janet
Broussard, Nathan Solano and Thor Peterson,
along with Navajo weavers represented by
Mark Winters of Toadlena Trading Post.
The Museum of the Big Bend is excited
to present the 32nd Annual Trappings of
Texas, followed by two outstanding exhibits:
FotoTexas, People, Places & Culture curated
by photographer Laura Wilson for the Texas
Photographic Society, and Big Bend Paintings
by California landscape artist Erin Hanson of
San Diego, California.
Left: Robbie Fitzpatrick, Stealth, watercolor on paper, 19 x 10" Right: Robbie Fitzpatrick, Gentle
Persuasion, watercolor on paper, 20 x 24"
80
Western works on display at the Museum of the Big Bend.
All three exhibits will feature special
presentations and demonstrations by the
exhibiting artists.
Robbie Fitzpatrick
Tulsa, OK, robbie@robbiefitzpatrick.com
www.robbiefitzpatrick.com
Robbie Fitzpatrick works in watercolor. “It can
be challenging, but it can do so much, and
I suppose I love the problem solving,” says the
artist. Fitzpatrick also paints realistically, using
value, with the play of light and shadow and
strong composition to tell the story.
The artist’s favorite subjects are animals, both
wildlife and domestic. “I believe I’m partial
to them because if I can get their eyes right,
most of the story is told, and I include the rest
of the narrative in the remaining detail,” says
Fitzpatrick. That may mean the setting, or at least
the stance and expression of the animal. “I’ve
started work on some figurative and portrait
work, and the same aspects attract me—the
story in the eyes. I suppose what I enjoy most is
capturing moments in the lives around me.
“Every piece seems to challenge me with
a new puzzle to be conquered,” Fitzpatrick
Museum of the Big Bend, Full Flower
Carved Saddle, by Marc Brogger.
continues, “from painting eyes, to fur, to feather,
grass, dirt, rocks, water, waves, skies, clouds,
stormy clouds, sunlight, rain or mist. I believe
I could study watercolor for an entire lifetime
and never know it all. What a challenge!”
So far, highlights of a career that started
later in life (the artist spent most of life
teaching writing) include increasing success
in competitions, membership in many art
organizations, such as Women Artists of the
West, International Guild of Realism, Society
of Animal Artists. Fitzpatrick is also an Art
Renewal Center Living Artist.
Currently, Fitzpatrick has a piece in the
Society of Animal Artists’ 2017-18 Art and
the Animal Tour at the Arizona-Sonora Desert
Museum in Tucson, Arizona, from April 14
through June 3; then, the artist will show at the
George A. Spiva Center for the Arts in Joplin,
Missouri, June 30 through August 26. The
artist will also have a piece in the 43rd annual
Western Federation of Watercolor Societies
Exhibition at the Southern Arizona Guild
Gallery in Tucson, Arizona, from May
1 through June 24.
Fitzpatrick is represented by Lovetts Fine
Art Gallery in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Douglas Clark

State of the Art: TEXAS

Fort Worth, TX
doug@douglasbclark.com
www.douglasbclark.com
Fort Worth sculptor Douglas B. Clark
continues to find his inspiration in the
wildlife of Texas and the Western United
States. His bronze sculptures portray the
details of the anatomy as well as capture
the personality of the individual animal. His
goal as an artist  is to share his admiration
and respect for these iconic animals with the
viewer. His sculptures allow the collector
to bring a bit of the American West into the
home or office.
Clark’s works can be seen on his website
and at galleries across the Southwest
including Insight Gallery, David Dike Fine Douglas Clark,
Art, and Acosta Strong Galleries. He will be Leading the Way-Old Blue,
bronze on granite, ed. of 50,
demonstrating his work at Insight Gallery’s 12 x 6 x 8"
annual Texas Masters show this spring. In
June he will again be participating in the
Summer Stampede at the National Ranching
Heritage Center at Texas Tech University.

Bosque Arts Center

215 S. College Hill Drive, Clifton, TX 76634
www.bosqueartscenter.org
The Bosque Arts Center is now accepting
entries for its 33rd annual Bosque Art
Classic. The national art show and sale,
sponsored by the BAC Art Council, awards
over $15,000 to outstanding realistic and
representational art in the categories of
drawing, oil/acrylic, pastel, sculpture and
water media. The entry deadline for the
show is May 29.
Jason Rich, a member of the Cowboy Artists
of America since 2011, will serve as judge for
the 2018 event. The show will be on display
September 8 through 22.

Douglas Clark, Western

Singer, bronze on granite, ed.
of 30, 7 x 6 x 6"

Bosque Arts Center, Antone on the Line, watercolor, 9 x 11", by Don Weller.

Each year the contest adds two works of
art to the permanent collection at the arts
center with the winners of its purchase
awards. Last year, Herman Walker garnered
the John Steven Jones Purchase Award and
Silver Medal Oil/Acrylic with Quittin’ Time.
Kathy Tate’s Faded Love won the Art Patrons
Purchase Award, along with Gold Medal
Oil/Acrylic.
Every spring, the Bosque Arts Center
hosts a dream weekend for art collectors
with its Big Event fundraiser, this year held
April 6 and 7. Cowboy Artists of America
members Martin Grelle, Bruce Greene and
Teal Blake are just a few of the nationally
renowned artists contributing original pieces
to this year’s live auction, which also features
unique jewelry, trips, dinners and events. The
weekend begins with a dinner and dance
with music by Grady Gaines and the Texas
Upsetters on Friday night, when guests will
have a chance to preview the items in the
2018 auction.
Visit Bosque Arts' Center website for Art
Classic entry guidelines. Times and ticket
information on the live auction.

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State of the Art: TEXAS

Kathy Tate, Canning Peaches, oil, 14 x 11" Kathy Tate, Orange Blossom Special, oil, 20 x 15"

Kathy Tate
Stephenville, TX 76401
www.kathytate.com
Born and raised in North Central Texas, Kathy Tate’s love of Texas
history is evident in her stunning still life and landscape works. Her
studio is filled with subject matter ranging from antique Ball and
Mason jars to photo references of old homes and buildings. Her
paintings bring back memories of canning vegetables fresh out of
the garden, summers at the lake or long-abandoned home sites. She
is a multi-award-winning artist whose work can be found in many
prestigious private and corporate collections.

Julie Asher Lee

(817) 487-2478, julie@julieasherlee.com
www.julieasherlee.com
Julie Asher Lee was born and raised in Missouri, the youngest of a
large family of artists and craftspeople who had a love for the outdoors
and were actively involved in local wildlife conservation efforts. In
the early 1990s, she relocated to the plains of North Texas. Living on
a working cattle ranch has afforded her the opportunity to immerse
herself in Texas culture. It is this rich mixture of backgrounds that gives
her the love for her subject matter and inspiration for her paintings.
Lee, a self-taught artist, began her career in 2007 as a scene
artist for local theater groups, along with painting murals for local
businesses. In 2014 she was commissioned by the Chisholm Trail
Outdoor Museum to paint murals and historical depictions for
their new attraction, the Big Bear Native American Museum. Lee
specializes in representational Western scenes, landscapes and
wildlife. She is represented by Adobe Western Art Gallery and the
Weiler House Fine Art Gallery in Fort Worth, Texas. Julie Asher Lee, White Eagle, oil on linen, 12 x 9"

82
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 COLLECTOR'S FOCUS
EMERGING ARTISTS

UPand COMING BY
JOHN O’HERN

M
y first museum job was at the Albright-Knox
Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York. It was there
that I gained a grounding in contemporary
art and all the isms of the 20th century—
hyperrealism to minimalism. One of my favorite
paintings was Georgia O’Keeffe’s Green Patio Door,
1955—a horizontal band of mottled blue for the sky,
a horizontal band of brown for the adobe wall, a
horizontal band of lighter brown for the desert and a
vertical rectangle of turquoise for the door. It could
have been painted by Josef Albers.
The painting often comes to mind now that
I live among those simple adobe buildings with
turquoise doors and the sometimes unbelievable
reality of northern New Mexico skies.
David Grossmann is attracted to the simplicity
of the West and when it is complex he reduces
it to its essence in his Zen-like paintings. He
says, “The Asian aesthetic tends to be a two-
dimensional way of designing images. I like
flattening planes and have fun experimenting
with more flattened types of images while still
maintaining a sense of three dimensions.”
Clouded Sunset, Taos is reminiscent of the
planes in O’Keeffe’s painting. Grossmann’s brushy
application of paint suggests the organic nature of
the adobe walls, their shape softened by remudding
over the years.
Grossmann spends hours outdoors, observing
while running or making multiple sketches of
the landscapes. He arranges and rearranges the
sketches into simple compositions that belie the
1
process behind them.
The soft adobe shapes of the wall in Brett Allen
Johnson’s Gateway are echoed in the peeling slats
of the gate, the mountains and the sky. Johnson’s
gallery observes, “…he can be found wandering
the vacant corners of the state in search of the
particular sense of place seen in his paintings.”
Immersion in the landscape inspires him but he
says, “I am not often a painter of literal places.
I regularly invent entire works, or paint them from
memory. I like to invite observers into a world
which is merely similar to the one they know, an
adjacent world.”
2
 3 4

1. Maxwell Alexander Gallery, Gateway, oil, 20 x 16", by Brett Allen Johnson. 2. Jeff Nentrup, New Vaquero, oil on panel, 7¾ x 16" 3. Abend Gallery, Tony
and Tom, oil on canvas, 36 x 24", by David Kammerzell. 4. Maxwell Alexander Gallery, Clouded Sunset, Taos, oil, 8 x 10", by David Grossmann. 5. Jeff
Nentrup, Hemisphere, oil on panel, 12 x 24"

Johnson began training in design but left
his studies after discovering the classics
of Western art visiting museums in the
Southwest. He is a painter who portrays the
reality of the West without slavishly copying it.
Maynard Dixon wrote, “That sense of sun
and space and silence—of serenity—of strength
and freedom—if I can interpret that with what
I can master of technical requirements, I will
have reached the best of my endeavor.”
Johnson’s interpretations evoke the rugged
serenity of the West.
For many years, David Kammerzell was an
illustrator with clients like Coors and Playboy.
For 19 years he worked in on-air design for
the cable network Starz, winning numerous
regional Emmys. He had painted through his
career but, in 2013, turned to painting full-time.
Kammerzell takes the viewer into the
romance of the Old West—one that may be
real or imagined, or a combination of both.
Often, cowboys and cowgirls in full regalia (all
real people taken from vintage photos) are set
against startling backgrounds.
Tom Mix starred in nearly 300 Westerns.
He was a horseman, a marksman and, for a
period, a night marshal in Dewey, Oklahoma.
His horse, Tony, starred with him in over two
dozen silent films. Mix’s on-screen persona
was literally and figuratively larger than life.

