The George G. Matthews Collection of Western Art by john.m.blades

THE COLLECTION Private collections are naturally expressions of personal history, interests, and taste that are typically assembled and refined over time and are therefore always a work-in-progress. The assembly of the collection illustrated in this catalogue began with the purchase of a 3,000+ acre ranch in the Hill Country near Kerrville, Texas nearly three decades ago and is a subcollection of a larger, ever-growing collection that includes the ranch itself, an extensive firearms collection, a collection of guitars and mandolins, a collection of railroad regulator watches, a variety of memorabilia and artifacts, and the collector’s own lifetime of experiences as a conservationist and sportsman. Likewise, the collection is a reflection of the pioneering and expansive spirit of Americans at a time when the collector’s great grandfather, who was a titan of business and, at the time of the events illustrated in many of the paintings in this collection, developed the infrastructure upon which Florida was quickly transformed from perhaps the poorest state in the Union, and America’s last frontier, to one the most populous and wealthiest states in the Union, and largest economies in the world.

Published by: Relgalf Office 1925 North Flagler Drive West Palm Beach, FL 33407 (561) 659-3711

Project Manager: John M. Blades Written by: John M. Blades Design by: Green Flamingo Design

Photography by: White Oak Studio, Jacek Photography, and Sargent Photography Color Profiles by: Coast Imaging Arts Printed by: Southeastern Printing, Hialeah, Florida

THE GEORGE G. MATTHEWS COLLECTION OF WESTERN ART

Cover: Colored Capote by Jim C. Norton

TABLE OF CONTENTS by Artist 01

INTRODUCTION

Reynold Brown

Paul Abram, Jr.

Indian Scout for the 7th Cavalry Indians Approaching Trapper in Jackson Hole

The Fur Trader

Untitled (Stagecoach in Winter)

Cassilly Adams

Back from the Hunt

William Ahrendt

Paul Calle

The Trapper’s Feast

Sharing with Friends

Jim Carson

Jeremiah Johnson

Bitterroot Crossing

Jeremiah Johnson (small version)

Along the Lolo Trail

Jim Bridger, Mountain Man

Deep Winter

Left Behind

Roy Andersen

The Silent Trail

Sequoyah Meeting with John Ross, Chief of the Cherokee

When Trails Vanish

Sierra Crossing

Dan Bodelson

Slow Progress on the Bitterroots

Two by Two

Snow Sounds

Winter Camp Guard

Winter Sioux

Buffalo Hunter

Don Brackett

Earth and Sky

A Word of Advice

TABLE OF CONTENTS continued 42

Michael Coleman

Austin Deuel

Blackfeet Winter Camp

Heading for Shelter

Dawn of a New Day

Trapper in the Snow

In the Woods

Gene Dodge

Winter Camp

Nicholas Coleman

Untitled (Mountain Lions)

Robert Duncan After Lost Horses

Trapper’s Feast

The Guardians

Leaving Winter Camp

Bryce Canyon

No Match for One Muzzle Loader

Suspicious Mother

Guy Corriero Sheila Cottrell

Surprise Snow

Weary Travelers

Don Crowley

Paiute Autumn

Stan Davis

Silent Dog First to Bite

Trail of the Fur Brigade

Charlie Dye Robes for Trade

Robert Farrington Elwell

Winter Solstice

Going Home

John DeMott

Careful Passages

Many Snows Ago

John Fawcett

Winter’s Journey

Joe Ferrara

Cold Trail to the Railhead

Martin Grelle

108 Hayden Lambson Blacktail Crossing 110 Ted Long

Hunter’s Morning

Shoshone Winter

Montana Morning

Raul Gutierrez

Friends or Enemies

David Halbach

Beaver Creek Camp

114 Dustin Lyon

Early Snow

Winter Shadows

Moments of Freedom

116 Kim Mackey

Safety in Numbers

Carl Hantman

Time of the Wolf

118 Wendell Macy

Winter Medicine

Camp Apache

120 David Mann

Rustlers of Winter

Heinie Hartwig

The Cold Winter

First Light The Parley

100 John Jarvis

Traveler’s Fire

124 Mitchell Mansanarez

102 Harvey Johnson

Caught in the Open

Early Fall Grizzly

Clyman Saves Sublette

Signal at Sunrise

104 Thomas Kinkade

128 Gerald McCann

Campfire at Dusk

Winter Trails

106 Morton Künstler

The Vanishing American

TABLE OF CONTENTS continued 130 Frank McCarthy

152 John Moyers

In the Open

Winter Above Taos

Winter Trail

154 Jim C. Norton

134 Gerry Metz

Colored Capote

The Benjamin Bonneville Expedition – 1832

Friend or Foe

Spring Thaw

Goin’ to Trade

Sure Shot (AKA Lining Up the Shot)

The First Snow

Tense Peace

Teton Traders

Winter’s Hush

140 Dan Mieduch

162 Don Oelze

And the Band Played Garryowen

Through the Fresh Snow

When Every Shot Counted

Colter’s Hell

164 John Phelps

Free Trapper

Mountain Man

In Hot Pursuit

166 Tom Phillips

Last Stage to Prescott

Miles and Miles of Miles and Miles

Northwest Passage

Two Dollars an Ounce on Thin Paper

150 Lanford Monroe Frosty Outing

A Mountain Man in a Snowstorm

168 Robert Pummill

190 Alfredo Rodriguez

Packing in the Tetons

Night Sounds

Season of Silence

Through the Aspen

Snow Bird

Partners in the Hunt

Winter Passage

Winter Hunters

174 Leonard H. Reedy

Winter Journey

Winter Trappers

Untitled (Riding Through the Snow)

176 Chuck Ren

Winter Travelers

198 William Rushing

Winter of ‘41

Winter Scout

The Scouts

180 Douglas Ricks

200 David Sanders

Watcher in the Woods

Riders in Yosemite

182 Mack Ritchie

Snowy Encampment

204 Conrad Schwiering

Untitled (Barn with Wagon in the Foreground)

184 Gary Lynn Roberts

Teton Winter

Defenders of the North Ridge

206 Olaf Carl Seltzer

Untitled (Indians on Horseback Coming Up the Rise)

No Immediate Danger

208 William Steve Seltzer

Evening at the Fort

Northwestern Pride

210 Irvin Shope

Return of the Scout

Returning of the War Party Come in My Friend

TABLE OF CONTENTS continued 212 Don Spaulding

234 Richard D. Thomas

The Emissaries

Backcountry Rendezvous

214 Gene Speck

Shoshone

Feeding Time

Caution Along the Arkansas

Summer Grass

Warning Sign

240 Hubert Wackermann

Western Skies

Blackfeet Winter Camp

220 Oleg Stavrowsky

Cheyenne Winter Camp

Indian Camp in Winter

Free Rider

Nez Perce Campfire

224 Ron Stewart

246 Olaf Wieghorst

Camp Along the Snake

Caught in a Storm

Trapper in Winter

Game in Sight

Cutting One Out

228 John Paul Strain

Indian Red Coat

230 Lyle Tayson Winter Hunter 232 Karl Thomas

Winter Snow - Grand Canyon

Winter Encampment of the Ute

INTRODUCTION Assembled over nearly a third of a century, this private collection is currently comprised of 154 Western paintings by 72 artists who depict the West in its many facets – historic places, historical events, the everyday lives of mountain men, cowboys, and Indians, the wildlife of the west, and western landscapes. The genesis of the collection was the purchase of a game ranch in the Hill Country of west Texas, where today about half of the collection resides. However, as the collection has grown it has spread to 10 locations in three states that include the various homes and offices of the collector and the homes of several family members.

time fine artists. Not surprisingly, most of the artists grew up in the west, though a number of them were raised in the east or even in Europe. A surprising number of the artists are self-taught or were mentored by another artist, but equally surprising is the outsized influence that The Student Art League of New York City and the Famous Artists School in Connecticut has had on Western artists. Likewise, the Mormon church and its strong ties to the history of the American West has produced more than a few excellent Western artists. Though as a group their styles range from impressionistic to hyper-realistic, they are unfailingly careful to research their subjects, often maintaining large personal collections of artifacts and reference materials that help insure the accuracy of their paintings. Many attend annual rendezvous of artists and re-enactors known for their careful attention to the accuracy of their costumes and accessories. For this collector, the attention to detail and accuracy is critical and the common thread running throughout the collection.

Within the first few years, the collection became focused primarily around subjects set in winter environments. And, as with nearly all collectors and collections, as the collection grows it continues to be refined. Of course, art and artist are inseparable, thus the more one knows about the artist and his or her experiences and motivations, the more one tends to appreciate the art – the whole, as Aristotle noted, being more than the sum of its parts. The life stories of the artists represented in this catalogue collectively chronicle the history of the art of the American West, from its earliest origins as primarily a form of documentation of a rapidly disappearing culture and frontier, through its mid-twentieth century period, characterized by romantic illustrations for magazines, pulp novel covers, and movie posters, to its maturation and popular acceptance as a fine art genre.

Special thanks to all those whose assistance made this catalogue possible – the many artists and artist family members who took time to talk with me, the designer, photographers, and color-correction technician listed on the title page, Sherry Kindred and Tom Hansen at the Relgalf Office, Lewis and Mari Ann Scherer at the Flagler Ranch, Darrell Beauchamp, the director of the Museum of Western Art in Kerrville, Texas, Betsy Matthews, George G. Matthews, Jr. and Elizabeth Matthews, and of course, my editor in life and in print, my wife Rena Blades. But most of all, special thanks to collector George G. Matthews, who has been a pleasure to work with, on this and many other projects over the last quarter of a century.

The work of the 72 artists represented in the collection is predominately from the last third of the 20th and first decade of the 21st centuries, though the collection does include a few works from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Most often, the artists represented in this collection are military veterans, who started working first as commercial illustrators before striking out on their own, usually in their thirties, as full-

John M. Blades June 2021

PAUL ABRAM, JR. 1933 - 2005 Born in Bloomington, Indiana, the son and namesake of a landscape and floral painter, Paul Abram, Jr. demonstrated an early interest in art, producing paintings for family members. Following high school, he began working as a commercial artist. In his thirties he moved to Houston where he worked as the general manger of a billboard company.

In his early forties Abram decided to pursue fine art full-time and to move to Arizona where he spent the rest of his career as an artist. His paintings have been featured on a number of magazine covers, such as Western Horseman. However, he was particularly inspired by the stories of fur traders, whom he believed deserved more attention for their role in the westward expansion of the United States.

While working for the billboard company, Abram began spending his free time painting in watercolor and treasure hunting. He displayed his paintings at a local gallery and combined his two areas of interest by painting scenes for Christmas cards produced for the club of treasure hunters that he belonged to.

Ultimately, Abram’s work extended to a variety of media, including: mixed media, watercolor, oil painting, and bronze sculpture.

THE FUR TRADER Gouche on Paper 10 ¼ x 14 inches

UNTITLED (STAGECOACH IN WINTER) Oil on Canvas 24 x 35 ¾ inches

CASSILLY ADAMS 1843 – 1921 Cassilly Adams was born in Zanesville, Ohio, a descendant of American founding father, John Adams. Cassilly’s father, William Apthorp Adams, was a lawyer and amateur artist. Cassilly became interested in art early on and eventually enrolled at the Boston Academy of Arts and later at the Cincinnati Art School. However, the Civil War interrupted his pursuit of a career in art while he served in the U.S. Army and was wounded at the Battle of Vicksburg while aboard the U.S.S. Osage.

they didn’t produce the income they had hoped for from the exhibition of the painting, the owners sold the painting to a St. Louis saloonkeeper who hung it in his saloon, which promptly went bankrupt and the painting was acquired by one of its creditors in 1886, the Anheuser-Busch Company. At the time the painting was valued at $10,000. Over the years, the Anheuser-Busch Company made thousands of reproductions of the painting, which were used for advertising and promotion in saloons and taverns nationwide. In fact, more than 150,000 copies of the painting have been produced since 1885, making it a very well-known painting.

By the late 1870s, Adams was living in St. Louis, Missouri, where he worked as an artist and engraver. Adams apparently painted many scenes of frontier life. One of the books he is known to have illustrated is Conquering the Wilderness by Frank Triplett, published in 1883. However, most of his illustrations were done for book publishers who did not credit him, and thus he was a relatively unknown artist during his lifetime.

Eventually, Anheuser-Busch gave the original paintings of Custer’s Last Fight to the 7th Cavalry, which owned it until it was lost in a fire at Fort Bliss, Texas in 1946. Since then, only copies of the famous painting exist for posterity to appreciate. One of those copies, a lithograph, appeared in a barroom scene of the 1950 movie The Gunfighter with Gregory Peck.

Adams is best known for Custer’s Last Fight, an epic painting over 16 feet long and nine feet high, completed in 1885. The painting took a year to complete as Adams posed Cavalrymen in uniform and Sioux Indians in period-correct costumes for the painting.

Cassilly Adams died in 1921 at Trader's Point near Indianapolis, Indiana, where he owned eight-plus acres at the confluence of the Fishback and Eagle Creeks.

The painting was produced for a pair of St. Louis Arts Club members, who briefly exhibited it around the country, charging a fifty-cent admission fee. However, when

BACK FROM THE HUNT Watercolor and Gouache on Paper 10 ¼ x 14 ¾ inches

WILLIAM AHRENDT 1933 - 0000 William Henry Ahrendt was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Apparently, Bill knew his destiny very early, informing his parents when he was just seven that he was going to become an artist. Dedicating himself to art, Bill made it his top priority through his public-school years, taking art lessons at the Cleveland Museum of Art. When his family moved to Phoenix, Arizona to care for his ailing grandmother, Bill fell in love with the western landscape.