85
 COLLECTOR’S FOCUS
EMERGING ARTISTS

6 7

8 9 10

6. Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, Orange Shadow, oil on canvas, 20 x 16”, by Josh Gibson. 7. Jeff Nentrup, 160 Acres, oil on panel, 24 x 48”
8. Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, State of the Union, assemblage/mixed media, 19 x 31”, by Victoria Roberts. 9. Raymond Gibby, Cry of the Ancients,
clay work in progress, 26 x 24 x 23” 10. Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, Grand Staircase Morning, oil on panel, 12 x 12”, by Greg Newbold.
11. Todd “Tex” Mueller, Free Range, bronze, ed. of 10, 17 x 6 x 12” 12. Raymond Gibby, Something in the Air, bronze, 18 x 9 x 8” 13. Shannon Marie
Schacht, Playtime, acrylic on canvas, 18 x 24” 14. Shannon Marie Schacht, Oliver, acrylic, 30 x 30” 15. Shannon Marie Schacht, At Peace, acrylic, 18 x 24”
16. Valerie Coe, Silent Partners, watercolor, 11 x 14”

In Tony and Tom, Kammerzell shows him in meets hard-fought skill.

a classic pose with Tony, silhouetted against a
background of brightly colored floral fabric I often
associate with my grandmother’s sofa. The fabric
softens the myth and makes the viewer wonder just
what Mix was like when he wasn’t being a hero of
the silver screen.
In the pages of this collector’s focus, readers will
find works from some of the West’s rising stars and
the galleries that represent them.
After a successful career in illustration, Jeff
Nentrup has recently returned to paint full time in
his rural mountain studio alongside his wife and
fellow artist Sonya Palencia, developing what he calls
a Western mythology. He uses his paints to explore
the tenacious spirit of the landscape, its people and
complex heritage, and sees the craft of oil painting as
a direct connection to the old world, where tradition
Greg Newbold has created art for the likes of
American Express, FedEx, Heinz,
Harper Collins and others, but
has recently transitioned to fine
art, focusing on painting the
Western landscape that first inspired him to pick
up a brush. He is represented by Mark Sublette
Medicine Man Gallery, which also represents
emerging artists Victoria Roberts and Josh
Gibson.
For Raymond Gibby, history is more
11
than just memorizing past events. “I like
history because there are a lot of lessons
to be learned from the actions of our
predecessors. My work does not really
show historical events. It is however,
intended to tell us what we can learn from

86
 12
those historical events,” he says. “I use wildlife
and Western art to symbolically tell those
stories because those subjects are with what I
most identify.”
“I strive to create works of art that reveal the
gentle souls of these animals. Through their eyes
I hope you will see kindness and love. I believe
that compassion for all animals has a deep
connection with the goodness of character,”
says Jackson, Wyoming-based Shannon Marie
FEATURED
ARTISTS &
GALLERIES
Abend Gallery
1412 Wazee Street #1, Denver, CO 80202
(303) 355-0950, www.abendgallery.com
Jeff Nentrup
jeff@jeffnentrup.com, www.jeffnentrup.com
13
15
Schacht. “Animals, art, and being creative are
my passions in life. I love combining these
elements to create unique and fun wildlife
portraits for all to enjoy. My hope is to show
this passion and love through my work so that
others can appreciate it and feel inspired.”
Sculptor Todd “Tex” Mueller’s work
harkens back to the romantic days of Old
West cattle drives. “Ever since then, Western
fans have romanticized the life and times of
Mark Sublette
Medicine Man Gallery
6872 E. Sunrise Drive, Suite 130, Tucson, AZ 85750
(520) 722-7798, (800) 422-9382
office@medicinemangallery.com
www.medicinemangallery.com
Maxwell Alexander Gallery
406 W. Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90015
(310) 839-9242, www.maxwellalexandergallery.com
Raymond Gibby
(479) 586-7645, gibbybronze@gmail.com
www.gibbybronze.com
14
16
the cowboys pushing the mighty longhorns
to the trail’s end,” Mueller says. “Free Range
shows that spirit to run free and proud in the
Old West.”
“My work celebrates the essential role of
the horse in ranch life and the bond between
horse and rider that so deeply defines Western
culture,” explains Valerie Coe. Her watercolor
Silent Partners depicts a cowboy and horse in
a moment of quiet contemplation.
Shannon Marie Schacht
Jackson, WY, shannon@shannonmarieartistry.com
www.shannonmarieartistry.com
Todd “Tex” Mueller
(214) 232-2958, tmueller.dallas@gmail.com
www.texasmadesculptures.com
Valerie Coe
(530) 233-2564, valcoe@frontier.com
www.valeriecoe.com
87
 1

This April issue marks the first time we are shining the spotlight on
some of today’s emerging artists. As the industry leader in connecting
Western-themed artwork to the most affluent collectors, one of
our jobs is to keep a pulse on the market and to seek out the latest
and greatest artists. We know in recent years that social media
has become a platform for these rising stars to share their art with
collectors and galleries, so we took to our own social media pages to
ask emerging artists to share their work with us.
Editor's Choice After receiving hundreds of responses, our editor, Joshua Rose,
handpicked a selection of artists to feature in the following pages,
where they highlight one of their newest works and discuss their
inspirations. This is just the tip of the iceberg of our findings. Look
to future issues of Western Art Collector, as we continue to spotlight
these emerging talents from across the country.

88
 2 3

4 5

1&2
JEFFREY NENTRUP
The Bird of Prey, oil on panel, 16 x 12"
The Last Harvest, oil on panel, 12 x 16"
For Jeffrey Nentrup “the craft of oil
painting is a direct connection to
the world. One where rich tradition
meets the satisfaction of hard-fought
skill, where crude materials can
imbue a flat surface with almost
otherworldly qualities.” It’s in this
spirit that he explores the tenacious
spirit of the landscape, people and
heritage of the American West.
www.jeffnentrup.com
@nentopia
3 4
DUSTIN WHITE
Vermillion Cliffs, oil, 24 x 36"
Dustin White paints in plein
air, focusing on patterns in the
landscape. Seeking out subjects
suffused in natural light gives
his painting a high-key style that
pushes his colors and creates an
overall mood. White is influenced
by Western painters of the early-
20th century and he travels often to
the deserts of California, Utah and
Arizona for subjects and inspiration.
dustinwhiteart.faso.com
@dustin_whte
CHLOE MARIE GAILLARD
Taos Pueblo, oil on board, 14 x 11"
“I live in Taos, New Mexico, which
is my main inspiration for my
most recent works. I take a lot of
pleasure in painting the Pueblos
and their people. The traditions
and culture remain very vivid,
which is the most interesting and
inspirational for me. I am hoping for
the people to be able to perpetuate
their traditions and keep it alive.”
www.chloemariegaillard.com
@chloemariegaillardburk
5
DAVID KAMMERZELL
Putting on the Ritz, oil on wood panel, 12 x 12"
“My work employs the vocabulary of
advertising and design. Evoking the
golden era of illustrators of the early-
20th century, my work is informed
by some of those illustrators and by
pop culture. Either overtly or subtly,
the influences are prevalent. I seek
to put the viewer into a narrative
where the boundaries of memories
and longing are blurred.”
davidkammerzell.
wixsite.com/david-kammerzell
@dkammerzell

89
 6 7

8 9

6 7
DANIKA OSTROWSKI
Rainbow Vista Trail, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 40"
“My work explores scarce and
deserted environments of the
American Southwest, examining
and abstracting the lively color
and dynamic forms found in
unexpected places…I travel often
for my work, soaking in the beauty
of nature at the locations which I
paint. My experience at each locale
often influences the mood of each
painting.”
www.danikaostrowski.com
@ danika_ostrowski_art
JESSICA JAMES GILBERT-RABINS
Majesty, oil, 20 x 20"
“I strive to create a minimal,
feminine touch in my paintings of
the contemporary West, focusing on
the horse and cowgirl. I am strongly
influenced by the cowgirl and her
impact on the ‘cowboy way’; the
cowgirl contributes a gentleness
to the Western lifestyle. Raised a
cowgirl, I’ve always had a strong
connection with the horse.”
www.jessicagilbertart.com
@jessicagilbertart
8 9
MICHAEL VAN BEEK
Grand River, acrylic, 66 x 48"
“My family homesteaded in the
Dakotas during the early part of
the last century. I’ve always felt a
connection to that land…There is
a beauty in the simplicity of the
plains, but it is a hard place, and
it has characteristics not readily
understood from afar…Much of my
work is based on this dichotomy:
my understanding vs. that of the
‘there’s nothing here’ crowd.”
www.terramode.com
@superbeek
MICHAEL MEREDITH
Lee’s Ferry, gouache on mounted paper, 18 x 36"
“Lee’s Ferry, which is seated in
Marble Canyon, is one of my
favorite locations in Arizona. I
decided to paint this landscape
after many trips to the north rim of
the Grand Canyon and southern
Utah…My paintings are influenced
by drawing and with this piece I
relished in the details of rocks on
the bank, texture within the canyon
walls and vegetation along the rim.”
www.michael-meredith.com

90
 10
12
10
LINDSEY ERIN
A Journey’s Call Home, mixed media, 36 x 24"
“My artwork is inspired by the
notion that ‘We all have a story
to tell,’ with a unique journey
upon this earth. I strive for well
thought out compositions. Light
and harmonious hues are a chief
concern in my artwork. My
creative process utilizes a fusion
of mediums, such as oil paint, pen
and ink, digital design, collage and
encaustic.”
www.leldesignstudio.com
@lindsey.erin
11
LEANA ASHER
Great Spirit moon dancer/Gichi-manidoo-giizis,
oil on canvas, 18 x 14"
LeAna Asher’s paintings are inspired
by her Ojibwe culture that she
intertwines with a contemporary
realistic expression. She often
takes photographs at powwows
and on the reservation. Trying to
reframe the dominate cultural story,
she lends her voice to celebrate
and preserve the Native culture,
traditions and identity in her work.
www.leanaasher.com
@leanaasherart
11
13
12
LAQUINCEY REED
Ain’t a Killer but Don’t Push Me, clay for bronze,
15 x 6½ x 5½"
“The contributions and importance
of African-Americans to Western
culture both past and present are
undervalued and ignored by the
overall culture. Some estimates place
the percentage of African-American
cowboys in the Old West at 25
percent,” says LaQuincey Reed, who
wants to spotlight their connection to
the present West.
www.laquincey.com
@laquincey
13
JOHN LOPEZ
The Last Stand, Hybrid Metal Art, 72 x 168 x 48"
“I started out my career as a bronze
sculptor and then transitioned into
a metal fabricator and scrap metal
artist. I never totally gave up the
bronze sculpting and from time to
time I will sculpt a special piece
to include with the other found
objects if it helps with the narrative
or theme of the overall sculpture.
I call these pieces Hybrid Metal
Art sculptures a fusion of familiar
objects and cast bronze.”
www.johnlopezstudio.com
91
 UPCOMING SHOW S HOW LO C AT ION S COT T S DA L E , A Z
Up to 15 works
March 26-April 14, 2018
Altamira Fine Art
7038 E. Main Street, Scottsdale,
AZ 85251, (480) 949-1256
www.altamiraart.com
DAVID GROSSMANN

Through earth and sky

T
his spring, Altamira Fine Art in Scottsdale,
Arizona, will present their location’s first
solo exhibition for award-winning artist
David Grossmann, Through Earth and Sky. More
than 15 new paintings will be featured in the
exhibition, including both small and large works.
Subject matter includes his popular deer and
aspen paintings, desert landscapes  and new
subjects including horses and birds in flight.
“These paintings are expressions of the
passing of time,” says Grossmann. “They are
quiet journeys through days and seasons, through
earth and sky. Shadows on cliff walls, transitions
of colors at dusk, phases of the moon and
the rush of sunrise all bring me back to what
is fleeting and beautiful in life. I hope these
paintings will be reminders of the wonder that
each passing moment contains.”
Using a gentle, glowing palette, Grossmann
paints abstracted visions of forests that are melodic
in their focus on rhythm and symmetry. Sprawling
swaths of landscape transform into flat, smooth
planes, while scattered trees lend a profound
sense of depth. These contrasting perspectives set
the works slightly off-balance, sending the eye on
an endless quest to consolidate them. 
In his work Across the Spring Patchwork, this
quiet reverence for flora and fauna are distilled in
an image of a deer wandering through a thicket
of thin, abstract trees. “The inspiration for this
painting came from working on location in the
forest, observing the colors of spring emerging
across the landscape,” says Grossmann. “I often
see deer when I am working outdoors, and for me
they embody the quiet mystery of the forest. As
I worked on the green and brown spaces of this
composition I found myself dividing them into
rhythmic shapes that ended up being like pieces
of patchwork cloth sewn together with threads of
wildflowers.”
Along with his forest paintings, Grossmann’s
recent collection will feature the Arizona

Canyon Heights, oil on linen panel, 34 x 20"

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Across the Spring Patchwork, oil on linen panel, 30 x 50"
Running at Dawn, oil on linen panel,
40 x 30"
landscape. Several of his new works display
scenes from across the state’s vast, colorful
desert, with the Grand Canyon serving as a
muse for many pieces. “Every time I paint the
Grand Canyon, I remember hiking with my
dad from the canyon’s north rim down to the
Colorado River and then up to the canyon’s
south rim. It was a long journey through layer
after layer of earth, and when I paint the Grand
Canyon it is a challenge to recapture that
sense of height and depth that I experienced as
Saguaro with Morning Sun, oil on linen panel, 7 x 12"
I walked through the landscape.” In his many
interpretations of the canyon, including Canyon
Heights, the artist explores the carousel of
colors, shadows and moods cast by the shifting
Arizona sun. “For this composition I wanted to
use the lines of shadow and light to bring the
viewer gradually down from the straight line
of the horizon, along the increasingly curving
shapes of earth, all the way to the bottom of
the painting where the circling lines lead back
upward again. This composition was based on
studies that I painted on location, standing on
the canyon’s south rim. Several of these small
studies will also be part of the show.”
Through Earth and Sky opens on March
26 and runs through April 14. An artist’s
reception will be held Thursday, April 5, from
6:30 to 9 p.m.
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 UPCOMING GROUP SHOW S HOW LO C AT ION F R E DE R IC K S BU RG , T X
Up to 25 works
April 6-27, 2018
InSight Gallery, 214 W. Main Street,
Fredericksburg, TX 78624
(830) 997-9920
www.insightgallery.com

Places called home

T
he surrounding world can have a personal
connection to each person who passes
through the terrain. Whether it be a fond
family memory or a breathtaking landscapes, places
have a lasting impact that often is recollected
for years. In the upcoming exhibition Places
I Call Home at Fredericksburg, Texas-based InSight
Gallery, three artists—Jeremy Browne, Calvin Liang
and Clive Tyler—will interpret landscapes that have
become their inspirations for dynamic compositions
in three different mediums.
Working in acrylic, Browne translates the
countryside in all seasons. Often it is places he finds
near his home and Canada, and other times it is
farmlands he finds while on trips. The commonality
is the peace and serenity of the locales. “They
seem like a lifetime away from the busy city, but
yet most are within a few minutes’ drive,” he says.
“I’m always amazed at what you can find if you just
take a few moments and do a bit of exploring on
the backroads.”
Among his works in the show is New Year’s
Beginning, which reflects a quite nighttime moment
of a barn nearby an area that is slowly becoming
more industrialized. Under the Overhang is a close-
up painting of a barn the artist saw in Bucks County,
Pennsylvania, years ago. “I had never seen a barn
like it and wanted to paint the portion of the top half
of the barn, which hangs over the bottom portion,”
he explains. “I chose more of a detailed close-up
and I felt this would show that feature the best.”
Liang has found his inspiration in the scenes
of the Southwest, including Monument Valley and
Canyon de Chelly. Landscapes such as those have
lent themselves to the technical elements that are at
the core of Liang’s oil paintings: shadow and light.
It’s how the light moves across the setting before
him, casting areas of sunshine and areas of shadow;
it’s the juxtaposition of the warm and cool colors

Top: Jeremy Browne, New Year’s

Beginning, acrylic, 12 x 20”

Left: Clive Tyler, Grand

Autumn, pastel, 24 x 21”

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Calvin Liang, Light and Shadow, oil, 20 x 24”
and the sky and the land.
In his aptly titled work Light and Shadow,
one sees clearly the horizon line that is dividing
the scene between its two components. “All of
the light was captured at the top of the canyon
and created a really cool, purple-gray shadow.
It’s a contrast with the warm light on the top
and the bottom light,” says Liang. “It created a
beautiful shape of the shadow and light.”
On his various trips to places such as
Colorado and Texas, Tyler finds time to do
plein air painting of the local landscape.
“I set my easel up and paint the whole day and
can knock out six paintings a day. I really love
finding new places to paint,” shares the artist
who, works in both pastel and oil. “The colors
are different, the trees, the vegetation, animals
or barns, and just the vistas are so different.
I work that way, but when I get back to the
studio, I’m so inspired I work on larger pieces.”
From his series of aspen paintings is Grand
Autumn. “I learned a lot about doing a series
of paintings by reading about Monet,” says
Tyler. “He worked in pastel and oil, and he
did series, of course his waterlilies, but what
I read was it’s not repetition, but working the
similar subject matter at different times of year,
different days, different lighting. And you, as an
artist, don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You can
get into painting and experience the mood of it.
You’re not trying to fix it or trying to solve it or
conquer it; you’ve already done that. You can
paint with expression, mood, color, whatever
comes to you at the moment. Painting from
your spirit, your heart, you grow as an artist.”
Places I Call Home will open with an artists’
reception on April 6 and will hang through
April 27.
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 UPCOMING SHOW S HOW LO C AT ION PA R K C I T Y, U T
Up to 15 works
March 3-17, 2018
Mountain Trails Gallery
301 Main Street, Park City, UT
84060, (435) 615-8748
www.mountaintrailsgalleries.com
ANDREW BOLAM

Visual cognition
A
science lurks on the edges Andrew
Bolam’s colorful Native American
images, portraits of patient yet
serious chiefs in elaborate war bonnets and
war paint.
“My works are, thematically, Western
images of Native American subjects, but
what they’re really about is visual cognition,”
the British-born painter, who now lives in
California, says. “I’m interested in how the data
from our eyes is processed into information to
the computer of our brains. The work hovers
on the edge of abstraction, but turning that
abstraction into a representational image.
When viewers see my work it’s immediately
apparent what they are looking at, whether
it’s a Native American in profile or a North
American animal. Our brains immediately
identify what we’re seeing, even if, on closer
inspection, it’s nothing but abstract and free-
form paint.”
The artist, who has new work now available
at Mountain Trails Gallery in Park City, Utah,
says that he’s striving to make viewers think
differently about color, form and subject matter,
and also challenge them. One would assume
these works, particularly the Native American
pieces, would begin with the backgrounds
The Boss, collage
and the headdresses, and Bolam says that’s a
on panel, 16 x 16"
frequent assumption. “With these I start from
the opposite side, I start with the face. I want
it to be quite realistic without crossing into the
boundary where it’s boring to look at. When
I have the face at a place that I like, I mask it off
until I can’t see it anymore and then free-form
paint the headdress,” he says. “I just sort of take
a very large brush and palette knife and kind
of energetically paint in what I want. I’ll kind
of throw the paint on there, which is of course
inspired by Jackson Pollock. I want there to be
an energy everywhere on the painting.”
Later, he will add in a patterned
background, many of them directly inspired
Pretty Eagle, oil, by Native American culture or history,
48 x 52" including repeating dots or buffalo skulls.