Ahrendt relocated to Arizona to attend Arizona State University, where he earned a Master’s in Fine Art. Following that he worked as a commercial artist in California and then as the chair of the art department at Glendale Community College in Glendale, Arizona. In 1979, Ahrendt retired to concentrate on his art and moved to Pine, Arizona, where he and his wife, Renate had built a 4,000 square foot house and studio with their own hands. A contributing editor for Arizona Highways magazine for many years, Ahrendt’s paintings and historical articles have been published in more than 40 issues.

Ahrendt went on to study at the Los Angeles Art Center School and later returned to Cleveland to study at the Cleveland Institute of Art, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts, graduating magna cum laude, and won a travel scholarship that allowed him to visit all the major museums in Europe and establish a studio first in Rome and later Munich. During his 11 years in Europe Ahrendt’s primary focus was the study of the work and techniques of the Old Masters.

Regarding his art and career, Ahrendt says, “My vision of art as a reflection of human life had already been revealed to me in my youth. And although I couldn’t have anticipated the circuitous path of decades that I was to follow in pursuit of my vision as a painter, I’ve never regretted a moment of the long journey. Art is not the paint alone, but a medium for communication between the viewer and the artist. If expression conveyed in a work of art is perceived by the beholder, a connection is shared that completes the work and links the artist and the viewer together. At that moment, Art comes to life. The artist and the viewer form an alliance of mutual fulfillment though the two may never meet.”

While in Germany, Ahrendt engaged in a variety of art related occupations, from serving as the Arts and Crafts Director for the U.S. Army in Giessen, Germany to directing the advertising department for The U.S. Air Force European Exchange Program in Wiesbaden. In 1965 Ahrendt was admitted to the Munich Academy of Fine Arts where he studied in the Max Doerner Department of Painting Technology. There he continued to study the work of the Masters and developed his painting technique that begins by mixing and applying egg tempera as the foundation before applying layers of oil paint that results in a painting that appears to glow.

JEREMIAH JOHNSON Oil on Linen 40 x 30 inches 9

JEREMIAH JOHNSON Oil on Canvas Mounted on Board 13 ¾ x 9 ½ inches 10

JIM BRIDGER, MOUNTAIN MAN Oil on Canvas 36 ¼ x 30 3⁄8 inches 11

ROY ANDERSEN 1930 - 2019 Though he was born in Chicago, Roy H. Andersen grew up on a farm in New Hampshire and credits an uncle, who was a cowboy from Nebraska, with influencing his interest in the West. Anderson returned to the city where he was born to pursue his formal education in art, studying at the Chicago Academy of Fine Art and spending many hours learning about Indian customs through the extensive ethnographic collections at the Field Museum of Natural History, and later continuing his formal art education at the Art Center School in Los Angeles.

to the West, breeding registered American paint horses, and collecting Western paraphernalia and Indian artifacts. Andersen’s paintings of the West focus primarily on Apache, Cheyenne, and Crow Indian cultures and incorporate a bold and distinct sense of composition and color. Said Anderson about his distinctive style, “perhaps I see colors that others don’t. I like to take chances with color because the creative process doesn’t happen without risk.” “I want to have my art say what I believe in a beautiful way.”

Putting his art education and training to good use, Roy Andersen enjoyed a very successful career as one of the Nation’s top illustrators, working in a variety of capacities. In addition to working for magazines like National Geographic, Time, and Sports Illustrated, he illustrated a series of stamps featuring dogs and horses for the United States Postal Service, murals for the National Park Service and the Royal Saudi Naval Headquarters, and numerous paperback novels and movie posters. Perhaps most telling about Andersen’s work during this period is the fact that seven of his paintings are in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery, including portraits of Albert Einstein and King Fahd.

The motto Andersen said he lived by comes from English poet and playwright, Samuel Johnson: “Oh Lord, who has hitherto supported me, enable me to proceed in this present labor that in the last days, when I make a count of the talent committed to me, I may receive pardon.” Considering the quality and breadth of Roy Andersen’s impressive body of work, it’s impossible to believe that he didn’t make full use of the talent committed to him.

After more than thirty years working as an illustrator, Andersen decided to move to Arizona and then later to Kerrville, Texas to pursue his interests in fine art related

THE SILENT TRAIL Oil on Canvas 24 x 48 inches

WHEN TRAILS VANISH Oil on Canvas 36 x 26 inches 14

DAN BODELSON 1949 - 0000 Though Dan Bodelson was born in Minnesota, he grew up in Boulder, Colorado through his sophomore year in high school and then spent his last two years of high school in Santa Fe, New Mexico. As Bodelson recalls, growing up he didn’t feel he was destined to be an artist. “I always drew, but just because I was a goof-off in school, not paying attention.” But, that all changed one day when his junior high art teacher assigned the class an outdoor watercolor project and Dan’s painting of the Flatirons rock formation near Boulder received high praise from his teacher.

a local gallery. This time he found Santa Fe much more to his liking, commenting that, “Living in Santa Fe is ideal. There is a tremendous energy and creativity flowing there. Some of the best living artists are here and are willing to give help and share their experiences when asked.” Bodelson took full advantage of the environment, soaking up insights and guidance from the more experienced artists around him in Santa Fe, including Bettina Steinke, Clark Hulings, Tom Lovell, Robert Lougheed, and Wayne Wolfe. The painters of today that he admires include James Reynolds, Tom Lovell and Clark Hulings. “All of them have a deep love for what they do and a craftsmanship that sets them apart from others. Their painting goes far beyond subject matter or style -they reach out to you -and this is what I want my work to do.”

When his family moved to New Mexico, during the summer between his sophomore and junior years of high school, Dan thought he’d “died and gone to hell.” He missed his friends back in Boulder and found the low brown adobe style buildings of Santa Fe depressing.

For Dan Bodelson, who among other things served as a volunteer fire fighter, there seems to be a creative energy that is a combination of instinct and training, running through every aspect of life. “It’s all relying on instinct and training. You have to trust both of those, and it applies to life as well as art,” he reflects. “It all ties together.”

Upon graduating from high school, Bodelson was admitted to the California College of Arts and Crafts, now known as the California College of the Arts, in Oakland. Initially, he was interested in architectural rendering but soon changed his focus to art history and drawing. A course in illustration convinced him that it might be possible to earn a living as an artist. After earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, he worked for about a year with a San Francisco Bay Area Advertising Agency, but when the agency closed, he realized he missed the mountain landscapes of New Mexico and moved back to Santa Fe, where he got a job with a small ad agency and began showing his paintings at

Dan Bodelson’s paintings can be found in numerous private collections, including: the former governors Bruce King of New Mexico and Frank Keating of Oklahoma, movie director Steven Spielberg, composer John Williams, pitcher Nolan Ryan, and actors Amy Irving, Don Johnson, and Melanie Griffith.

BUFFALO HUNTER Oil on Linen 2012 30 x 40 inches

SNOW SOUNDS Oil on Linen 1980 22 x 28 inches

DON BRACKETT 1932 - 0000 Don Brackett, a third-generation New Mexican, grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. "My love of art has been my motivation for as long as I can remember. From the first grade in school, I can recall drawing and coloring.” Brackett went on to attend the University of New Mexico as a Fine Arts major, but as he says, “I struggled to make passing grades in all my other classes. I just wasn't interested in anything but drawing and painting."

these days Brackett prefers to work from his studio. “So much of our lives have been spent traveling, but in recent years we’ve been content to stay close to Taos because it speaks to us so strongly. There’s endless inspiration in the views from our own studio windows,” he says. He paints in an impressionist style and is a member of the Society of American Impressionists, though more recently he has painted with a palette knife, producing a much more pronounced impasto, and has even veered off into some completely abstract work. “I am not simply a reporter – most anyone can do that,” Brackett says. “Using a palette knife in my paintings is a new, exciting adventure achieved in context with my brushwork.”

For 15 years Brackett traveled northern New Mexico with his wife and fellow painter P. J. Garoutte in what they called their “paintmobile,” painting landscapes in watercolor. Brackett says he has been “fascinated with the shapes of the old adobe structures, the beautiful mountains and streams, especially here in our home in Taos. The pueblos along the Rio Grande have also been exciting and different painting subjects." Though his earlier paintings were watercolor and he even served as the president of the New Mexico Watercolor Society, by his late forties Bracket shifted to painting in oil, preferring the texture of the oil paint.

Don Brackett and P. J. Garoutte recently co-authored the double-sided book, A Lifetime in New Mexico/Passion in Paint. Of his life-long love of art and painting plein-aire, Brackett says, “After a while it just gets in your blood.” And, that he has, “…never grown tired of the subjects. I didn't choose this mysterious calling, it chose me and I would gladly do it all over again."

For many years Brackett preferred painting plein-aire and would often spend the entire day painting outside, afterward refining his work in his Taos studio. However,

EARTH AND SKY Oil on Canvas 24 x 30 inches

REYNOLD BROWN 1917 - 1991 The son of a railroad engineer, William Reynold Brown was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Reynold drew constantly as a child, often drawing World War I airplanes and battle scenes. An introduction to Tailspin Tommy cartoonist, Hal Forest, by his high school art teacher led to a job with Forest inking the cartoon strip and eventually to illustrating much of the strip.

exhibition caught the attention of the art director at Universal Pictures, who offered Brown a job. For the next 20 years Reynold Brown supported his wife and eight children illustrating more than 300 movie posters, among them Ben-Hur, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Spartacus, I Was a Teenage Werewolf, How the West Was Won, The Alamo, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Mutiny on the Bounty.

Later Brown was introduced to Norman Rockwell, probably by Rockwell’s wife who was a schoolteacher in Brown’s hometown. Brown did some background work for Rockwell and reportedly Rockwell advised him to forego cartoon art if he wanted to pursue a career as an illustrator. At age 20 Brown was awarded a scholarship to the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, today known as the Otis College of Art and Design, but after a year he was forced to drop his studies in order to support his mother and two sisters when his father was diagnosed with lung cancer.

By the time Reynold Brown was in his early fifties he had become disenchanted with Hollywood and the direction movies were taking and he left his highly successful career as a movie poster illustrator to pursue fine art in the Western genre. He enjoyed success as a fine artist almost immediately, but unfortunately several years later he suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed on his left side, his dominate side. Amazingly, Brown taught himself to paint and draw with his right hand, and a few years later he moved to western Nebraska where he found inspiration in the western landscapes. Reynold Brown continued to paint for the rest of his life, leaving an unfinished painting on his easel the day he died.

During World War II Brown worked for five years for North American Aviation as a technical artist and is credited with drawing the first cut-away illustrations of war planes. Following the War he moved to New York to work as a free-lance illustrator for Signet and Bantam paperback book covers, and covers and articles for magazines such as Argosy, Popular Science, Saturday Evening Post, Boys' Life, Outdoor Life, and Popular Aviation.

In 1994 a full-length documentary on Reynold Brown’s life titled The Man Who Drew Bug-Eyed Monsters was released. And, in 2009 Reynold Brown: A Life in Pictures by Daniel Zimmer, a monograph of Brown’s work, was published, followed by a new expanded edition in 2017.

In his early thirties Brown moved back to California where he taught at the Art Center College of Design. While teaching at the Art Center, his work shown at a faculty art

INDIAN SCOUT FOR THE 7TH CAVALRY Oil on Canvas 1994 22 x 30 ¼ inches

INDIANS APPROACHING TRAPPER IN JACKSON HOLE Watercolor on Paper 2015 14 x 20 inches

PAUL CALLE 1928 - 2010 Born in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Paul Calle earned an undergraduate degree from the Pratt Institute. During the Korean War Calle served as an Army illustrator, and following the War he illustrated covers for science fiction magazines such as, Galaxy, Fantasy Fiction, and Super Science Stories, as well as general interest magazines like The Saturday Evening Post.

as a fine artist grew rapidly due to his accurate and beautiful paintings of fur traders and mountain men. Calle spent a great deal of time in the field studying details of wildlife and the natural environment, often with the Northwest Rendezvous Group of Artists, of which he was a founding member. Noteworthy is the fact that the Northwest Rendezvous Group of Artists is credited with inventing the “quick draw” that has become so popular among art venues and Western art museums across the country.

In 1962 Paul Calle was one of eight artists selected to participate in the NASA Art Program, documenting the space program through paintings and drawings. His career as an artist for NASA spanned more than 40 years, covering the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle Missions. Among the art produced early on by Calle for the space program were the first “twin” stamps produced by the U.S. Postal Service, which commemorated the first American spacewalk of 1965 (issued in 1967) and the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969. When the Apollo 11 astronauts lifted off, among the things they carried was a die of Calle’s commemorative “First Man on the Moon” stamp. When they landed on the moon a proof was made from the die and hand-canceled by the crew, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. Interestingly, 150 billion copies of the “First Man on the Moon” stamp were printed and sold, making Calle the most reproduced artist in history and his artwork for the stamp the most widely purchased artwork in the world.