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 Imagine the Infinite, oil, 44 x 48"

“The circle is one I use again and again

because it’s a symbol of completeness, of
fullness, of perfection and also infinity. They
were even used as representations of stars
and planets and galaxies—and I loved this
idea that we’re all made up of stardust,” he
says. “I connect with that idea a little bit
because we all want to have our place in the
universe, and to also live harmoniously with
the earth.”

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The Wise, oil, 42 x 48"

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 UPCOMING GROUP SHOW S HOW LO C AT ION DU N E DI N, F L
Up to 75 works
April 21-May 26, 2018
Plainsmen Gallery
2141 Main Street, Suite H
Dunedin, FL 34698, (888) 779-2240
www.plainsmen.com

Wild country
O
pening April 21, Plainsmen Gallery’s
annual Wildlife and Western Visions
exhibition features more than 75
works of art from 25 artists, including John Bye,
Stephanie Campos, John Coleman, Hyrum Joe,
Dennis Logsdon, John Nieto and David Yorke.
Campos will show a drawing of the Hunkpapa
Sioux chief Rain-in-the-Face as he once stood in
a 1902 photograph by F.B. Fiske. “He was a
key leader who fought Custer in the Battle of
Little Bighorn in 1876,” she says, and notes,
“I am captivated by facial features and driven
by a strong desire to attain as much accuracy as
I can using charcoal as my tool. I enjoy getting
to know each face I draw and contemplate their
personality and the life they led.”
Yorke’s Calling the Buffalo takes a mystical
approach to its historical theme. “The
interpretive color scheme and multiple imagery
of a single dancer were intended to portray a
more trance-like state, as he imagines the
calling of his ceremony—the buffalo,” Yorke
explains of the Lakota dancer. “Admittedly,
I was inspired by some of Kenneth Riley’s more
graphic dance images where he used repetitive
figures in motion...This somewhat departure
from the literal ended up being a refreshing
change of pace for me!”
Using photographic references along with his
own memory to accomplish his photorealistic
works, Bye will show The Breakaway and Kickin
Up Dust at the Plainsmen show. “My main
inspiration for anything I paint develops from
the energy within an image. That could be calm
and tranquil but also explosive action,” he says.
The gallery notes that the show, which
remains on view through May 26 in Dunedin,
Florida, coincides with the opening of the
James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art
in nearby St. Petersburg, where many of the
gallery artists will have their work exhibited.

Fo r a d i re c t l i n k to t he
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98
Clockwise from left:

John Bye, The

Breakaway, oil, 30 x 30"

Stephanie Campos,
Rain in the Face,
charcoal, 15 x 11"

John Nieto, Sitting

Bull, acrylic, 14 x 11"

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 AUCTION PREVIEW

Triumphant Return
Scottsdale Art Auction’s annual sale returns to Arizona
with top works from Taos and throughout the West.

Bert Geer Phillips (1868-1956), Tah-Tsee-Yo (Red Indian Chief),
oil on canvas, 24 x 20" Estimate: $100/150,000
J
ust three months after its monumental white glove sale for the
Leanin’ Tree Museum, the Scottsdale Art Auction is back April 7
for its 14th annual sale, once again making top Western, wildlife
and sporting art available to bidders. With the tremendous success
of the Leanin’ Tree sale, the auction partners—Brad Richardson,
Jack Morris and Michael Frost—are feeling a renewed sense of
momentum coming into another sale.
“The success of Leanin’ Tree was wonderful. Not only did we sell
100 percent, we sold more than $7.5 million when we had hoped to
[sell] about $5 million. It far exceeded expectations and it really is
leading us into the April sale,” Richardson says. “We’re hoping that
the interest and the sale results are a good sign of things to come for
the market and the items we’re bringing to the auction block.”
The April sale will feature nearly 400 works spread across two
sessions, the first of which will have 128 no-reserve lots. The second
session, where many of the auction blockbusters are likely to appear,
will feature top works from some of the biggest names in Western
art. The lots are carefully curated by the three partners. “Michael and
Brad and I have conference calls and we look at every single piece
we’re considering. These calls typically last two or three hours, but as
we get down to the sale, they can last as long as five hours,” Morris
says. “We’re selective with the work because we want the quality to
be as high as possible.”
Highlights in this year’s sale include an Arizona landscape from
Hudson River School painter Thomas Moran, whose Solitude, The
Coconino Forest, Arizona is expected to fetch $400,000 to $600,000.
“The Moran is coming out of a collection that acquired the piece from
Thomas Moran and it’s been in the family ever since. We have two
from Moran, including one from Mexico and this Arizona scene,”

100
 AUCTION PREVIEW
Bidders at the Scottsdale Art Auction’s Leanin’ Tree sale in January.

Scottsdale

Thomas Moran (1837-1926), Solitude, The Coconino Forest, Arizona, oil on canvas, 20 x 30" Estimate: $400/600,000

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 Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), Indian on Horseback, oil on canvas, 13¾ x 10½" Estimate: $300/500,000

102

Richardson says. “Both are fabulous, but this Arizona scene is in very
great shape with incredible documentation and provenance, and it will
be in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné. It has a lot going for it.”
Scottsdale Art Auction has long sold works by Taos Society of Artists
founders and members, but this year’s sale will feature some major works
from most of the group’s most famous artists. Notable Taos works include
Victor Higgins’ Fall Landscape (est. $40/60,000), E. Martin Hennings’
Portait of an Indian (est. $40/60,000), Joseph Henry Sharp’s unique self-
portrait The Artist in the Studio Mirror (est. $70/100,000) and an impressive
Native American portrait by Bert Geer Phillips, Tah-Tsee-Yo (Red Indian
Chief), estimated at $100,000 to $150,000. Another Taos work is William
Herbert “Buck” Dunton’s Going In, The Bear Hunters, which is estimated
at $200,000 to $300,000. Dunton, himself an avid sportsmen and hunter,
was likely informed by the piece by his own life and adventures.
“While the Taos market has certainly softened since the recession in
2008, it’s regained much of its strength,” Morris says. “We have three
from Bert Geer Phillips, three or four from [Eanger Irving] Couse, and a
number of others. These works come on the heels of a really great Taos
Leon Gaspard (1882-1964), Russian Peasants, Mountain
and Snow, oil, 54 x 42" Estimate: $300/400,000
AUCTION PREVIEW
Society of Artists museum exhibition here in Scottsdale at the Western
Spirit museum.”
Also available is Charles M. Russell’s oil Indian on Horseback,
estimated at $300,000 to $500,000. The work features an Indian
leader, possibly a Cree warrior, as he signals for his company to stop
as he senses trouble ahead. Joining a strong Russell work is Frederic
Remington’s A Typical Trooper, a full-body watercolor picture of a
soldier with rifle and sabre at his side. The work is expected to sell
between $60,000 and $90,000.
A work by Russian-born painter Leon Gaspard, who painted a
number of important works in Taos, New Mexico, is in the running for
the top lot of the sale. Russian Peasants, Mountain and Snow shows a line
of colorful figures walking through the snow toward a passage through
a forest. The painting is expected to fetch $300,000 to $400,000, which
would put it in contention for the third-best selling Gaspard work at
auction—his top three records are $2 million, $782,000 and $364,000.
“It comes from a Texas collection and it’s a very complex painting,
a major Gaspard work for sure. He’s mostly known for experimenting
Scottsdale
Frederic Remington (1861-1909), A Typical Trooper,
watercolor, 17 x 10" Estimate: $60/90,000
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John Coleman, Four Bears, oil on canvas, 47½ x 29"
Estimate: $60/70,000
with color, particularly when he came to Taos. He was fascinated with
the culture and their colorful community, and with the Russian pieces
he was great at showing the snow and the evergreens with these great
colors,” Morris says. “With this piece, you can clearly see his S-curve that
he used in so many paintings. He weaves a pathway of people through
the landscape. It’s wonderful.”
Additional lots of note include Gerard Curtis Delano’s Wilderness
Travelers, estimated at $75,000 to $100,000; Carl Rungius’ Toward the
Skyline – Mountain Sheep, estimated at $250,000 to $350,000; a work
from the late Texas painter G. Harvey, Rocky Mountain Cowhands,
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G. Harvey (1933-2017), Rocky Mountain Cowhands,
oil on canvas, 50 x 40" Estimate: $150/250,000
estimated from $150,000 to $250,000; five works from the Clark Hulings
estate, including the market scene Kaleidoscope, estimated at $175,000
to $250,000; and two striking and very different works by Maynard
Dixon: The Sheriff Rides, estimated at $30,000 to $50,000, and Summer
Cottonwoods, estimated $50,000 to $75,000.
“This one’s been hidden in the rafters for a long time,” Frost says of
Dixon’s The Sheriff Rides. “It’s a wonderful action piece. The leading
man here is Bob McGraw and he appeared in Peter Kyne’s book The
Long Chance. You can really feel the horse moving through the painting.”
The sale will also highlight works from living artists, including Kyle
Polzin’s still life Letters from Libbie (est. $30/40,000) and John Coleman’s
newest painting Four Bears (est. $60/70,000), which will be the first
major Coleman work seen by the public since his sold-out 2016 solo
show at Richardson’s Legacy Gallery.
“Four Bears (Mato-Tope), a Mandan Chief, named for his skill as
a warrior was said to have fought with the furiousness of four bears,”
Coleman says of the piece. “In the early 1830s, explorer-artists George
Catlin and Karl Bodmer each painted Four Bears and wrote in their
journals details of his life, giving us a vivid understanding of this great
chief. My portrait of Four Bears portrays him at the height of his power
wearing full regalia, face paint and many symbols that tell the stories of
his exploits as a great warrior.”
The auction will take place April 7, with Session I starting at 9:30 a.m.
and Session II starting at noon. A cocktail preview will take place the
night before, on April 6, from 6 to 8 p.m.
 AUCTION PREVIEW
Carl Rungius (1869-1959),
Toward the Skyline – Mountain Sheep,
oil on canvas, 25 x 30"
Estimate: $250/350,000

Scottsdale Art Auction

April 7, 2018
• Cocktail preview, April 6, 6-8 p.m.
• Session I, April 7, 9:30 a.m.,
Session II, April 7, noon
7176 Main Street,
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
(480) 945-0225
www.scottsdaleartauction.com
Scottsdale

Maynard Dixon (1875-1946),

Summer Cottonwoods, oil, 25 x 30"
Estimate: $50/75,000

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 AUCTION PREVIEW

No Limits
128 no-reserve lots will kick things off for the
Scottsdale Art Auction April 7 in Arizona.