Calle typically began his day at 8:30am working in his Connecticut studio, a converted hay loft in an old barn, where he would work for 10 hours a day at least five days a week. The final preparation for each of his paintings involved first producing a detailed full-size pencil drawing. Calle was known for the quality of his pencil drawings and wrote what some consider one of the best books on pencil drawing, titled simply, The Pencil. Two quotes seem to best describe how Calle reconciled his diverse career as an artist. “For me, the dimensions of art can be as vast as the wild, windswept plains of the West, as infinite as outer space and as small as the historical scenes captured on postage stamps.” And, “To me there’s always been a similarity, a oneness, between that booted foot of Neil Armstrong sinking into the dust of the moon and the moccasin foot of mountain men, like John Colter, sinking into the snow of the Yellowstone River Valley. They were both establishing a new frontier at the edge of each new footstep.”

When Paul Calle was named Chairman of the Department of Interior’s “Artist in the Parks” program it sparked his interest in the history of the American West and led to his decision to enter the field of fine art as a Western artist. Calle’s reputation

THE TRAPPER’S FEAST Oil on Masonite 2000 23 x 34 ½ inches 27

SHARING WITH FRIENDS Oil on Masonite 1995 27 ¼ x 39 ¾ inches

JIM CARSON 1942 -0000 Having earned a Ph. D. in chemistry and molecular physics and served as a member of the faculty of Princeton University, Jim Carson may be the unlikeliest of Western Artists. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, as children he and his brother shared an interest in art. Jim’s interest in the west developed during a two-month sojourn on a ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico, when he was 12, and was further stoked by a steady diet of Western movies. However, Jim’s brother eventually lost interest in art and Jim’s interest in math and science led him to pursue an education in theoretical chemistry and molecular physics, earning a Ph. D. from New York University.

continued to work as an illustrator and in addition began to focus on painting historical western scenes, in his spare time. His historical western-themed paintings became so popular among collectors that by 2001 he decided to move his studio to the Smokey Mountains in North Carolina and devote himself full-time to painting, specializing in large paintings with strong historical narratives. “I’m a hard worker,” says Carson, “I usually spend about nine hours a day in the studio.” Extensive libraries in both homes, a large collection of period costumes, and the thousands of personal photographs of landscapes and horses inform his accurately detailed paintings.

Though Carson excelled in math and science, his passion for art evidently remained very strong. He chose, for example, to attend NYU specifically so that he would be near art museums. And, although a postdoctoral fellowship at Princeton University led to a faculty position there, while a member of the faculty he continued to pursue his interest in art, studying at the Art Students League in New York. Within a few years, Carson’s passion for art won out and he decided to leave a very successful career in academia to begin a new career illustrating covers for Western novels.

“Compared to most western artists, I’m more of a storyteller,” says Carson. “My paintings are mostly about mankind and its struggles—stories about good and evil, stories about humanity.” Nowadays Jim Carson and his wife, who is also a painter, divide their time between their homes in the Smokeys and Arizona.

In 1980 Jim Carson founded Hankins and Tegenborg, Ltd., an agency representing commercial artists, which he oversaw for the next two decades. All the while, he

ALONG THE LOLO TRAIL Oil on Canvas 2004 50 x 50 inches 31

BITTERROOT CROSSING Oil on Canvas 2003 42 x 68 inches 32

DEEP WINTER Oil on Canvas 2007 46 ½ x 61 inches

LEFT BEHIND Oil on Canvas 2003 38 x 54 inches

SEQUOYAH MEETING WITH JOHN ROSS, CHIEF OF THE CHEROKEE Oil on Canvas 2015 36 x 48 ¼ inches 35

SIERRA CROSSING Oil on Canvas 2002 43 ¼ x 64 inches

SLOW PROGRESS ON THE BITTEROOTS Oil on Canvas 2003 44 x 64 inches

TWO BY TWO Oil on Canvas 2005 48 x 57 7⁄8 inches

WINTER CAMP GUARD Oil on Canvas 2011 36 x 42 inches

WINTER SIOUX Oil on Canvas 2010 36 x 48 inches

A WORD OF ADVICE Oil on Canvas 2013 24 x 36 inches

MICHAEL COLEMAN 1946 -0000 Growing up in Provo, Utah, Michael Coleman spent much of his boyhood fishing, hunting, and trapping in the Rocky Mountains, often taking time to sketch what he saw. Coleman’s interest in art led him to pursue a formal education at Brigham Young University, majoring in Fine Arts.

The list of exhibitions, private collections, and public collections that feature Coleman’s art is extensive and diverse, including those of Clint Eastwood, President George Bush, Sr., Vice-President Dick Cheney, Burt Reynolds, the National Wildlife Art Museum, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, the National Museum of Dubai, and The White House, to name just a few.

Working primarily in oil on board or gouache, in the style of the great Hudson River School painters, Coleman paintings depict Indian encampments and wildlife against magnificent fall and winter landscapes richly detailed in muted tones. “I inhale the natural world, and love it most when it’s moody, stormy, wet, snowy, and dusky-colored,” says Coleman.

Interestingly, Michael Coleman’s sons, Nicholas (whose work is also represented in this catalogue) and Morgan, and his granddaughter Sarah, share his creative passion, each having become an artist in his or her own right.

While he may be best known for his paintings, Michael Coleman also works in bronze, both small and large scale, primarily focusing on wildlife subjects. His bronze of a moose titled September garnered him the Prix de West Award and was exhibited at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, now the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

BLACKFEET WINTER CAMP Oil on Masonite 12 x 24 inches

DAWN OF A NEW DAY Oil on Masonite 21 ½ x 14 inches 44

IN THE WOODS Oil on Canvas 11 ¾ x 8 inches 45

WINTER CAMP Gouache on Paper 10 x 6 ½ inches 46

WINTER CAMP Oil on Masonite 27 ½ x 19 ¾ inches 47

NICHOLAS COLEMAN 1978 - 0000 Born in Provo, Utah, Nicholas Coleman has been drawing and painting for as long as he can remember. His father, Michael Coleman, encouraged him to paint and draw as a child and has had a substantial influence on Nicholas’ work. Nicholas recalls his father’s advice to him when he was thinking about becoming an artist, “He asked, ‘What do you think about before you go to bed at night?’ I said, ‘What I'm going to paint the next day.’ He's like, ‘Well, that's good. That's the answer I wanted to hear, because if there was anything else, I was going to say, do that.’” By the time he was 21 years-old he says, “I knew I wanted to be an artist like my dad. And, I never thought it was easy, it's just one of those funny things that you enjoy, that you love and appreciate. And then you hope someone else is out there that has that same love and appreciation and is willing to pay you money to do it. But I count myself quite fortunate, and my father as well, to be doing this.”

continue to improve. Nicholas works in both gouache and oil. He describes his style as realistic with an impressionistic feel. “I think when it comes to my paintings, [they’re] just a reminder that it's out there still. I do like to make things timeless [so that you] just look at it and you go, ‘Yeah, that could be now or that could be 100 years ago.’ And, I want to keep that. There is something about hunting that feels old-fashioned even though we're living in modern times, and I think some people think, ‘Oh, we're too civilized.’ The world is not civilized.” When asked how he’d like to be remembered, Nicholas says, “I think any honors of men are transitory. I think I'd like to be remembered, hopefully, as just someone who shares their passion and enthusiasm and the love of the outdoors. And, it happened to be with artwork. I think that might be the way to be remembered, … I'm not sure how much future we have left going forward, but I doubt I'll make it in any of our history books or even a footnote. And, I don't think that's the goal. But it sure would be nice to be in a book of some kind.”

Nicholas remembers his father saying, "You're only as good as your last painting,” advice which he has taken to heart and remembers in order to help motivate him to

TRAPPER’S FEAST Oil on Canvas 20 x 16 inches 49

GUY CORRIERO 1936 - 0000 Guy Corriero grew up in Long Beach, New York, where he says he spent years as an ocean lifeguard. “It was a lot of fun, but I also learned to have a deep respect for the ocean,” he recalls.

Though he was an instructor for a video series on watercolor painting and a signature member of the American Watercolor Society, as well as several other watercolor societies, Corriero is just as comfortable working in oil. In fact, he is also comfortable painting en plein aire or in the studio, and with painting Western scenes or coastal seascapes. “I paint many different subjects,” says Corriero, though especially since retiring and moving to Portland, Maine the preponderance of his paintings are seascapes. “Moving from watercolors to oils and back again never proved a problem for me, as the principles of successful realistic painting are the same in both mediums (sic). Of course, the application of paint is totally different. Watercolors are more difficult to control and very often a mistake in color or value is not easy to fix. Oils, on the other hand, can be manipulated much more easily. People often ask me which one I prefer, and the answer is the one I’m using at the time,” he says. And, “I paint en plein air as well as in my studio in Portland. Obviously, there are advantages and disadvantages to both methods. Painting directly from nature lends itself to a more intimate infusion of the subject into the final painting. Despite the inconvenience, and sometimes tortuous conditions of wind, rain, bugs and extreme weather conditions, something inexplicable gets into the painting that seldom appears in a studio piece.” However, now well into his eighties, he says, “I must admit that lately I prefer to paint in the studio where I have everything at the ready in comfortable surroundings."

Corriero attended the School of Visual Arts for a year and then The Art Students League in New York City. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in general studies from C. W. Post College, later re-named the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, and more recently simply LIU Post. After graduation from college, Corriero joined the United State Marine Corps, which eventually led to illustrating for the Marine Corps Gazette Magazine. After his service in the Marine Corps, Corriero worked as a commercial artist in New York City, before joining the full-time faculty at The State University of New York at Farmingdale. Seven years later, with a Master of Arts degree in humanities in-hand from Hofstra University on Long Island, he joined the faculty at Herkimer County Community College, designing and implementing a fine arts curriculum. There he received The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. His skills as a teacher led to the production of 17 instructional videos by Educational Videos of Huntsville, Texas, titled Watercolor Painting Made Easy.

BRYCE CANYON Oil on Masonite 26 x 36 inches

SHEILA COTTRELL 1949 - 0000 Sheila Cottrell’s family’s roots in the West run deep. In the early nineteenth century her ancestors settled in the Republic of Texas, in an area known today as East Texas. They lived there for at least three generations, owned a 1,500 acre ranch, and made their living working with horses. Seeking a drier climate for the sake of the health of the family’s matriarch, the family left San Angelo, Texas in seven covered wagons, arriving in 1900 at the recently abandoned Fort Bowie in the Arizona territory. There they established homesteads throughout the Sulphur Springs Valley, ran the Wells Brothers Overland Service, operated an Indian trading post, and quarried stone for the Gadsden Hotel in Douglas, which opened its doors in 1907. And, Cottrell’s grandfather, Reubin Garrett Wells, became a deputy sheriff of Tombstone.

of the West. Cottrell attended the University of Arizona briefly, but she left because she was put off by the University’s emphasis on modern art. Her real art education began, she says, in 1983 when she sought out James Reynolds, who was teaching at the Scottsdale Artists School and became Cottrell’s mentor for nearly 30 years. Today, Sheila Cottrell lives and works in the same area of Arizona where her family settled well over a century ago. Working exclusively in oil, most of Cottrell’s paintings are based on her family’s history and the many stories passed down through generations. The clothes worn by the subjects are often based on personal family photos, and photos sent to her by friends and fans. “I enjoy painting anything to do with the West, past and present, but I especially love illustrating the tales of pioneering adventures my family experienced,” she says.

Cottrell grew up on a ranch in Wilcox, Arizona (where Fort Bowie was once located) and says that as a child she was always drawing. Her early years were influenced by Frank Tenney Johnson’s paintings, which inspired her to paint her own interpretations

SURPRISE SNOW Oil on Masonite 16 x 12 inches 53

DON CROWLEY 1926 - 2019 Born in Redlands, California and raised in Santa Ana, California, Donald V. Crowley couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t drawing. Crowley later became close friends with and a painting companion of watercolorist Mervin Corning. Crowley was heavily influenced early on by Frederic Remington’s book Done in the Open and by World Famous Paintings, a book on English painters.

Crowley once said, when asked about his art, "Art is like sex. It's something that you do; not something that you talk about." But, in his later years he became more comfortable talking about his success as an artist. “After 43 years in the business, I am finally comfortable with the title of artist,” and “I owe my success to the power of negative thinking. Fear is a great motivator. I used to worry about creating a certain look, but I have finally accepted myself for who I am.” At the age of 68, and as it turned out with another quarter century of work ahead, Crowley was elected a member the Cowboy Artists of America.

After having served in the U.S. Navy and the Merchant Marines, Crowley used the GI Bill to pay the tuition to the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. He later commented that the GI Bill “was the greatest thing the government ever did.” After college he moved to New York City where he worked for 21 years as a commercial illustrator, seven of them with the Charles E. Cooper Studio. He described that time in his life as one spent among "unbearably pretentious" people.

Working from his home and studio in the mountainous area of northwest Tucson, Crowley typically painted a 9 x 12 inch sketch before starting work on the full-size painting, because as he explained, “I can visualize the finished product and resolve any problems before going on to the larger canvas,” and “I adhere to W.C. Fields’ admonition that, ‘Anything worth having is worth stealing.’ I still borrow a good solution whenever I can.”

When he noticed in the late 1960s that his friend James Bama had a successful oneman show in Wyoming, he moved his family out west, eventually ending up in Arizona. Crowley enjoyed spending time on Paiute and Apache reservations and began focusing on painting portraits of Indians, as well as Indians engaged in everyday activities. Crowley deeply respected the inner dignity of the Indians and was intrigued by their costumes. The five children of the Martineaus family, Paiutes living in Kaibab, Arizona, were for years models for his paintings. The young lady featured in the painting from this collection is most likely Rachel Martineaus, who modeled for Crowley for more than two decades, beginning at the age of two.