James Reynolds (1926-2010), Getting Ready, oil on canvas, 18 x 24” Estimate: $10/15,000

S
cottsdale Art Auction’s April 7 sale in
Arizona will feature a popular segment
that, depending on how things play out
on the auction block, can get buyers fantastic
deals or sellers their asking price and then
some. The first of the annual sale’s two sessions
will be filled entirely with no-reserve lots.
“We had such a tremendous success with
our Leanin’ Tree sale in January, that we
wanted to do it again,” auction partner Brad
Richardson says. “The level of involvement
from bidders is really fantastic on these
no-reserve lots. Everyone just feels like they
get to be involved with the sale of the work as
the price starts lower and goes up from there.”
Richardson says that the auction’s January
sale of the Leanin’ Tree Museum collection,
particularly the first session and its no-reserve
lots, was a popular segment among bidders,
some of whom managed to snag great deals.
More often than not, though, the no-reserve
lots had more interest, more bids and higher
prices. If nothing else, the lots wooed more
bidders, many of whom weren’t afraid to raise
a hand for a $500 or $1,000 work, even if other
bidders took the prices five or six times higher
than those opening bids.
The entire auction will feature nearly 400
works, with 128 no-reserve lots in the first
session. While the works in the first session
will be more affordable than many of the lots
in the second session—for instance, a Thomas
Moran in the second session could sell for

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 AUCTION PREVIEW
Oleg Stavrowsky, Stagecoach, oil on canvas, 30 x 68” Estimate: $10/15,000

Scottsdale

Clyde Aspevig, The Calm of Winter, oil on board, 24 x 30” Estimate: $12/18,000

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 half a million dollars—that doesn’t mean
there won’t be fireworks early in the day as
major pieces from Clyde Aspevig, Gordon
Snidow, Ray Swanson and James Reynolds
are offered to bidders.
Highlights from the first session include
Aspevig’s winter landscape The Calm of
Winter, estimated at $12,000 to $18,000;
Bonnie Marris’ dramatic horse stampede
Into Blanco Canyon, estimated at $8,000
to $12,000; and Robert Duncan’s Native
American snow scene The Last Winter,
estimated at $8,000 to $12,000.
New Mexico painter Snidow’s American
Camp, showing a misty meadow encampment
filled with both military tents and teepees,
will be available. It’s estimated at $8,000 to
$12,000. Snidow’s Ramrod, a painting of a
cowgirl in full riding gear, more than doubled
its auction estimate when it sold for $58,500
at January’s Leanin’ Tree sale.
Other no-reserve highlights include
Ross Stefan’s Taos-inspired Carlita, with
a light-pink dress on the female subject,
estimated at $5,000 to $7,000; Tom Darro’s
Berries for Pemican, estimated at $6,000
to $9,000; and Oleg Stavrowsky’s dramatic
Stagecoach, which has been estimated at
$10,000 to $15,000.
Two major lots in the first session are
Swanson’s delicate Native American
sheepherder scene Arvena and Her Herd,
estimated at $20,000 to $30,000, and
Reynolds’ cowboy scene Getting Ready,
estimated at $10,000 to $15,000. Both
artists were prominent forces in the Arizona
Western art scene during their day, and both
have very distinct painting styles: Swanson
is a more detailed painter with an almost
photorealistic ability to render his subjects in
paint, while Reynolds is more painterly and
captures his subjects with loose, powerful
brushstrokes.
Session I starts at 9:30 a.m. on April 7 in
Scottsdale, followed by Session II at noon.

Scottsdale Art Auction

April 7, 2018
• Cocktail preview, April 6, 6-8 p.m.
• Session I, April 7, 9:30 a.m.
Session II, April 7, noon
7176 Main Street, Scottsdale, AZ
85251
(480) 945-0225,
www.scottsdaleartauction.com
Ray Swanson (1937-2004), Arvena and Her Herd, oil on canvas, 49 x 30” Estimate: $20/30,000

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 AUCTION PREVIEW
Gordon Snidow, American Camp, oil on board, 19¼ x 24½” Estimate: $8/12,000

Scottsdale

Bonnie Marris, Into Blanco Canyon, oil on board, 18 x 36” Estimate: $8/12,000

Ross Stefan (1934-1999), Carlita, oil on canvas, 50 x 28” Estimate: $5/7,000

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 AUCTION PREVIEW

Coast to Coast
Western works from around the country land at
Leslie Hindman’s Arts of the American West sale in Denver.

L
eslie Hindman Auctioneers now has eight
locations around the country, including
offices in Denver and Scottsdale, Arizona.
“You’d think all of our Western consigners
would come from those offices,” says the
auction houses’ Maron Hindman, “but they
come from all of our regional offices. Western
art is everywhere.” One Allan Houser stone
piece is coming from Europe, she adds.
Hindman, the managing director of
Southwest materials for Leslie Hindman
Auctioneers, says that this year’s Arts of the
American West sale, to be held on April 21
in Denver, comes on the heels of several
successful auctions. “We had a big November
sale so we’re excited to ride this momentum
into April as we prepare this auction,” she
says, adding that as many as 400 lots will be
offered on April 21. “The market seems very
enthusiastic about selling, and that’s what our
clients are telling us. No one is complaining
about the market or the economy, which is
always good.” Oscar E. Berninghaus (1874-1952), Wandering Home Seeker, 1951, oil on canvas board
Roughly a third of the April sale will Estimate: $20/40,000
be devoted to Western artworks, while the
remaining lots will be divided almost evenly jewelry. “We don’t intend on those equal (est. $8/12,000), and a stunning Wyoming
between Native American art and Native thirds, but it almost always pans out that way, landscape by Michael Coleman, Cliffs of the
even when it looks like a sale is leaning one Green River (est. $2/3,000).
way or another,” Hindman says. Native American lots include the Houser
Western lots being offered include Charles M. stone work Mescalero Mother (est. $10/15,000),
Russell’s oil Black Tail, Buffalo Days, a wildlife Kevin Red Star’s oil Intertribal Dancers (est.
image of several deer on a tall bluff that overlooks $4/6,000) and a number of jewelry pieces by
a large valley. The work is expected to fetch Hopi jeweler Charles Loloma.
$100,000 to $200,000. The work is coming from “It really is a great mixture of works from
a Midwest collection. Another top artist is Oscar all over the country,” Hindman says. “There
E. Berninghaus, whose 1951 piece Wandering should be something for everyone.”
Home Seeker will be available with pre-sale
estimates of $20,000 to $40,000. Another historic
work in the sale is William de la Montagne Cary’s Arts of the
sporting scene of two fishermen, possibly a father
American West
and a son, titled Fly Fishing in the Adirondacks,
estimated at $10,000 to $15,000. Additionally, April 21, 2018, 10 a.m.
works by Nick Eggenhofer and William R. Leigh Leslie Hindman Auctioneers,
1024 Cherokee Street, Suite 200,
will be available.
Denver, Colorado 80204
The sale will also feature works by living
William de la Montagne Cary (1840-1922), (303) 825-1855,
Fly Fishing in the Adirondacks, oil on canvas
artists including a dramatic horse scene by Dan www.lesliehindman.com
Estimate: $10/15,000 Mieduch, Rompin’ Through the Hassayampa

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 AUCTION PREVIEW
Charles M. Russell (1886-1926), Black Tail, Buffalo Days, 1916, oil on canvas Estimate: $100/200,000

Denver

Michael Coleman, Cliffs of the Green River, oil Dan Mieduch, Rompin’ Through the Hassayrampa,
on canvas board Estimate: $2/3,000 2005, oil on panel Estimate: $8/12,000

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 AUCTION PREVIEW

Rockefellers Go West
Christie’s sale of the collection of David and Peggy
Rockefeller reflects the family’s travels.

Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986), New Mexico—Near Taos, 1929, oil on canvas laid down on board, 17¾ x 237/8" Estimate: $2/3 million

I
n 2010, David Rockefeller signed the Giving
Pledge, confirming his plans to give the
majority of his personal wealth to charitable
causes. When he passed away in 2017, the
family began work with Christie’s to execute
that pledge via the sale of the Collection of
Peggy and David Rockefeller. “It’s poised to
be the largest single-owner auction ever,”
says Paige Kestenman, associate specialist of
American art at Christie’s. “With the charitable
aspect, that’s especially exciting.”
The origins of the works crossing the block span
the globe, and contributions from American
artists include Western works by Georgia
O’Keeffe and Thomas Hart Benton.
Many of the artworks reflect the Rockefellers’
travels, throughout America. O’Keeffe’s scenes
of New Mexico, Near Abiquiu, New Mexico
(est. $3/5 million) and New Mexico—Near Taos
(est. $2/3 million) may have recalled a train
journey across the country Daivd Rockefeller
took with his parents and brother as a child.
“He celebrated his 11th birthday at the Taos
Pueblo,” Kestenman explains. “If you think
about these O’Keeffes, they are from her first
travels to New Mexico, and she would have
been experiencing the same New Mexico as
David did.”
Benton’s Navajo Sand is estimated to bring
in $1.5 million to $2.5 million. The artist is
particularly known for his regionalist works,
and helped foster the movement in the 1920s
and 1930s.