Crowley’s paintings have been described as hyper-realistic, however, he continued to experiment with his technique saying, “I’ve finally realized that I don’t have to take a painting to the ultimate finish. Not every detail is necessary or even desirable.”

PAIUTE AUTUMN Oil on Masonite 12 x 9 inches 55

STAN DAVIS 1942 - 0000 Stan Davis grew up in Salem, near Tallahassee, Florida and close to the shores of the Gulf Coast. As a child Stan loved two things: he loved drawing, and he loved searching the nearby beaches for arrow heads, pottery shards, and other artifacts that washed out of the many streams and rivers in that area that flow into the Gulf. Following his graduation with honors from the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Florida, Davis worked for a year with an advertising agency before joining the Air Force. When his term of service in the Air Force was up Davis moved to Los Angeles where he worked as the art director for one of the top advertising agencies in the world, Richter & Mracky-Bates, eventually leaving to establish his own ad agency.

led him to travel throughout the Northwest and Canada to see the landscapes of the Plains Indians, visit museums to study Indian artifacts, and to learn how to make historically accurate costumes. Specializing in oil paintings of 19th-century scenes featuring Blackfoot, Sioux, and Cheyenne Indians, Davis hired Native Americans to model for his paintings, wearing the costumes he personally made to insure their accuracy. After two years of painting in his free time, Davis dived into the art market with his 25 best paintings. Eventually, Stan Davis left the advertising business to focus exclusively on painting and moved back to his home state of Florida, where he lives and paints today. Since moving back to Florida, Davis has extended his repertoire to include the occasional painting of a Seminole Indian.

While running his own advertising agency, Davis visited a number of art galleries in Scottsdale, Arizona, and was inspired to begin creating art in his free time based on Native American themes. Davis’ desire to create historically accurate paintings

SILENT DOG FIRST TO BITE Oil on Linen 12 x 11 inches 57

WINTER SOLSTICE Oil on Linen 2003 24 x 18 inches 58

JOHN DEMOTT 1954 - 0000 John DeMott, the son of a racehorse trainer, grew up on a ranch for thoroughbred racehorses in Southern California. Roy Rogers was a neighbor and John and his siblings often played with the Rogers’ kids. He began painting when he was about 10 years old, when his family gave him an artist kit. And, it wasn’t the Westerns so prevalent on TV in the sixties that caught young John’s attention, instead it was an instructional painting show that he remembers never missing.

“I went to all the major museums and galleries, took photos, looked at artifacts in museums, saw Indians on reservations,” he recalls. “It was an eye-opener to what I wanted to do, to where my heart really was,” he recalls. By the time he was in his early 30s DeMott had moved to Loveland, Colorado where today he works from a studio on his ranch, where he also keeps his collection of acoustic guitars. He describes his style as “Historical Realism,” a combination of Impressionism and Realism. His favorite period, and the one most often represented in his paintings, is the last half of the nineteenth century, featuring trappers, Indians, explorers, and Civil War soldiers more often than cowboys.

When DeMott was still a teenager he and his girlfriend made and sold metal sculptures that soon turned into a business with his brothers that grew into a large factory employing 150 people, producing wall hangings and table sculptures. However, with no formal training, and while still in his early 20s, DeMott sold the business to one of his brothers, moved to the mountains, built an art studio and began painting full-time. While he did enroll in some painting workshops, he says for the most part he developed his skills “the hard way, by trial, error, and experience.”

Typically working on several paintings at a time, DeMott’s method often involves months of research prior to beginning to paint. He employs Native American models and re-enactors to stage scenes using period costumes and accessories from his collection and horses from his own stable, taking photographs and making sketches he uses as references when he begins to paint. DeMott also seeks out direct experiences in the field by participating in old-style Western shootouts and visiting battlefields. “That part, traveling to landscapes and going into wilderness country and then staging a scene, is just as enjoyable as painting itself,” says DeMott. “For me, the process is a labor of love.”

At first his paintings were of wildlife and scenes from the Old West done in gouache, but he soon branched out, working in other media and historical Western subjects. By the time he was 24 years old his work began appearing in galleries in Arizona. For DeMott, the subject matter he focused on as an artist was cinched when he spent six months traveling the Rocky Mountain states in an RV with his wife and three children.

CAREFUL PASSAGES Oil on Foam Core 2005 24 x 48 inches

MANY SNOWS AGO Oil on Canvas 1990 48 x 40 inches 62

AUSTIN DEUEL 1939 - 0000 Two things clearly informed Austin Deuel’s life and his art: his deep family roots in Western history and his Marine Corps service during the Vietnam War.

commissions, which have mostly been related to the Vietnam War and the Marines, include: the Vietnam War Memorial in San Antonio, Texas, the General Patton Memorial in Chiriaco Summit, California, the Women’s Veterans Memorial in Phoenix, Arizona, and a Veteran’s Memorial of a WWI Chaplain in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Harry Austin Deuel, III grew up listening to the stories his great grandfather, Harry Austin Deuel, for whom he was named, told about the key roles a number of his ancestors played in the history of the West. William Austin Deuel was in charge of the crew that laid the track for the Transcontinental Railroad from Omaha to Denver. Interestingly, it was he who hired a young Buffalo Bill Cody to acquire the meat that fed his work crews. Osmyn and William Henry Deuel were the scouts for Brigham Young, who led the Mormons to the Salt Lake, where they built the oldest cabin in that area. And, Deuel County, Nebraska, established in 1889, was named for another ancestor, Harry Porter Deuel, who was a superintendent of the Union Pacific Railroad.

As an author and painter, his work can be seen in his three books, Cañon De Los Artistas, Even God is Against Us, and Swan Lake, Nature's Amazing Grace. His work as a painter can be seen in The National Museum of the Marine Corps in Washington, D.C., illustrating the annual Western Art Calendars of the early 1970s published by Shedd Brown, on Western Christmas Cards from the Leanin’ Tree Card Company, as prints and original paintings in thousands of rooms in the resorts of Las Vegas, Nevada, and in many private collections.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Deuel joined the United States Marine Corps when he was 20 years old, serving from 1959 to 1965. After leaving the Marine Corps he began his career as a full-time artist. He rejoined the Marine Corps in 1967 and was assigned to the Combat Art Program in the Republic of Vietnam. Following his second stint with the Marine Corps, Deuel moved to Scottsdale, Arizona.

Deuel’s sons, Ethan and Sam, are artists whose work is heavily influenced by their experience with their father visiting the El Cacarizo de las Flechas Caves in the Cañón de Santa Teresa Gorge in the Sierra de San Francisco, Baja California.

Deuel was a painter, sculptor, and author. He also taught art at a junior college, ran an art gallery, and wrote a San Diego newspaper column on artifacts. His sculpture

HEADING FOR SHELTER Oil on Canvas 24 1/8 x 48 inches

TRAPPER IN THE SNOW Watercolor and Gouache on Paper 21 ½ x 14 ½ inches 66

GENE DODGE 1942 - 2013 Gene Dodge was born and raised in Riverside, California. When he was in high school the Swanson family moved to town from South Dakota, an event that would ultimately shape his life and career. Gene and Mary Swanson met at church and within a few years they were dating, which in a few more years led to a marriage that lasted the rest of Gene’s life, and a close relationship with Mary’s brothers, Ray and Gary.

close to animals and nature, and the more I went out with him on trips into the field, researching animals and habitat, the more I realized how important his art was. I could see that combining my love of nature and my artistic desires would be a way of doing something really special with my life.” Soon the trio were full-time working artists. Ray and Gene shared a studio for about a decade, where, according to Gene’s wife Mary, they typically painted from 8:00am to 5:00pm every day. Ray became well known for his paintings of Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni life, eventually becoming the president of the Cowboy Artists of America, while Gene and Gary became accomplished wildlife artists.

Following high school, Gene worked his way up to become an engineer with the California Division of Highways, while one brother-in-law, Ray, graduated from Northrup Aeronautical Institute as an engineer, and his other brother-in-law, Gary, worked as a taxidermist, museum curator, and conservationist.

For Gene painting was about conveying to the viewer his appreciation of animals and nature in the most realistic way as possible. “My enjoyment of animals is something I try to recreate on canvas. I think the more realism, the more depth you put into a painting, the more lifelike it becomes.”

In their thirties all three men and their families ended up in Prescott, Arizona, and it was in Arizona that Ray decided to leave his career as an engineer to pursue his interest in art. Ray often took Gene with him to nearby Navajo reservations where he strove to produce accurate depictions of Navajo life, and he encouraged both Gene and Gary to pursue art as well, which Gary did and took Gene along with him on his field trips. Said Gene of those trips, “My interests prior to painting had always centered around animal life. In getting to know Gary Swanson, that interest was greatly reinforced. I always envied Gary’s freedom to spend so much time so

Gene Dodge was the last survivor of this impressive family trio of wildlife and Western artists. However, Gary’s son Trevor continues the tradition of his father and uncles today as a successful wildlife artist living and working in Phoenix, Arizona.

UNTITLED (MOUNTAIN LIONS) Oil on Masonite 1982 19 3⁄8 x 29 ¼ inches

ROBERT DUNCAN 1952 -0000 Robert Ducan was born in Salt Lake City, Utah into a large family that ultimately included 10 children. While spending his summers on his grandparents 10,000 - acre cattle ranch in the upper Green River area of Wyoming, he fell in love with life in the countryside.

America. However, within six years Duncan resigned from the Cowboy Artists of America to broaden his subject matter to include scenes of farm life and nostalgic vignettes of rural America. Duncan sees his work as a return to traditional values and a simple and honest way of life that he fears is disappearing from the American landscape. “I’m interested in the ways we are all alike and feelings that are universal. I also paint out of concern that we are losing sight of things that have a profound impact on our souls and wellbeing. We all need a bit of nature in our lives.” And through his art he hopes, “that we might all try to save those things that really matter and leave our children a world where they can still enjoy the simple pleasures.”

When he was 11 his grandmother encouraged his interest in art by giving him his first set of paints and paying for art lessons. Robert’s grandmother’s early encouragement and her support of his interest in art eventually led him to enroll in the University of Utah to study art. Following college Duncan pursued a career as a commercial artist, before ultimately dedicating himself full-time to creating fine art of the American West. Duncan’s paintings are often scenes of Indians in snowy mountain environments. That decision to pursue Western art proved to be a good one when at the age of only 29 Duncan was the youngest artist elected to the prestigious Cowboy Artists of

AFTER LOST HORSES Oil on Masonite 1977 7 20 x 30 ⁄8 inches 71

THE GUARDIANS Oil on Canvas 2014 22 x 28 inches

LEAVING WINTER CAMP Oil on Masonite 1978 20 x 40 inches

NO MATCH FOR ONE MUZZLE LOADER Oil on Canvas 24 x 36 inches

SUSPICIOUS MOTHER Oil on Masonite 18 x 36 inches

TRAIL OF THE FUR BRIGADE Oil on Board 1977 20 x 40 inches

WEARY TRAVELERS Oil on Panel 1982 28 x 42 inches

CHARLIE DYE 1906 - 1973 Born in Cañon City, Colorado, Charlie Dye grew up working on ranches, and by the time he was 20 he had worked on ranches in three states: Colorado, California and Oregon. Dye enjoyed being a ranch hand and drawing as a hobby, but along the way he also played semi-pro football, worked as a bodyguard, and even worked for a few years in movies riding his horse Old Navajo. While in the hospital recovering from injuries resulting from a horse falling on him, an old cowhand in the bed next to him showed him a book that featured then living artist Charles M. Russell’s drawings, which inspired Dye to seriously consider becoming an artist. From that time on Dye seemed to be on a fast track.

Western pictures and see if they would sell in the galleries. They did, and he decided to give up his career as an illustrator and move back out West to Colorado where he bought a half interest in the Colorado Institute of Art. While teaching occasionally at the Institute, Dye continued to pursue fine art in a subject area he knew very well, depicting working cowboys. Within a few years Charlie Dye was so successful as an artist that he bought a home and studio in Sedona, Arizona, where he would live and work for the rest of his life. In Arizona he met Joe Beeler, John Hampton, and George Phippen, and in 1965 the four artists co-founded the Cowboy Artists of America, something Dye was extremely proud of.

After winning a sizeable amount of money on a bet, Dye’s sister offered to match the amount if Charlie would enroll in school. Dye managed to get himself into both the Chicago Art Institute and the American Academy of Art, and within eighteen months he was working as an illustrator. By the time he was 30, he had moved to New York City and was working as an illustrator for magazines like The Saturday Evening Post, Argosy, American Weekly, and Outdoor Life.

According to James Peck, curator of collections for the Rockwell Museum of Western Art, “Dye was among the very first Western artists to combine professional art training, an illustrator’s aesthetic and Western bona fides… a model emulated many times since ….”

Twenty years later, during a trip to California to visit an ailing sister, Charlie Dye noticed Western paintings in galleries and, as he said he, “decided to paint a few

ROBES FOR TRADE Oil on Board 24 x 36 inches

ROBERT FARRINGTON ELWELL 1874 - 19620 Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Robert Farrington Elwell was the only child of a stone mason who encouraged Robert’s interest in drawing and a mother who was a musician who loved to draw as well. Robert attended a technical school in Boston, intending to become a civil engineer, and while there he learned drafting and lettering, which led to a job as a letterer and graphic artist for The Boston Globe newspaper.

For about three decades beginning in his mid-thirties, Elwell worked as a free-lance illustrator on a series of books for young readers, illustrations for Harper’s, Century Magazine, American Magazine, The Outing Magazine, Ladies Home Journal, and Arizona Highways, and covers for other magazines, including: Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly, Adventure, West, Short Stories, All Western, Ace-High, and Frontier Stories. In addition to working as a free-lance illustrator for magazines, Elwell produced illustrations for Winchester Arms and United States Cartridge.

When Elwell was 18 years old he met “Buffalo Bill” when William Cody brought his Wild West Show to Boston. Elwell had illustrated some of the advertising and publicity that Cody arranged through The Boston Globe. The two became close friends, and according to Elwell, “I was associated with Cody for many years in as close a relationship as father and son.” Like Cody, Elwell had two daughters, whom he named after Cody’s daughters, their middle names being the same as Cody’s daughters’ first names.

By the time Elwell was in his mid-fifties the business empire Cody had built was gone and Elwell moved back east where he continued to paint and sculpt western subjects, though he still managed to spend his winters in Arizona, just outside the Prescott National Forest. Following World War II, Elwell moved back out west fulltime, eventually winding up in Arizona teaching at the Remunda Ranch, which would become known as the oldest family owned “dude ranch.” Fittingly, a 1925 Boston Globe article seems to sum up Elwell’s life and career as an artist best, “In [Elwell’s] pictures and writings he lives over again much of the life he lived with Buffalo Bill in the Wild West show, on the ranches, on the prairies, foothills and mountain trails. And you feel the thrill of his enthusiasm for the great outdoors in all the pictures.”

When Elwell was in his early twenties, he visited one of Cody’s ranches and ultimately became the ranch manager and irrigation engineer for Cody’s Wyoming ranch, a position he held for the next quarter century. It was at Cody’s ranches that Elwell was introduced to Frederic Remington, Diamond Jim Brady, Theodore Roosevelt, and Annie Oakley, who reportedly taught one of Elwell’s daughters to shoot. Another of Cody’s associates, Sioux tribal chief Iron Tail, even made Elwell a member of the Sioux tribe.

GOING HOME Oil on Canvas 7 23 ⁄8 x 36 ¼ inches 81

JOHN FAWCETT 1952 - 0000 John Fawcett was born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. John grew up with a passion for horses, his family owned a few, and John’s first horse was a mare he named Copper. John’s other passion was drawing. “I started drawing at an early age,” says Fawcett. “I would just lose myself in drawing and learning about any kind of art.” But says Fawcett, “I was always really interested in art and my parents were very supportive, but I didn’t have any formal art training. All through high school, college and vet school, I did artwork for student newspapers and yearbooks, but I never considered art for a career.”

practice during the day and painting at night and on weekends.” Then, “One day I was talking to my stepfather, who was a physician, and he asked, ‘When you do art, do you think about veterinary medicine?’ I said no. Then he asked, ‘When you do surgery, do you think about art?’ I said, ‘Yes, all the time.’” Fawcett sold his veterinarian practice and devoted himself full-time to painting, first in watercolor and then later venturing into oil painting. The choice to focus his work on the Western genre was an obvious one for Fawcett. The training and experience as an equine veterinarian that has given him special insight into horse anatomy and his love of Western landscapes and vistas are both clearly evident in his paintings. “You paint what you know best and have a passion for,” he says, “and I was passionate about Western art.” “I like to make the viewer smell the horse, hear the hoof beats, and have all their senses taken in by the painting.”

Pursuing instead his interest in horses and animals in general, Fawcett attended the University of New Hampshire majoring in pre-veterinary medicine and earned his doctorate from Iowa State University in 1978. Following graduation, Fawcett received a job offer in Pennsylvania, where he interned and decided to stay. For the next eighteen months he worked both as an equine and small animal veterinarian. However, he says, “After a year and a half of working for someone else, I opened my own practice,” which over the next 20 years grew to include five veterinarians.

Fawcett is unusual among Western artists with regard to the artists he says have influenced his style. “I like Sargent, Winslow Homer, and Anders Zorn and the narratives they evoke,” he says.

In 1991 Fawcett traveled to Tucson to see the Mountain Oyster Club’s annual Western art show, which changed his life. “I was enthralled by Western art,” says Fawcett. That experience caused him to seriously consider pursuing art as a career. “I had a burning desire to pursue art, but I was really having a hard time making a decision,” says Fawcett. For the next five years Fawcett says, “I was running my

Today Fawcett and his wife divide their time between their horse farm in Pennsylvania and their ranch in Clark, Colorado. “In Colorado, the studio is in my home,” he says. “In Pennsylvania, my 1,800-square-foot studio is separate from the house in an Amish-built, timber-frame barn.”

WINTER’S JOURNEY Oil on Canvas 40 x 60 inches 83

JOE FERRARA 1932 - 2004 Joe Ferrara was unusual for a Western artist because he lived his entire life just about as far east in the United States as one can get. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Ferrara earned his Bachelor of Fine Art degree from the Pratt Institute in New York.

vignettes from eight of his movies. Ferrara also designed medallions, a series of calendars that have themselves become collectable, and gun engravings for the Winchester Arms Company. As a fine artist, Joe Ferrara spent his career painting and sculpting Western subjects and wildlife. Perhaps the best known of his wildlife paintings was of a Bald Eagle, commissioned by the American Bald Eagle Foundation for its First Annual Stamp issue, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the designation of the Bald Eagle as a national symbol of the United States.

Following college, Ferrara moved back to Connecticut, established a commercial art business, and worked as an illustrator in New Haven and Hartford. In his thirties the Winchester Arms Company commissioned him to illustrate commemorative gun box sleeves. For example, the box sleeve illustrated by Ferrara for the John Wayne Commemorative Rifle featured a portrait of John Wayne surrounded by

COLD TRAIL TO THE RAILHEAD Oil on Canvas 30 x 40 inches

MARTIN GRELLE 1954 - 0000 Martin Grelle was born and raised in Clifton, Texas where he began painting and drawing at an early age. As luck would have it, when Grelle was in high school two professional Western artists, James Boren and Melvin Warren, moved to town. Martin met Jim Boren when he was in high school and working part-time at his father’s gas station, and he was called to change a flat tire on James Boren’s automobile. Jim Boren became Grelle’s mentor, close friend, and as Grelle describes him, “a sort of second father.” With Boren’s guidance, Martin became more proficient in art while still in high school, and within a year of graduation Grelle had his first of no fewer than 30 one-man shows.

Grelle and his wife still live on a ranch just outside Clifton. His studio is located in the beautiful Meridian Creek Valley, not far from his home. His paintings are typically done in oil and are based on his personal knowledge of Plains Indian culture, historical accounts, and imagery and iconography from the period. Mountains are very often the backdrop for the scenes he paints. Says Grelle, “I have always been drawn to the mountains because of their grandeur. Whenever I paint people in a mountain or wilderness setting, I try to convey the larger-than-life effect that the landscape must have had on those individuals.” Beyond his personal work as an artist, Grelle believes he has a responsibility to share his God-given talent with others. Besides giving demonstrations around the country and mentoring other aspiring artists, for about a quarter century he and his fellow artistfriend Bruce Greene have together taught an annual weekend painting workshop.

More than two decades later, in 1995, the dream Grelle had harbored, since he met members James Boren and Melvin Warren, of being invited to join the Cowboy Artists of American, came true. Unfortunately his mentor, James Boren did not live to see that day. But, as Grelle says of Boren, “He’s still there with me.” No doubt James Boren would have been proud of Martin Grelle’s election to the Cowboy Artists of American, and prouder still that Grelle went on to serve as its president.

HUNTER’S MORNING Oil on Canvas 1999 36 x 48 inches

RAUL GUTIERREZ 1935 - 0000 Born in Laredo and raised during his teen years in San Antonio, Texas, Raul Gutierrez says of his childhood, “I got to visit a lot of little ranches and see working cowboys. Sometimes, they’d even let me ride the horses and help out. So, I was fascinated with the cowboy life from an early age.” As a high school student, Gutierrez’s artistic talent was already evident, earning him a scholarship to the Warren Hunter School of Commercial and Fine Arts, where he studied in the evenings while finishing high school by day.

Gutierrez studies historical photographs when preparing to paint and works hard to accurately capture the Texas landscapes he finds so beautiful, the rocky promontories, the gnarly trees, the creek beds, the grasslands, and even the prickly pears - right down to the subtle differences in the shape and color of the varieties of prickly pears one finds around Texas. Among the many collections that include art by Raul Gutierrez are: the late President Lyndon B. Johnson, country singer George Strait, Senator Barry Goldwater, Secretary of the Treasury and Governor of Texas John B. Connally, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, co-founder of Clear Channel Communications Red McCombs, and the President of Mexico, Miguel Aleman.

Following graduation from high school, Gutierrez joined the U.S. Army, serving in Korea first and later in the Pentagon, as an illustrator. When he was discharged from the Army, Gutierrez went to work for the next 15 years at the San Antonio Light newspaper as a political cartoonist and illustrator. In his spare time he pursued his interest in painting, sculpting, writing poetry, and songwriting, eventually focusing most of his creative talent as a painter in both watercolor and oil. Gutierrez’s paintings ultimately brought him to the attention of the Texas State Legislature, which named him Texas Artist of the Year for 1983-1984.

Given his impressive lifetime of creativity one might think his drive to create would be winding down, but that doesn’t seem likely to happen anytime soon. “I’m 84, but I still paint every day. I want to leave my art as my signature, something people will appreciate long after I’m gone,” says Raul Gutierrez.

FRIENDS OR ENEMIES Oil on Canvas 9 x 12 inches

DAVID HALBACH 1931 -0000 As a seven-year-old, David was inspired to pursue a career as an illustrator when he saw Disney’s “Snow White.” By the sixth grade he was producing paintings. Halbach attended the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, where he was introduced to plein air painting. Following graduation from Chouinard and a tour of duty in the Navy, Halbach worked for years at Disney Studios and takes great pride in being one of eight illustrators who worked on “Lady and the Tramp.” In addition to working at Disney Studios, Halbach’s career prior to pursuing fine art included teaching art for the Los Angeles Unified School District, running his own advertising agency, and working with National Geographic on a film project for children.

“Painting from life is absolutely necessary in my art.” Halbach travels from his home in northern California to Indian reservations and reenactments in Arizona for his subject matter and is especially interested in Hopi Indian culture. By his mid 50’s Halbach was accepted as a member of the Cowboy Artists of America, which he understandably says was “about the proudest day in my life,” because his preference for working in watercolor makes him unique among its members. “Watercolor media is an exciting one, particularly in the beginning stages when painting ‘wet into wet.’ One has less control and therefore it is surprising and exciting to see the colors intermingle,” says Halbach.

Like so many of his fellow Western artists, Halbach didn’t begin to focus on developing as a fine artist until his mid 30’s. He prefers to paint from life, saying,

EARLY SNOW Watercolor on Paper 1979 9 x 15 ½ inches 91

MOMENTS OF FREEDOM Watercolor on Paper 2000 9 1⁄8 x 14 ¼ inches 92

SAFETY IN NUMBERS Watercolor on Paper 1986 17 ¼ x 10 ½ inches 93

CARL HANTMAN 1933 - 0000 Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the only child of a Serviceman, Carl Hantman grew up all along the Eastern Seaboard, from New York to Miami. At the age of 10 he lived in New York near the Art Students League, where he says, “I got into anatomy classes and became even more involved in art.” As a youngster he says he constantly went to see Western movies. However, it wasn’t until a couple years later, when his family moved to Florida, that he was first introduced to “Western life” in a more tangible way. Says Hantman, “Many people don’t realize how much cattle industry and ranching exists in Florida. I grew up around cattle people and had a number of friends who lived on ranches. They would invite me out to visit and they would ride while I would sketch.” Hantman is grateful his parents were so supportive of his interest in art at an early age. “I was lucky because my folks pushed me forward. They saw to it that I got private lessons with a Florida artist, and every summer they let me go back to Cape Cod and study art.”

he studied for the next six years. His first job following school was with a studio as an illustrator, where he specialized in Western paperback book covers for novels by Louis L’Amour, Zane Grey, and Max Brand, eventually illustrating more than 200 book covers. When the publishers of Max Brand books wanted covers that looked more like fine art, Hantman obliged. And, when a gallery in Austin, Texas bought all of those original paintings Hantman felt his future lay in fine art rather than illustration. While he enjoys having no deadlines and being able to paint the subjects that interest him he notes that, “In some senses, fine art is much more demanding than illustration. There is more pressure because you have to do something that somebody will want to take home and hang on their wall for years.” Today Hantman lives and works in Stuart, Florida, painting scenes primarily of Apache Indians during the second half of the nineteenth century. In preparation for each new painting Hantman works with an historian friend who checks his facts and helps arrange for the models, costumes, and horses that will make up the scene he wants to paint. “The Apaches were such a strong people, and the strength of character draws me. I like the open and bold look of the landscape. That whole era lends itself to my style.”