112
 AUCTION PREVIEW
Georgia O’Keeffe
(1887-1986),
Near Abiquiu, New
Mexico, 1931,
oil on canvas,
16 x 36" Estimate:
$3/5 million

Thomas Hart Benton

(1889-1975), Navajo
Sand, 1926 and 1966,
tempera on Masonite,
18¾ x 237/8" Estimate:
$1.5/2.5 million

Other American lots of note include Maurice are now embarking on a worldwide tour, with
Brazil Prendergast’s Steps of Santa Maria special public previews at Christie’s flagship The Collection of Peggy
d’Aracoeli, Rome (est. $1.5/2.5 million), John galleries in London, Beijing, Los Angeles and and David Rockefeller
New York

Singer Sargent’s Venice view San Geremia
(est. $3/5 million) and Charles Sheeler’s White
Sentinels (est. $1/1.5 million).
After unveiling early highlights in Hong
Kong in November, works from the collection
Shanghai before the late-spring auction at
May 2018
Christie’s Rockefeller Center.
Christie’s, 20 Rockefeller Plaza,
All of the estate proceeds will go to cultural, New York, NY 10020
educational, medical and environmental causes (212) 636-2000, www.christies.com
supported by Peggy and David Rockefeller.

113
 AUCTION PREVIEW

Southwestern Scenes
Paintings by Armin Hansen, William Wendt and Birger Sandzén among the
highlights of Bonhams’ spring California and Western art sale.

Armin Hansen (1886-1957), Salinas Rodeo, oil on canvas laid to board, 18 x 22” Estimate: $150/250,000

O
n April 24, Bonhams will host its first
California and Western Paintings &
Sculpture auction of 2018. The sale,
taking place in Los Angeles and simulcast
in San Francisco, will feature approximately
150 lots of artwork by some of the icons of
the Southwest. Many of the artists made their
names by living in or painting the region, with
the sale boasting artwork by leading California
Impressionists from across the state as well as
artists whose Western subjects have propelled
them to the forefront of American art.
“Coming off a tremendously robust year,
we’re pleased to put together another impressive
auction of top-quality works,” says Scot Levitt,
director of fine arts at Bonhams. “We hope
to meet the high expectations and discerning
tastes of today’s collectors and are excited by
the stunning works we have sourced thus far.”
In the Western segment of the sale will
be a group of bronzes by Edward Fraughton
and Clark Bronson, while an energetic
rodeo scene titled Salinas Rodeo, by Armin
Hansen, highlights the painting category. The
work, which features Hansen’s characteristic
brushwork and color, was recently in a major
California retrospective for the artist and has

114

Birger Sandzén (1871-1954), Field Patterns, oil on canvas, 29 x 36”
Estimate: $30/50,000
been featured in a book on him as well.
“[Hansen] did a series of these rodeo
paintings while living in the Carmel/Monterey
area,” says Levitt. “There must have been a
demand for these, either by his dealer, or
he took an interest in going over to Salinas,
which is close by. They had these regular
rodeos there…[The works] are very popular
and we’ve done well with them. They’ve got
great action to them and are very dynamic.”
Salinas Rodeo is estimated to achieve
$150,000 to $250,000.
Three pieces by Birger Sandzén are also
highlights, including the 1929 work New Moon
Edgar Payne (1883-1947), Rugged Peaks, ca. 1930, oil on canvas,
28 x 34” Estimate: $40/60,000
and the 1944 piece of a mountain lake in Rocky
Mountain National Park. Each piece carries a
presale estimate of $25,000 to $35,000. The
third Sandzén is Field Patterns (est. $30/50,000),
which Levitt says will be of particular interest
with buyers as it’s an early Swedish scene.
“It’s a transitional piece from his more
traditional works he did in Sweden compared
to what he did in Colorado and Kansas in his
prime years,” Levitt elaborates. “It’s leaning
toward the later style, but it’s not there yet.”
Several Sierra works by Edgar Alwin Payne
also will cross the block, with June Lake set at
$20,000 to $30,000 and Rugged Peaks having
AUCTION PREVIEW
an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000. Four pieces
by William Wendt are also in the sale: Wash
Day at Wendt’s Cabin in Trabuco Canyon (est.
$60/80,000); Mountain Road (est. $25/35,000);
Creeping Shadows (est. $150/250,000), which
was included in the 1982 book Plein Air Painters
of California: The Southland; and Homes Along
the Coast (est. $200/300,000).
According to Levitt, works by Joseph
Kleitsch have been performing well in recent
years, so his painting Evening Light, Laguna (est.
$100/150,000) may be of particular note with
bidders. “His Laguna scenes are fairly sought
after, and any identifiable scenes are popular,”
says Levitt. “The work has a long exhibition
history and has been featured in some books. It
just has a nice, classic, impressionistic palette
to it and a nice condition.”
Other auction highlights include Maynard
Dixon’s Daybreak, which is estimated to
achieve $12,000 to $18,000; Charles Reiffel’s
Late Afternoon Glow (est. $50/70,000); and
Jessie Arms Botke’s circa 1930 painting Egrets
(est. $10/15,000).
California and Western
Paintings & Sculpture
April 24, 2018
Bonhams, 7601 W. Sunset Boulevard,
Los Angeles CA 90046
(323) 850-7500, www.bonhams.com
Charles Reiffel (1862-1942), Late
Afternoon Glow, ca. 1925, oil on canvas,
City
34 x 37¼” Estimate: $50/70,000
115

Earth and Sky
A new Clyde Aspevig retrospective at the Yellowstone Art
Museum focuses on the painter’s Montana works.
rtists of all kinds—sculptors, actors,
A dancers, directors, artists in every
conceivable medium—are notorious
for looking back on old creations with disdain
and regret. “I should have done that differently,”
they say about an early work. It’s a forgivable
trait, especially since artists learn so much as
they progress in their careers and grow away
from their earliest pieces.
For master landscape painter Clyde
Aspevig, though, his early career is one of
fond recollection. “I look back on them and
absolutely treasure those times. Some of them
were from my college days, back when I put
myself through school with $25 watercolors, or
others are linked to a time back after my mother
died, and they are very meaningful,” Aspevig
says. “They are records of my life in those times,
and they bring back so many memories.”
Aspevig’s works, both old and new, will be
featured in a new retrospective opening March
22 at the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings,
Montana. The retrospective exhibition, Nature’s
Tumbleweeds, 1999, oil on canvas, 40 x 60¼”. Collection of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.
Gift of the Mary A. H. Rumsey Foundation, 16.99.
116
MUSEUM PREVIEW
Cadence: Paintings by Clyde Aspevig, will
feature 37 works from 15 lenders, including the
Montana artist himself, who found an interest
in art at an early age.
“I grew up on an isolated wheat farm in
northern Montana—there was no TV or nothing
like that. I spent a lot of time out in nature
having to rely on my own imagination and
curiosity. It was that combination, and also my
interest in drawing, that began my fascination
with painting when I was a little kid,” the
artist says. “My parents were both musical so
they were very encouraging. When I got old
enough I would go to museums to see the great
paintings, as well as do some traveling and see
the world. It was amazing to see what could be
done with paint.”
The artist would go on to become one of the
most celebrated landscapes painters working
today, with works in many prominent museum
and private collections. Aspevig would also
become very well respected as an artist’s artist,
a force that other painters would come to
admire and study. Works in the retrospective
include Tumbleweeds, with its soaring skies
in the distance and a rocky canyon in the
foreground; Early Spring, a scene on a farm
with cows and horse corrals; and Blooming
Sage, a 40-by-60-inch work of a cluster of the
wild desert bush.
“My wife and I have this thing we do call
land snorkeling, where we just wander around
and look at the wonder of the land with no
real destination in mind. She actually came up
with the name, which is fun because it catches
peoples’ attention. We sort of just walk around
and admire what we see, the way a snorkeler
would admire the seaweed or coral underwater,”
he says. “People assume that no one would to do
a portrait of sagebrush, which is why it was fun
to paint. I think it evokes a smell, and also the
terrain. It’s a powerful painting for me.”
Aspevig continues: “The key to landscape
is one of the more difficult things to pull off:
if you get too much detail they don’t work,
and if you get too sweet or sentimental they
don’t work. It’s a delicate balance,” he says.
“My landscapes are not copies of nature.
They’re an amalgamation of all the things I’ve
experienced—hiking, looking and painting—
over the years. The result is my interpretation
of nature based on my experiences. Those
experiences guide the textures, the movement
and the paint. It’s very much like music.”
Nature’s Cadence: Paintings by Clyde
Aspevig continues through July 8 at Yellowstone
Art Museum.
Nature’s Cadence:
Paintings by Clyde
Aspevig
March 22-July 8, 2018
Yellowstone Art Museum
401 N. 27th Street, Billings, MT 59101
(406) 256-6804, www.artmuseum.org
 MUSEUM PREVIEW
Blooming Sage, 2016, oil on linen, 40 x 60". Courtesy of the Aspevig Studio.

Montana Legacy, 2017, oil on linen, 50 x 60".

Courtesy of the Aspevig Studio.
Billings

Cattails, 2015, oil on canvas, 24 x 12". Private Collection.

117
 MUSEUM PREVIEW

Wild Selections
The National Museum of Wildlife Art is now presenting
major works from patrons’ private collections.

Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902), Prong-Horned Antelope, ca. 1865, oil on canvas, 13½ x 19¼”.
Gift of the Stonehollow Collection, National Museum of Wildlife Art.