Following high school Hantman studied at the University of Miami briefly before being drafted into the Army, which stationed him in Northern Japan. After his two-year tour of duty in the Army, Hantman moved back to New York to once again enroll at the New York Art Students League and attend the Frank J. Reilly School of Art, where

RUSTLERS OF WINTER Oil on Canvas 28 ¼ x 40 ¼ inches

WINTER MEDICINE Oil on Canvas 20 x 28 inches

HEINIE HARTWIG 1939 - 0000 Heinie Hartwig grew up in the Santa Clara Valley of California. He didn’t read until he was 11 years old and credits some of his creativity to the fact that he is dyslexic and therefore had to find other ways to solve problems. While in school, Heinie worked in the orchards of the Santa Clara Valley. As a child Hartwig says that he was crazy for airplanes, and indeed later in life he did become a glider pilot.

Hartwig returned to construction work as a concrete mason for the decade following his enlistment in the Army, but he eventually became disenchanted with union work in his early thirties because the union put limits on his daily output, which he felt was wrong. Looking for other work, he happened to walk by an art gallery in San Jose and was impressed by the prices he saw. For the next years he practiced painting, and by year end he quit his construction job and began painting full-time.

Following high school, Hartwig worked for his father in construction for two years. While working in construction, Hartwig tried his hand at drawing cartoons, but because printed cartoons were syndicated and tightly controlled by the newspapers and magazines, he had no success as an independent.

Given his high energy and drive to make a living, Hartwig analyzed the market and determined that the opportunity lie in the market for decorative paintings. In the beginning he painted one painting a day, but by year-end he was painting one painting an hour. He sold his decorative paintings by the square inch and because he considered them decorative rather than fine art, he signed them with only his first name. He says he produced about 8,000 paintings for the decorative market. When the price for decorative paintings declined due to the influx of paintings from Asia, Hartwig recognized the opportunity was then in fine art, so he began to study the work of fine artists. He was particularly drawn to the romantic composition, mood, and color palate of 19th-century Hudson River School artists like Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran, and he invested a great deal of time experimenting in an effort to learn their techniques. “Most of the artists fail because they don’t put mood into their work,” says Hartwig.

While Hartwig was not what one would call a good student, he was a very dedicated endurance athlete. When he was 20 years old, Hartwig left construction work and enlisted for a three-year tour of duty in the Army, because the Army promised him special training for the Olympic games. Hartwig was stationed in Germany, and while there he did paint some reenlistment posters used on base, but the promised Olympic training never materialized. Nevertheless, he still kept in shape as a runner. When two lieutenants challenged him to a one-mile race, in uniform and wearing combat boots, Hartwig gave them a 220-yard head start and still managed to pass one at the half mile mark and the other with 150 yards to go. When he was discharged and returned home to California, Hartwig became a marathoner, eventually winning the Northern California marathon title in 1964. Hartwig has logged an impressive 56,000 miles as a runner and another 235,000 miles as bicyclist.

As a fine artist, Hartwig has been both prolific and successful. His preferred medium is oil on Masonite, and he is best known for his paintings of Western landscapes and Indian encampments with teepees. In addition to painting, Hartwig enjoys teaching private art classes.

THE COLD WINTER Oil on Masonite 20 x 30 inches

JOHN JARVIS 1946 - 0000 A descendant of pioneers who settled in the Utah Valley in the mid 19th-century, John Brent Jarvis was born in American Fork, Utah and raised just outside Provo in nearby Pleasant Grove, where he still lives and works today. As a child John grew up hiking and fishing in the nearby Wasatch Mountains. When his parents noticed his interest in art, they gave him a sketch/scrapbook by Saturday Evening Post illustrator and Western artist, John Ford Clymer, which he filled with drawings of animals and landscapes.

Arts degree. However, when he began selling paintings, he decided to leave Brigham Young after his sophomore year to paint full-time. Jarvis works in his second-floor home studio overlooking the Utah Valley, at the base of Mt. Timpanogos in the Wasatch Mountain range. His love of the outdoors inspires him, while the collection of Indian artifacts, hunting and fishing trophies, guns, and outdoor gear that fills his studio serves as his reference material. Jarvis says he has, “always had an interest in Native American people and admired their reverence and the respect they have for the land that sustains them.” He works in watercolor and gouache, in a style influenced by the technique of Andrew Wyeth, to create paintings that typically feature 19th-century Indians in beautiful landscapes, signing them simply “John Jarvis.”

In his senior year of high school, John enrolled in an art class, which led to an art scholarship at one of the oldest colleges in the west, Snow College, where he earned his Associate of Arts degree. Jarvis went on to earn his bachelor’s degree from Utah State University in fisheries biology, with a minor in art, and then on the advice of his professor he enrolled at Brigham Young University to pursue an Master of Fine

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TRAVELER’S FIRE Gouache on Paper 2008 23 ¾ x 30 ½ inches

HARVEY JOHNSON 1921 - 2005 Harvey W. Johnson grew up surrounded by art. His father, Burt Johnson, was a sculptor, his mother a landscape artist, and one of his aunts, also his art teacher, was Annetta St. Gaudens, sister-in-law of the famous sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens. “Despite all the family interest in art, nobody every pushed it on me as a career. However, I was so enveloped in the atmosphere of art that I absorbed it by osmosis. I can’t recall ever wanting to be anything but an artist – except for a little while, when I was about six and wanted to be a fireman,” Johnson laughingly recalled.

League in New York City, where both his mother and father had studied before him. After art school, he worked for several studios and advertising agencies before landing a job as an instructor at the Famous Artists School in Connecticut, where he worked for nearly two decades. In the early years of teaching at The Famous Artists School, Johnson picked up some freelance work illustrating pulp novels. “It was a marvelous training ground. And as time went on, I got more and more work on Western themes,” recalled Johnson.

Among Johnson’s earliest memories were modeling bits of clay from a sculpture his father was working on and, he says, “… the days I spent pulling Plasticine from the inside of a built-up form of an exceptionally large statue, while my father worked on the details on the outside of the sculpture.”

In 1966 Johnson responded to an ad in Western Horseman magazine regarding a group of Western artists being formed. He became a charter member of the group, which named itself the Cowboy Artists of America and served as its president and vice president during a tenure with the organization that lasted nearly four decades.

In eighth grade Harvey entered a drawing of an Indian being shot off his horse in a citywide contest in New York City, which he won. As a freshman in high school, he was made the art editor of the school’s literary magazine, and he took art classes offered by the WPA (Works Progress Administration). However, in spite of the promise he showed as an artist, Harvey decided to drop out of high school to join the U.S. Army.

By the 1980s Johnson was focused on painting mountain men because, as he said, “… there are hundreds of stories I know about and want to eventually paint.” And, “I want to show episodes never depicted before. The mountain man’s adventures were so varied, and he covered such a large slice of our nation in his effort find furs ….” Today, Harvey Johnson’s son, Scott Lee Johnson, continues the family’s deep artistic tradition, working as a sculptor.

Following a three-plus year stint in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during WWII, Johnson returned to what was clearly his calling and enrolled at the Art Students

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CLYMAN SAVES SUBLETTE Oil on Canvas Mounted on Board 1987 24 x 36 inches

THOMAS KINKADE 1958 - 2012 William Thomas Kinkade, III grew up in Placerville, California in relative poverty, raised by a single mother. “His mother did her best to raise three kids, but he still always longed for the home that had the lights on, all the fireplaces lit—for a warm, homey feel,” said Denise Sanders, who worked with Kinkade the last 15 years of his life.

By the late 1990s, Kinkade began franchising the distribution of his limited-edition prints to galleries in malls and shopping centers across the country. At its peak, Kinkade’s art reportedly generated $130 million in sales through some 350 franchises. Kinkade attributed his success to the broad appeal of his subjects. “It’s not the world we live in,” said Kinkade, “It’s the world we wished we live in. People wish they could find that stream, that cabin in the woods.”

As a child, Thom liked to draw comics and caricatures. As luck would have it, when Thom was in high school, Glenn Wessels, a retired University of California professor and artist moved in next door, and when Thom asked if he could apprentice with Wessels, he agreed. At Wessels’ urging, Kinkade attended the University of California, Berkeley for two years before transferring to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. However, soon after transferring to the Art Center, Kinkade left the school to paint backgrounds for Fire and Ice, a 1983 animated film. Kinkade and his friend James Gurney, who would later become known for his children’s book Dinotopia, spent the summer of 1980 hopping freight trains, eking out a living sketching portraits. They ended up in New York City with an idea for a book on sketching, which they convinced Guptill Publications to produce. The Artist's Guide to Sketching was one of Guptill Publications' best-sellers in 1982.

In order to meet the demand and add value to his limited-edition prints, Kinkade employed studio artists to touch up prints with actual brush strokes. "There's been million-seller books and million-seller CDs," said Kinkade. "But there hasn't been, until now, million-seller art. We have found a way to bring to millions of people, an art that they can understand." This approach, and Kinkade’s saccharine color palate and choice of subjects for his mass-produced prints, made him a very controversial artist among critics. As art critic Jerry Saltz observed, “art is not democratic. It isn’t about the biggest market share. If that were true then Thomas Kinkade would be the greatest artist who ever lived.” To the critics who considered his art and method of production irrelevant, Kinkade’s reply was, “My art is relevant because it’s relevant to 10 million people. That makes me the most relevant artist in this culture, not the least. Because I’m relevant to real people.”

Kinkade moved back to California, became a born-again Christian, got married, and began painting in the style that would bring him fame and fortune. By 1984 Kinkade was selling limited-edition prints of his paintings in front of a local grocery store for $55.

Sadly, the problems that plagued Kinkade in his later life resulted in his premature death in 2012 from an accidental overdose of alcohol and Valium. That year his company reportedly generated more than $4 billion in revenue.

In 1989 Kinkade’s Yosemite Valley, Late Afternoon Light at Artist’s Point was named the official print of the National Parks System. To date, Thomas Kinkade is the only American artist to win two Founder's Awards from the National Parks Academy for the Arts.

The Kinkade painting in this collection is from his earliest years as an artist and is rare in that Kinkade produced very few paintings that could be genuinely considered part of the Western genre.

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CAMPFIRE AT DUSK Oil on Canvas Board 1982 14 ¼ x 24 ½ inches 105

MORTON KÜNSTLER 1931 - 0000 Though widely known for his Civil War paintings today, Morton Künstler’s career as a painter has been long and varied. Mort demonstrated a talent for art very early on, attending art classes on Coney Island. With the encouragement of his parents he managed to become a skilled artist by the time he was just 12 years old. After high school he pursued a formal art education, attending Brooklyn College, University of California, Los Angeles, and Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York.

producing meticulously researched historical paintings of the Civil War, Künstler became the most respected Civil War artist. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian James McPherson said, "Of all the artists working in the Civil War field," he observes, "none captures the human element, the aura of leadership, the sense of being there and sharing in the drama, quite like Mort Künstler. He has that enviable talent of being able to re-create history on canvas and to translate events into art.” In 1992 Künstler was commissioned to produce a painting of the Buffalo Soldiers for the U.S. Postal Service, which was issued in 1994.

In the 1950s Künstler worked as an illustrator in New York City, producing illustrations and covers for Male, Stag, For Men Only, and True Adventures magazines. By the 1960s he was producing illustrations for more mainstream publications, like the The Saturday Evening Post, Field & Stream, Newsweek, Good Housekeeping, Argosy, and National Geographic. In fact, he was so prolific that he sometimes illustrated under other names such as Martin Kay and Emmett Kaye, so that a magazine appeared to be using more than one illustrator. During this time he also illustrated movie posters, including posters for The Poseidon Adventure and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

In 2011, Künstler was commissioned to paint Washington crossing the Delaware. Washington's Crossing was unveiled at the New York Historical Society on December 26, 2011 to great critical acclaim, which eventually led Künstler to begin a major body of work on the American Revolution in 2013. Other subjects featured in Künstler’s paintings have included: World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Oklahoma Land Rush, immigrants on Ellis Island, and the Space Shuttle Columbia.

By the early 1970s Künstler’s work began to attract the attention of collectors. And, by the late 1970s his primarily Western paintings were featured in a one-man exhibition at the Hammer Gallery in New York City. More than a dozen more one-man exhibitions at the Gallery followed over the years. In 1982 Künstler was commissioned by CBS to do a painting for the television mini-series The Blue and the Gray. The painting, titled High Water Mark, was unveiled at the Gettysburg National Military Park in commemoration of the 125th anniversary of the battle. Focusing on

Künstler’s paintings are in the permanent collections of more than 50 museums. His paintings have been exhibited in more than 60 one-man shows in museums nationwide and have been featured in more than 20 books, which have sold over 500,000 copies. But, claims Künstler, who still lives and paints in Oyster Bay, New York, “I never worked a day in my life.”

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THE VANISHING AMERICAN Oil on Masonite 1981 22 ¾ x 30 inches

HAYDEN LAMBSON 1948 - 0000 Born in the small town of Ramah, New Mexico, Hayden Lambson demonstated an interest in art and outdoor life early on. “My parents were very encouraging of my interest in art. Perhaps it began with my reading of Outdoor Life and Field and Stream magazines that came to my home each month when I was very young. I got excited about the artwork depicted there. I had no place to paint when I was young, so I painted in the living room where I was in everyone's way, but the family was very patient with me. There was usually an unfinished painting sitting on the piano all the time I was growing up,” says Lambson.

the Artist the Year by the Foundation of North American Wild Sheep. In 1991 he was named Artist of the Quarter by both the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Artist of the Year by the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association. A charter member of the Wildlife Artists of the World, Lambson’s art has been used to raise thousands of dollars annually for conservation and has been featured by the Safari Club International, Game Coin, The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, in limited edition prints for Cabela's, Bass Pro Shops, and the NRA, and in covers and illustrations for the Boone & Crockett Club. In addition, Lambson’s art has graced the pages of many outdoor magazines, including: Art West, Hunters' Quest, Idaho Wildlife, Cabela's Outfitter Journal, New Mexico Wildlife, and Alaskan Outdoors.