N
ow on view at the National Museum
of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole,
Wyoming, is Jackson Collects: Wild
Selections from Private Collections, a new
exhibition that presents works from some of the
museum’s most devoted patrons.
The exhibition brings in artworks from all
around Jackson Hole and beyond, and because
these are pieces from private collections, they
are often rarely seen by the public, which
gives the exhibition a “blink and you’ll miss it”
quality. More than 20 works will be on view,
both from private collections and promised
future gifts to the popular Wyoming museum.
One of the promised gifts is Robert Bateman’s
2003 work Harris Hawks and Old Saguaro,
which shows a beautifully detailed saguaro
cactus that is the perch for three brazen hawks
that cling to its spiny limbs.
Other works in the show include Wilhelm
Kuhnert’s Tiger am Dschungelbach, Thomas
Hewes Hinckley’s 1872 oil White Tailed
Stag, and Albert Bierstadt’s 1860s Prong-
Horned Antelope, which shows three animal
subjects in golden light and a breathtaking
landscape. “This painting by Albert Bierstadt
of pronghorn antelope is thought to be set
in Wyoming’s Wind River Mountains, but
it is sometimes difficult to discern exactly
where Bierstadt set his paintings,” says Adam
Harris, Petersen Curator of Art & Research
at the museum. “It might also be set in front
of the Wasatch Range near Salt Lake City.

118
 MUSEUM PREVIEW
Tucker Smith, Colter’s Hell, oil on board, 15½ x 19½”.  On Loan from the Robert Robert Bateman, Harris Hawks and Old Saguaro, 2003,
and Jane Mitchell Family, National Museum of Wildlife Art. © Tucker Smith. acrylic on canvas, 60 x 60”. Promised Gift of Lynn and Foster
Friess, National Museum of Wildlife Art. © Robert Bateman.

Regardless of its setting the collector found

this work to be among Bierstadt’s best
pronghorn paintings.”
The show will also feature works from
living artists, including Tucker Smith’s bison
Yellowstone scene Colter’s Hell, and two otter
works that will be shown near each other,
Kyle Sims’ painting The Right Idea and Bart
Walter’s bronze Fluid Motion.
“I have always felt a deep affection for
river otters,” Walter says of his work. “This
sculpture was an exercise in depicting an
otter’s sinuous movements, using the broad
strokes of clay I was beginning to adopt at that
time. These strokes are formed with large balls
of clay laid down with extreme force. Even in
the finished bronze, they demonstrate how
I build form from beginning to end. You can
see the passage of my hands, with palm and
fingerprints still intact. To give an extra sense
of movement, I let this aquatic member of the
weasel family move across, and then glide
right off the pedestal.”

Jackson Collects:
Wild Selections from
Jackson Hole

Private Collections
Through May 6, 2018
National Museum of Wildlife Art
2820 Rungius Road Top: Kyle Sims, The Right Idea, oil on canvas, 24 x 44”. From the Collection of Lynn and Foster
Jackson Hole, WY 83001 Friess, National Museum of Wildlife Art. © Kyle Sims.  Bottom: Bart Walter, Fluid Motion,
(307) 733-5771, www.wildlifeart.org 1992, bronze, 14 x 30 x 18”.  From the Collection of Lynn and Foster Friess, National Museum
of Wildlife Art. © Bart Walter. 

119

Galleries and Gear
Trappings of Texas highlights cowboy gear and Western works.
The Museum of the Big Bend in Alpine, Texas.
D
uring its opening weekend April
12 through 14, the Museum of the
Big Bend’s 32nd annual Trappings
of Texas show will exhibit custom cowboy
gear alongside artwork from emerging and
120
MUSEUM PREVIEW
PHOTO BY WILSON PHOTOGRAPHS.
Cowboy gear and art on view in the museum galleries.
established Western artists.
This year’s premier artist is Buffalo,
Wyoming-based Chessney Sevier. Her featured
etching Jack of All Trades is a depiction of her
daughter’s horse Freckles. “He’s a tall giraffe of
PHOTO BY JIM BONES.
a horse that she has used for 4-H and Junior
Rodeo; we can always depend on him to
be steady and safe,” she says. “My art is an
authentic expression of my life. The culture
and landscape are rooted so deep in my soul
that it’s automatically what I create.” Sevier
will demonstrate her work during the weekend.
Kim Mackey’s Shade of Night is also among
the works on view, and depicts a cowboy
and horse on a warm summer night. “There’s
just something magical about that time of the
night on the prairie with the full moon. It’s
very brilliant. There’s a special glow to the
landscape, and that’s what I tried to portray in
the painting,” he says.  
Bryan Asher tries to make his artwork
realistic and accurate down to the smallest
detail. “A lady who was recently looking at
the drawing Dust commented that it made her
want to cough,” he says. “If it looks that real,
I feel I’ve accomplished something.”
Other artists with work in the show
include Chase Almond, Herman Walker, Janey
Broussard, Tom Paulson, Lindy Cook Severns
and Jason Scull.
“Trappings of Texas is more than an art and
Herman Walker, Trailing Along, oil, 11 x 14”

Kim Mackey, Shade of Night, oil, 12 x 9”
gear show, it is about bringing folks together
under the big sky and wide open spaces of
West Texas. We are so fortunate to carry on
this 32-year tradition at the Museum of the
Big Bend,” says the museum’s interim director
Mary Bones. In addition to the exhibit and
sale, opening weekend events include a
preview and after preview party, lunch with
artists, a grand opening reception, and the
fourth annual Ranch Round Up Party, which
will close out the weekend. The exhibition
will run through May 27.
MUSEUM PREVIEW
Chessney Sevier, Jack of All Trades, etching
Brian Asher, Dust, pencil, 17 x 17½”
Trappings of Texas
April 12-14
• Preview, April 12, 5-7 p.m.
• After preview party, April 12, 6-8 p.m.
• Meet the Artists Luncheon,
April 13, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Grand Opening Exhibit, Sale and
Reception, April 13, 6-9 p.m.
• Tranch Round Up Party, April 14, 5-8 p.m.
Museum of the Big Bend, 400 N. Harrison Street, Alpine, TX 79832
Alpine
(432) 837-8730, www.museumofthebigbend.com
121
 EVENT PREVIEW

Cattle on the Coast

The 28th annual Cattlemen’s Western Art Show & Sale
takes place the first week of April in Paso Robles
Dealer discussions at Cattlemen’s Western Art Show & Sale.

his April, the San Luis Obispo

T Cattlemen’s Association presents the

28th annual Cattlemen’s Western Art
Show at the Paso Robles Event Center in
Paso Robles, California. Considered a major
cultural event on the Central Coast, the show
is a unique opportunity to meet acclaimed
artists and get involved in the world of Western
art. Offerings include Western themes and
landscapes in acrylics, oil, pencil, pastels,
scratchboard and sculptures.
More than 400 new works will be on display
and available for purchase. The 2018 featured
artist, Susan von Borstel, will share her enthusiasm
and talent along with her creations on canvas
and stone. The show will also exhibit works
from celebrated Western artists such as Keith
Batcheller, Richard Myer, Valeriy Kagounkin and
Tamara Magdalina, among many others.
Among von Borstel’s works is Big Mama, an
oil on canvas piece displaying a mother hen
intently watching over her chicks, for which
the artist’s favorite hen served as a model. “Big Estrella Hall in Paso Robles, California.

122

Susan Von Borstel, Big Mama, oil on canvas, 45 x 40”
Tamara Magdalina, Idaho Spring, oil on canvas, 24 x 48”
Mama was painted to explore negative spaces
on the subject instead of the background,”
says von Borstel. “I also wanted to know how
it felt to see her very large. It’s turned out to
be fun, kind of shocking and it got me invited
to do a solo show at a gallery.”
Von Borstel will also display some of her
works on stone, including her bull portrait
Goodlookin’, which follows the natural
veining of the stone to frame the piece’s
longhorned subject. “Painting on stone, as
in Goodlookin’, is quite different from painting
on canvas,” she explains. “Inspiration in stone
paintings comes from the essential stone
EVENT PREVIEW
Valeriy Kagounkin, Soft Words and a Smile, oil on canvas, 24 x 30”
Keith Batcheller, Saddle Mates, oil, 16 x 20”
elements that include its natural patterns, p.m. for $10 per plate. An artist reception will
colors and textures. This stone piece had the be held Friday, April 6, from 5 to 9 p.m., and
dynamic suggestion of bushes with a white the show will continue through Sunday, from
area in the center shaped like a cow’s head. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
I let the stone dictate colors and patterns,
trying to paint as little as possible while still
Cattlemen’s Western
creating a believable and interesting subject.
I think our brains are structured to see and
Art Show & Sale
Paso Robles
enjoy patterns in nature.”  April 6-8, 2018
Tickets for the evening, which includes Paso Robles Event Center–
Estrella Hall, 2198 Riverside Avenue,
Cattlemen’s hors d’oeuvres, wine tasting and
Paso Robles, CA 93447
a no-host bar, are available at the door
(805) 472-9100,
for $20. A Cattlemen’s barbecue lunch is www.cattlemenswesternartshow.com
available both days from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30
123
 MUSEUM REPORT

Masterful Variety
Artists and collectors converge
in Los Angeles for the 21st annual
Masters of the American West exhibition.

Kevin Red Star, left, with Autry

trustee Jim Parks.