Lambson went to college at Brigham Young University where, ironically, he took only two art classes, one in drawing and the other in watercolor. Following college, Lambson worked for six years as a professional Scouter for the Boy Scouts of America before turning his attention to working full-time as a wildlife artist.

Like his father, Hayden Lambson’s son, Dallen, continues the tradition as a very successful wildlife artist living and working in Pocatello, Idaho.

Within a half dozen years Lambson was enjoying success as a wildlife artist. In 1988 he was named Artist of the Year by Whitetails Unlimited. In 1990 he was chosen as

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BLACKTAIL CROSSING Oil on Canvas 19 7⁄8 x 30 inches 109

TED LONG 1932 - 2007 Known for both his oil paintings and bronze sculptures, Ted Long worked and lived on the ranch on the North Platte River in Nebraska that his great grandfather homesteaded, and where Long was born and he and his wife raised their four children. Long expressed an interest in art at an early age. “When he was about 12 years old, he cut out a curtain of grandmother’s, stretched it out, and painted on it,” says his daughter, Cathy.

When President Ronald Reagan came to the Long ranch for lunch in 1987, he shook hands with Long and his father, Charles, and is reported to have said he was pleased to shake hands with “real working cowboys.” Reagan’s comment was no doubt very meaningful to Long, as he believed his authentic connection to the land and a working ranch informed his paintings. During that visit, Long presented President Reagan with “The Last Farewell,” a bronze of Buffalo Bill Cody.

In spite of the fact that Long never pursued formal art training, he produced an impressive body of work that brought him national acclaim. The work he produced, in a cabin more than a century old that he moved from Wyoming to his ranch and in the elaborate pit blind he built on the River that included a kitchen and studio, eventually found its way into the collections of John Wayne, George Montgomery, Henry Fonda, Ken Curtis, Amanda Blake, and Ben Johnson, to name a few.

Perhaps the two sculptures dearest to Long were his bust of Ponca Chief Standing Bear, in the Nebraska Capitol building’s Hall of Fame, and his “Defenders of Liberty” sculpture at the entrance to the 20th Century Veterans Memorial in North Platte. Long, a Korean War army veteran himself, said he carried the idea for the “Defenders of Liberty” sculpture, which features three Korean War soldiers, “in his head” for decades.

According to Long’s children, his career took off when he met John Wayne while showing his work in New Mexico galleries. “John Wayne was working on the movie The Cowboys in New Mexico at the time. Mom and Dad saw him on the street. Dad took him photos of his work, and John Wayne wrote him a check that day. From there, it took off for Dad,” says his son Tom.

While prints of Long’s paintings are readily available, his original oil paintings are harder to come by. As for his bronzes, according to his daughter Michaelene, “The bronze molds were all destroyed so what there is, is what there is.”

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BEAVER CREEK CAMP Oil on Canvas 7 17 /8 x 23 7/8 inches

MONTANA MORNING Oil on Canvas 9 x 12 inches

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SHOSHONE WINTER Oil on Canvas 12 x 9 inches 113

DUSTIN LYON 1951 - 0000 Born in Idaho Falls, Idaho, Dustin Lyon remembers a childhood filled with horses, farming, and wildlife. After earning a degree in Art Advertising and Design from Ricks College in Rexburg (today known as Brigham Young University–Idaho), Lyon continued his art education at Boise State University. Upon graduation from college, he worked as a commercial artist through his late twenties, all the while developing his skills after hours working on his own paintings. From then on, he pursued painting full-time. In his mid-forties, Lyon moved to Arizona and eventually opened a gallery where he showed his work and the work of others. However, he closed the gallery when he was 50 years old to serve the Mormon Church by going on a Mission to Ghana, Africa. In fact, two decades later, Lyon continues to go on missions to Africa for his church. Today, Dustin Lyon lives and works from his studio in Firth, Idaho.

company. In addition to a passion for painting scenes of the West, Lyon, a devout Mormon, has painted elevations of many of the Mormon Temples worldwide. “With these paintings I hope to bear my testimony of the divinity of temples and pay tribute to those who sacrificed and worked to help construct them,” says Lyon. Lyon describes his passion for his art this way, “In a tumultuous world that is increasing in darkness and unrest while decreasing in civility, with my art I want to bring light and peace to those who view and purchase my artwork. The luminescent quality of my paintings brought about by careful layering of the paint, capture a moment in time that can bring light and joy to your heart.”

A series of Lyon’s Indian encampment paintings (mostly set in the winter) grace the covers of notecards, which can be personalized and are sold through the Leanin’ Tree

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WINTER SHADOWS Oil on Canvas 39 ¾ x 60 inches

KIM MACKEY 1953 - 0000 Growing up in Pueblo, Colorado, Kim Mackey always knew he would become an artist. “When I was a kid, I knew what I wanted to do—I wanted to paint. So, I would find the people that I admired and correspond with them. I was a pesky little kid, but they were kind enough to speak to me and give me some very good advice. Norman Rockwell encouraged me to go to art school, and in fact he was the one who pointed me in the direction of illustration,” remembers Mackey. He also credits his parents with being very supportive of his interest in art for as long as he can remember. “I must say that both of my parents were always very encouraging, my mother especially. When I was four years old, she bought me my first set of oils. She was the one who really exposed me to art galleries. I remember as a kid waking up in the morning and she’d ask if I wanted to go to Taos. We’d drive down to New Mexico and make a day of seeing the galleries.”

To me, ranching was just something I grew up with. I took it for granted. The gallery immediately sold the painting and asked for more. Soon I had collectors asking for them.” When he decided to pursue being a fine artist full-time, Mackey remembered the advice Western artist Olaf Wieghorst had given him. “He told me to stay on track, paint what appealed to me, and paint what I knew,” says Mackey. “I come from a long line of pioneer cattlemen,” says Mackey. “My great-grandfather was a rancher. He homesteaded a place in southeastern Colorado that’s still in the family. There aren’t many family ranches that can trace their roots back that far. When I was a kid I worked on that ranch in the summertime. I did really glamorous things like stacking hay and waking up at five in the morning to go brand cattle. As a kid, it was nothing but hard work. But when I reflect back on it, that’s where I draw a lot of my inspiration. I think it’s in the genes.” Today, Mackey lives and works in Pueblo. His brother owns a ranch nearby. His brother and friends working the ranch, like generations of their family before, are the subjects of many of Mackey’s paintings.

Mackey’s talent won him a scholarship at the Colorado Institute of Art in Denver, where he studied illustration. For several years after art school, he worked as an illustrator on assignments for True West, Western Horseman, and Capitol Records. In addition to working as a commercial illustrator, Mackey took courses at Colorado State University in order to qualify for certification as a police-sketch artist. “It was emotional because you were right in the middle of people’s misery, but it taught me a lot about character. It taught me how to talk to people and how to empathize. It taught me that life is fleeting and you better value every minute,” recalls Mackey.

Mackey is also drawn to the Pueblo Indians as subjects for many of his paintings. “The landscape and the Native Americans I paint are from northern New Mexico. They are indigenous to this part of the country, and they have a unique and picturesque lifestyle that has always had appeal not only to me but to the early artists who painted here.” Often his paintings are night scenes. “A full moon does something to a landscape that is very intriguing,” says Mackey. “It’s mysterious and tranquil. There is something about the color, composition, and mood that makes me want to see if I can put it down on canvas and convey the feeling that I had to the viewer.”

The Western subjects that Mackey is best known for today were not his primary focus early on. But, that changed one day when a gallery owner sold the last of Mackey’s paintings and called for more. “All I had was a little painting of a horse and a rider,” recalls Mackey. “When I brought it over, he said, ‘Wow, I didn’t know you did this.’

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TIME OF THE WOLF Oil on Canvas 18 x 24 1⁄8 inches

WENDELL MACY 1845 - 1913 Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts Wendell F. Macy was a descendant of two of Nantucket’s earliest settlers. When he was in his twenties, Macy worked for a company that dealt in nautical instruments, but he eventually turned his attention to working as an artist and opened a second-floor art studio on Main Street in Nantucket. Macy tended to work in pastels for portraiture work and in oil on board for his maritime subjects.

Macy’s paintings have been exhibited at the Smithsonian's Corcoran Gallery of Art, in Washington, D.C. and are in the collections of the New Bedford Whaling Museum and the Nantucket Historical Association. Tragically, Macy became despondent as a result of the death of his wife and was to be committed to the State Lunatic Hospital in Taunton, Massachusetts when he took his own life in his New Bedford home by inhaling natural gas.

Within a few years Macy was summering in Nantucket, painting local scenes on wood panels that he sold to tourists from his gallery on Main Street. He is best known for his paintings of coastal landscapes, ships, and the shipwrecks common to Nantucket’s South Shore. At least one of Macy’s paintings was exhibited at the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893.

The painting in this collection is a complete anomaly and may be the only Western subject painted by Macy. Based on contemporary newspaper accounts, Macy almost certainly never traveled out west, much less to Camp Apache, which at the time was located in a remote part of the Arizona Territory. The most probable explanation for this painting is that it was commissioned by a client from New Bedford or Nantucket and was based on a sketch or perhaps a photograph in the client’s possession.

Macy was very involved in the Nantucket community, serving at various times as President and Vice President of the Nantucket Atheneum, Secretary of the Nantucket Agricultural Society, Chairman and Secretary of the Nantucket Republican Caucus and as a Councilman of the Nantucket Historical Association.

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CAMP APACHE Oil on Canvas 1880 7 1 11 ⁄8 x 19 ⁄8 inches 119

DAVID MANN 1948 - 0000 Growing up in Bountiful, Utah, David Mann’s interest in art was inspired by both his father and mother. David’s father was a farm-journal writer, photographer, weekend painter, history buff, and avid reader who regularly brought home books he found in used-book stores. David’s mother, the daughter of a sheepherder, grew up in a remote part of Utah. She would tell David stories about her encounters with the Indians there, and read him stories like, White Indian Boy: My Life Among the Shoshones by Elijah Nicholas Wilson, the true story of an 11 year-old pioneer boy in the Great Salt Lake Basin who ran away from home and lived among the Shoshone Indians for two years. David grew to love the Western imagery, particularly Alfred Jacob Miller’s paintings in a book he had and the Frank McCarthy illustrations he saw in Life magazine.

the Apache on the San Carlos reservation, the Pimas and Papagos near Tucson, and the Pueblos and Navajos near Albuquerque. After completing his Mission, Mann enrolled at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah majoring in art education rather than fine arts. And, following college Mann taught art for a year, describing the experience as “amazing.” However, he says, “I was not a disciplinarian, not a record keeper. I thought everyone should do art because they loved it, but the school officials didn’t see it that way.” Instead, Mann went on to work in a variety of jobs, including: construction, as a librarian at the State Library for 10 years, and at the Department of the Interior – while he continued to paint in his free time. Finally, Mann’s wife volunteered to support the family for five years while he pursued his art full-time. Looking to the paintings of Frank Tenney Johnson and Frederic Remington for his inspiration, within four years Mann found success as a professional artist.

Among David’s favorite activities was visiting galleries and art museums with his father and watching his father paint. As far as David was concerned, it was a forgone conclusion that he would become an artist. “I always figured I would be an artist, although career-wise it was real fuzzy; I didn’t know how that worked,” he says. Unfortunately, David’s father didn’t see it that way, “In high school I told my dad I wanted to be an artist. He said that was a bad idea. He said, ‘Do you know how many $100 paintings you need to sell to provide for a family?’”

Mann’s paintings tend to focus on Plains Indians in the mid to late nineteenth century, before they were moved to reservations and could still practice their rituals. Working from his home and studio outside Hyrum, Utah, Mann invests a lot of research into the details for each painting. Drawing on often long-term relationships with Sioux, Apache, Navajo, and Omaha models, he carefully chooses the clothing and artifacts and then photographs the models in a variety of poses that he uses as references for his paintings. “Then you get the sun gleaming off the feathers and shadows carving out his features. That’s really when the magic starts to happen,” he says.

As a Mormon, David Mann was thrilled when after finishing high school his two-year Mission assignment was to Indian reservations in the Southwest, where he lived with

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FIRST LIGHT Oil on Canvas 30 x 40 inches

THE PARLEY Oil on Canvas 30 x 40 inches

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SIGNAL AT SUNRISE Oil on Canvas 18 x 24 inches 123

MITCHELL MANSANAREZ 1965 -0000 book Magnificent Obsession: In Quest of High Mountain Game by Israel Torres, published by Diana Press, El Paso, Texas.

Born in San Bernardino, California, Mitchell Mansanarez is one of four sons of wildlife artist, Manuel Mansanarez, all four of whom followed in their father’s footsteps, becoming wildlife and/or Western artists. When Mitch was 10 years old the family moved to Blackfoot, Idaho, where he has lived and worked ever since.

Eventually however, Mitchell Mansanarez became interested in photography. And, though his primary focus now is on photography, he continues to paint, mostly in watercolor and mixed media, in an impressionistic style.