T
here are certainly places farther West Red Star’s piece Strikes the Enem
y, seen at left,
in the United States than Los Angeles— won the museum purchase award
.
Seattle, Alaska, Hawaii, to name the
most prominent ones—but being in the famous
West Coast city, the City of Angels, you can’t
help but think of early American pioneers,
Native American tribes, cowboys and cattle
rustlers, all of them looking to the West and
imaging this place with its fertile soil, rolling hills
and views of the Pacific Ocean. When people
think about the “West” they are likely thinking of
this place, a metaphorical endpoint on America’s
great migration from coast to coast.
Western artists came together in this
wonderful place February 10 at the Autry
Museum of the American West for the 21st
annual Masters of the American West, one
of the top Western art shows in the country.
Works by more than 70 artists were unveiled
to hundreds of collectors, museum patrons
and art fans. The show kicked off with an
artist and sponsor dinner, during which the
museum purchase award was announced as
Kevin Red Star’s Strikes the Enemy, a large,
very contemporary work of a Native warrior
on horseback.
The next day, after an engrossing
presentation by painter Jeremy Lipking and
before a presentation by Daniel Pinkham, the
museum announced other winners: George
Carlson won the Thomas Moran Memorial
Award for Painting for his striking work of
the Wyoming Badlands, Dan Ostermiller won
the sculpture award, Dean Mitchell won the
watercolor award, Thomas Quinn won the
Bob Kuhn Wildlife Award, and Mark Maggiori
won the Don B. Huntley Spirit of the West
Award for his cowboy subject matter in West George Carlson, Wyoming Badlands, oil on linen, 42 x 42”.
of the Rio Grande. Logan Maxwell Hagege Winner of the Thomas Moran Memorial Award for Painting.

124
 MUSEUM REPORT
Tony Abeyta, Village Landmark, oil on canvas, 54 x 74". Logan Maxwell Hagege, Pursuit of Happiness, oil, 52 x 54".
Winner of the Gene Autry Memorial Award. Winner of the Patrons’ Choice Award.

won the patron’s choice award for his multi-
figure Taos painting Pursuit of Happiness, and
four artists tied for the artists’ choice award:
Thomas Blackshear, Carlson, Len Chmiel
and Pinkham. Navajo modernist Tony Abeyta
won the Gene Autry Memorial Award for his
presentation of artwork, and patron Keith
Renken was given the John J. Geraghty Award
for his contributions to the museum and
Western art.
This year’s show was marked by a number
of noteworthy first-time artists—such as
Maggiori, Blackshear, Glenn Dean, Eric
Merrell and others—as well as a number of
prominent Native American painters such as
Abeyta, Red Star and Mateo Romero.
Top sellers, all of whom sold out of the work
they presented, included Maggiori, Bill Anton,
Hagege, Brittany Weistling, William Acheff and
Kyle Polzin, who at one point had a line of
people to admire and photograph his painting.

1 2 3

Los Angeles

4 5

1. InSight Gallery owners Elizabeth and Stephen Harris. 2. Kyle Sims and his wife Joylene in front of his work Unleashed. 3. Legacy Gallery
owner Brad Richardson, left, with Gregory Simon of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. 4 . The Autry Museum of the American
West in Los Angeles. 5. Artists Mark Maggiori, left, Tony Abeyta, Jeremy Lipking, Logan Maxwell Hagege and John Moyers.

125
 Dean Mitchell, Crowns of Zion, watercolor, 22 x 30". Len Chmiel, Suspended Reality, oil, 36 x 48". Winner of the Artists’
Winner of the Watercolor Award. Choice Award (tied with Thomas Blackshear, George Carlson and
Daniel Pinkham).

“I’m very happy with the quality of the show

this year,” says Rick West, president and CEO
of the Autry. “I’ve seen other Masters shows,
even from before my tenure, and this one is
easily my favorite and it’s a combination of
two things: One, from a curatorial standpoint,
we have protected the legacy of the Masters
show but also begun to expand it and cross
boundaries that have not been crossed before
6 7
in terms of being more inclusive about what
we consider to be American Western art.
Secondly, it’s just a particularly strong show.
My dad was an artist so I understand when it
comes to how people sometimes ship works
to a show that might not be their best art.
Our approach to this show was to tell artists,
‘I want you to invest yourself in what you send
us,’ and that’s what they did because the show
is spectacular and the quality is amazing.”
The exhibition is on view through March 25,
during which time unsold pieces will still
be available.

8 9

6. A Bill Nebeker bronze near a Thomas

Blackshear work in the gallery. 7. Visitors
browse the artwork at the Masters. 8. Trailside
Galleries partner Maryvonne Leshe, left, with
painter Mark Maggiori and Merry Nebeker.
9. Jeremy Lipking’s 1-year-old twins get a nap
in underneath their father’s paintings.
10. Z.S. Liang, left, with collector Daniel
Corazzi. 11. Kyle Polzin with his piece Weary 10 11
Traveler.

126
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 Artists in this issue
Abeyta, Tony 64, 124 Dixon, Maynard 105 Marris, Bonnie 109 Remington, Frederic 103
Asher, Brian 121 Erin, Lindsey 91 Mell, Ed 65 Reynolds, James 106
Asher, Leana 91 Gaillard, Chloe Marie 89 Meredith, Michael 90 Rungius, Carl 105
Aspevig, Clyde 107 Gaspard, Leon 103 Mieduch, Dan 111 Russell, Charles M. 102, 111
Aspevig, Clyde 116 Gilbert-Babins, Jessica James 90 Miller, Alfred Jacob 30 Sandzén, Birger 38, 115
Audubon, John James 36 Greene, Bruce 34 Mitchell, Dean 126 Sevier, Chessney 121
Batcheller, Keith 123 Grossmann, David 92 Moran, Thomas 101 Sims, Kyle 119
Bateman, Robert 119 Hagege, Logan Maxwell 125 Nentrup, Jeffrey 88 Smith, Tucker 119
Benton, Thomas Hart 113 Hamlin, Edith 62 Nieto, John 99 Snidow, Gordon 109
Berninghaus, Oscar E. 110 Hansen, Armin 115 Nomura, Kenjiro 32 Stavrowsky, Oleg 107
Bierstadt, Albert 118 Harvey, G. 104 Nordfeldt, B.J.O. 64 Stefan, Ross 109
Bolam, Andrew 96 Hays, William Jacob Sr. 36 O’Keeffe, Georgia 112 Swanson, Ray 108
Browne, Jeremy 94 Henderson, William Penhallow 61 Ostrowski, Danika 90 Ufer, Walter 60
Bye, John 99 Kagounkin, Valeriy 123 Parsons, Sheldon 56 Van Beek, Michael 90
Campos, Stephanie 99 Kammerzell, David 89 Payne, Edgar 116 Von Borstel, Susan 123
Carlson, George 124 Kloss, Gene 63 Phillips, Bert Geer 100 Walker, Herman 120
Chmiel, Len 126 Lopez, John 91 Polzin, Kyle 42 Walter, Bart 119
Coleman, John 104 Lougheed, Robert 32 Reed, LaQuincey 91 White, Dustin 89
Coleman, Michael 36, 111 Mackey, Kim 121 Reiffel, Charles 116 Yorke, David 98
de la Montagne Cary, William 110 Magdalina, Tamara 123 Reiss, Winold 50

Advertisers in this issue

Altermann Galleries & Auctioneers (Santa Fe, NM) 19 Harrington, Sherry (West, TX) 16 Nentrup, Jeff (Frazier Park, CA) 22
Booth Western Art Museum (Cartersville, GA) 2 Heritage Auctions (Dallas, TX) 5, 13 Olana Gallery (Brewster, NY) 26
Bosque Arts Center (Clifton, TX) 26 InSight Gallery (Fredericksburg, TX) 11 Plainsmen Gallery, The (Dunedin, FL) 39
Clark, Douglas B. (Fort Worth, TX) 37 Jackson Hole Art Auction (Jackson, WY) Cover 3 Roberts, Gary Lynn (Hamilton, MT) 25
Coe, Valerie (Modoc County, CA) 26 Julie Asher Lee Fine Art Studio (Cleburne, TX) 39 RS Hanna Gallery (Fredericksburg, TX) 21
Coeur d’Alene Art Auction, The (Hayden, ID) Cover 4 Leslie Hindman Auctioneers (Denver, CO) 17 Schacht, Shannon Marie (Jackson, WY) 18
Desert Caballeros Western Museum Looking West Art Gallery (Old Hickory, TN) 39 Scottsdale Art Auction (Scottsdale, AZ) Cover 2, 1, 6-7
(Wickenburg, AZ) 20
Mauldin, Chuck & Barbara (Fredericksburg, TX) 10 Scottsdale Gallery Association (Scottsdale, AZ) 127
Dove’s Gallery (Wichita Falls, TX) 31
Medicine Man Gallery (Tucson, AZ) 41 Southwest Gallery (Dallas, TX) 23
Fitzpatrick, Robbie (Magnolia, TX) 20
Middlekauff, Chuck (Austin, TX) 12 Tate, Kathy (Stephenville, TX) 24
Gerald Peters Gallery (Santa Fe, NM) 9
Museum of the Big Bend (Alpine, TX) 37 Todd Mueller Texas Made Sculptures (Combine, TX) 26
Gibby, Raymond (Spanish Fork, UT) 35
Museum of Western Art, The (Kerrville, TX) 27 Two Old Crows Gallery (Pagosa Springs, CO) 24
Great American West Gallery (Grapevine, TX) 3
National Ranching Heritage Center (Lubbock, TX) 29

128
 BOB KUHN (1920-2007), His Majesty, acrylic on masonite, 13 ⅛ x 23 ¾ inches, Estimate: $35,000-$55,000

BOB KUHN (1920-2007), Wild Chorus, acrylic on masonite, 14 ¼ x 30 inches, Estimate: $50,000-$75,000

SEEKING CONSIGNMENTS FOR

THE SEPTEMBER 2018 AUCTION
JACKSON HOLE | SCOTTSDALE | SANTA FE | NEW YORK

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 the
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Art Auction
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he Coeur d’Alene Art Auction We are now accepting quality consignments for
our 2018 sale to be held July 28 in Reno, Nevada.
named one of the Top Four Auction Visit our website at www.cdaartauction.com
Houses in the United States.
THE COEUR D’ALENE ART AUCTION
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LaVerne Nelson Black (1887–1938), Along the Old Trail (detail), oil on canvas, 30 × 40 inches, Estimate: $150,000-250,000