When Mitch was 15 years old, his father, who had been a two-time National Golden Glove Champion and a rodeo athlete, decided to work full-time as a wildlife artist. His father’s motto was, “If you want to be good at something you have to do it every day.” Like his father and mentor, Mitchell Mansanarez created many highly detailed wildlife paintings in pencil, oil, and acrylic during the first 15 years of his career as an artist. During this period Mitchell Mansanarez’s wildlife art illustrated the 1990

In 1994 Mitchell established Rocky Mountain Publishing (RMP), where he works today with his wife and son. Based in Blackfoot, Idaho, RMP mass produces framed prints and giclées of his photographs and paintings, as well his father’s work and that of many other wildlife and Western artists.

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CAUGHT IN THE OPEN Oil and Pencil on Paper 1989 14 x 18 inches 125

EARLY FALL GRIZZLY Oil and Pencil on Paper 1989 14 ¼ x 18 ¼ inches 126

GERALD MCCANN 1916 - 1995 Born in Queens but raised in Brooklyn, New York, Gerald Patrick McCann attended the Pratt Institute to study engineering. However, as McCann later recalled, "I first attended Pratt Engineering School, but then switched to the Art School, where I studied painting and anatomy with Nicholas Riley, who gave me the keys to his studio, enabling me to study his extensive collection of slides showing dissections of the human body."

During the 1950s McCann says he “did covers and illustrations for a variety of pulps and men's adventure magazines, always with a Western motif or outdoor background," including Action Packed Western, All Novel Western, Exciting Sports, Giant Western, Popular Sports, Ranch Romances, Thrilling Ranch, Thrilling Sports, Thrilling Western, and Western Action, as well as several covers for Ranch Romances. McCann also drew and inked comic books for Avon, Hillman, St. John, Ziff-Davis, Charlton Comics, DC Comics, Dell Comics, American Comics, and Gilberton's Classics Illustrated Comics and illustrated dozens of books for young readers.

By the time he was 23 years old McCann was producing pen and ink illustrations for pulp magazines, including: Ace Sports, Thrilling Sports, Sports Story, Western Story, and Wild West Weekly. According to McCann, he “began doing illustrations for Street & Smith, specializing in black and white dry brush of Western subjects, and from this I learned to create the strong light and dark patterns to which all good painting can be reduced."

In 1959 McCann moved to Madison, Connecticut to be a part of the art community in the area that was associated with his former Art Students League teacher, Harold Von Schmidt and the Famous Artists School in nearby Westport. Fifteen years later, when the Famous Artists School was reorganized, McCann moved back to New York state, where he lived and worked the remainder of his life.

Three months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, McCann enlisted in the U.S. Army. After the war he moved to Long Island and continued his art education at the Art Students League of New York, where he studied with Harold Von Schmidt and attended lectures by Harvey Dunn. "Von Schmidt and Dunn were both strong influences on my work. I believe Harvey Dunn was one of America's most creative artists," recalled McCann.

Over six feet tall and prematurely gray, McCann smoked cigars and cigarettes, and liked beer and whiskey. When asked how he managed to be so prolific, McCann simply said, "People often ask me how I keep coming up with fresh ideas. I tell them I drink a lot."

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WINTER TRAILS Oil on Board 1975 7 20 x 29 /8 inches

FRANK MCCARTHY 1924 - 2002 Born in New York City, Frank McCarthy remembered painting since he was five or six years old. And, at eight years old, he literally painted his third-grade classroom into a corner, at what he remembered as his “progressive” school in Scarsdale. “My pictures had started as drawings on paper but soon the challenge of the large floor area took over and dinosaur drawings spread out farther and farther into the classroom forcing the teacher and fellow pupils to move more and more towards the corner of the room.”

Eventually McCarthy began to paint for galleries in his spare time and within a few years the success of his work for the galleries convinced him to pursue fine art full-time in 1971 and his career as a fine artist took off. The first major exhibition of McCarthy’s paintings, presented in 1973 by the Husburg Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona, sold out in just 20 minutes, which convinced him to move to Arizona. And, in 1974 Ballantine Books published The Western Paintings of Frank McCarthy.

During the summers, while in high school, Frank studied at the Art Students League in New York. After graduating from high school, he attended the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, earning a degree in illustration. His first job out of school was working as an apprentice in a studio in New York City, setting type, working on layouts, and mounting and delivering photographs and drawings. When one of the studio artists resigned, McCarthy was given the job illustrating the covers of Western paperback novels and articles for major magazines including: Colliers, Argosy, and True. His work at the studio also involved illustrating movie posters, including: The Ten Commandments, Hatari!, Hero’s Island, The Great Escape, and working with Robert McGinnis, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

Up to the time Ballantine Books published its book on his work, McCarthy worked only in casein, a water-based paint. But then he said, “I started working in oils, which I hadn’t used since school days,” because, “I can achieve almost the same effect, but the colors are a little richer.” McCarthy’s paintings often depict high-speed action and rugged individualism, because as he noted, “People identify with the fellow that fights and wins out over impossible odds. The mountain man was probably the greatest example; but there was also the soldier, cowboy, and last but not least, the Indian who fought against the greatest odds.”

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IN THE OPEN Oil on Canvas 1992 10 x 14 inches

WINTER TRAIL Oil on Canvas 1989 20 x 40 inches

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GERRY METZ 1943 - 2018 Born and raised in Chicago, Gerry Metz pursued his interest in art attending the School of Professional Art in Chicago. Before devoting himself to working full-time as a fine artist, Metz worked as a commercial artist, serving as the director of the Village Art School in Skokie, Illinois, and later as an Oil Painting and Life Drawing instructor at the Phoenix Art Museum.

paintings typically depict historical events between 1800 and 1850 that were described in journals and historical accounts. For about eight years beginning about 2003, Metz focused his work on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Using their journals, he followed the Expedition’s route, visiting the places they went to, always at the same time of the year. The result was a book titled, “Improbable Journey--Lewis & Clark’s Journey from St. Louis to the Pacific and Return--May 22, 1804-September 20, 1806,” which is illustrated with his paintings and augmented with his personal reflections, as well as an historical account of the Lewis and Clark Expedition written by Dr. Raymond Weinhold.

At the age of 30 Metz decided to work as a fine artist full-time, working first in watercolor, then oil painting, and eventually sculpture. For the next four decades Metz divided his time between Arizona and Wyoming, while also traveling the West seeking inspiration for his paintings of Pioneers, Native Americans, Fur Trappers, Cowboys, and landscapes of the Rocky Mountains and the Grand Tetons. His

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THE BENJAMIN BONNEVILLE EXPEDITION - 1832 Oil on Canvas 35 ¾ x 48 ½ inches

FRIEND OR FOE Acrylic on Panel 1982 20 x 30 ¼ inches

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GOIN’ TO TRADE Oil on Canvas 9 x 12 inches

TENSE PEACE Oil on Canvas 22 x 30 inches

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TETON TRADERS Oil on Linen 36 x 48 inches

DAN MIEDUCH 1947 -0000 Dan Mieduch expressed an interest in art at a very early age. While in high school he attended evening art classes, focusing on painting wildlife in oils and watercolors, which he showed and sold at his father’s tavern and motel in Clinton, Michigan. However, convinced that he could not make a living as a fine artist, Dan decided to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering, switching his major after a year to Industrial Design. He chose to attend the University of Michigan because its trimester schedule allowed him to work in downtown Detroit on the annual new car catalogues produced each April.

Somehow Dan found time during his tour of duty in the Canal Zone to contract with the Panama Canal Company to do a series of paintings about the history of the Canal: from Columbus arriving off the Caribbean coast on his fourth and last voyage to the new world, to a ship transiting the Culebra cut through the continental divide. He managed to complete four of the paintings before his tour of duty was ended six months early. Following his stent in the Army, Mieduch worked as a commercial artist in several Detroit studios. But, when he saw the book of Frank McCarthy’s paintings, published by Ian Ballentine in New York, suddenly a career in fine art looked like a real possibility and Dan decided to move to the southwest to pursue a career as a western artist. “I knew from a very young age that I would live in the west someday,” says Dan. “Arizona was the setting for the technicolor cinemascope westerns my dad took me to at a young age. Seeing the big skies and majestic mesas in John Ford westerns during the dreary Michigan winters was what planted the idea in my head. I became interested in the western Native American culture and mythology as well as Native American western hunting cultures, which is mostly what I paint today. Western art embodies all the range of subjects I could possibly desire.”

Following college, Dan was drafted into the Army, serving as an ambulance driver in the Panama Canal Zone. When he discovered that there would be a competition for a position as the Command Artist for the Southern Command in the Panama Canal Zone, Dan quickly produced three pencil drawings, showed up in the office of the Director of Special Services at Ft. Clayton and asked, “When do we start?” The competition was immediately canceled, and Dan was given the position. However, it looked like Dan’s good fortune had just as quickly deserted him when the Chief Surgeon of Southern Command confronted Dan demanding to know why the Command was short ambulance drivers. However, after seeing the paintings in progress in Dan’s office, instead of returning him to duty as an ambulance driver, the Chief Surgeon made Dan the Command Medical Illustrator for the remainder of his tour of duty.

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AND THE BAND PLAYED GARRYOWEN Oil on Masonite 1998 30 x 45 inches

COLTER’S HELL Oil on Illustration Board 1999 24 3⁄8 x 36 ½ inches

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FREE TRAPPER Oil on Masonite 16 x 20 ¼ inches

IN HOT PURSUIT Oil on Masonite 1997 18 x 27 inches

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LAST STAGE TO PRESCOTT Oil on Canvas 1977 24 x 36 inches

MILES AND MILES OF MILES AND MILES Oil on Masonite 1998 30 x 45 1⁄8 inches

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NORTHWEST PASSAGE Oil on Canvas 1999 47 ¾ x 72 inches

TWO DOLLARS AN OUNCE ON THIN PAPER Oil on Board 2002 36 x 48 inches

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LANFORD MONROE 1950 - 2000 Elizabeth Lanford Monroe grew up surrounded by art and artists. Her parents, illustrator C. E. Monroe and portraitist Betty Monroe, and her Bridgewater, Connecticut neighbors, illustrator John Clymer and wildlife artist Bob Kuhn, were among her earliest mentors. “I don’t even remember learning to draw,” she once said. When her father needed a child-like illustration to include in one of his commercial illustrations, Landford got her first art “commission” at the age of six.

of ethereal landscapes in morning fog or a winter haze, animals being part of the scenery rather than the subject. However, she also painted a number of fox hunting scenes that are prized by collectors. And, her paintings were regularly exhibited at the Holland & Holland gun room in New York City. In the 1980s, Monroe moved back to Alabama where she met and married musician and writer R. E. C. (Chip) Thompson. Anxious to move back west, in the early 1990s they moved to Taos, New Mexico, where Monroe enjoyed working from her large studio for the rest of her life.

The Monroe family relocated to Huntsville, Alabama to be near Lanford’s grandparents, where Monroe said, “I grew up studying my father’s favorite tonalists: American landscapist George Inness and Swedish wildlife painter Bruno Liljefors. When he wasn’t illustrating, my father was also drawn to a tonalist palette, and I ended up following in his footsteps, preferring the subtleties of early morning and late evening.”

Monroe’s work was greatly admired by famed wildlife artists Robert Bateman and Bob Kuhn. During her lifetime she received many awards, including: Society of Animal Artists Awards of Excellence, American Academy of Equine Art awards, a 1994 Grand Teton Natural History Association Award, and three awards from the Salmagundi Club. In 1999 Art of The West Magazine named Monroe one of 12 “masters for the new millennium” saying, “In our estimation, there is no one painting today who uses light and dark contrast with the skill of Lanford Monroe. Monroe’s magical moods will continue to win the hearts of collectors for generations to come.”

Monroe was awarded a Hallmark Scholarship in Fine Art and attended the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Florida. Following art school Monroe traveled extensively and lived in a variety of places, while she pursued various art projects. For a time in the 1970s she lived in South Dakota and was married to a member of the Lakota tribe or Teton Sioux, with whom she had a daughter.

Tragically, Lanford Monroe died of a heart attack at the age of 50, just as she was about to mount up to go horseback riding with friends. Her life and more than 130 of her paintings have been chronicled in the book Homefields: The Art of Lanford Monroe by her husband R. E. C. Thomas, published by Sporting Classics, 2007.

During her time in the west, Monroe developed a real love of the west and of horses, which were often the subjects of her paintings and almost exclusively the subject of her sculptures. Early on she tended to paint in watercolors, later moving on to oil on Masonite, and by the mid 1990s to oil on canvas. Her paintings were often

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FROSTY OUTING Oil on Canvas 17 ¾ x 23 7⁄8 inches

JOHN MOYERS 1958 - 0000 Though John Moyers was born in Atlanta, Georgia, he grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The son of Western artist William Moyers, John says, "Art was all around me. Dad would go over my work and help me see the areas that needed improvement. I just grew up with art. I guess you could say I wanted to be like my dad, whenever there was a piece of paper around, I was drawing horses or western stuff.” William Moyers clearly had the same effect on both his sons. John’s brother, Charles, is a wildlife sculptor.

Kelly. Moyers and Terri ended up getting married and studying there during the summers for five years, which they say "… was exactly what we needed. We had attended art school where the emphasis was not on traditional academic studies but on painting abstractly. The time-honored techniques of color and value and working outdoors from life had to be discovered anew at the game farm. Everyone there was united in his or her view of good art." John and Terri eventually settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where they share a studio. In 1994, John Moyers was made a member of the Cowboy Artists of America, and like his father he has served as its president and won many of its awards.

John Moyers’ formal training began at the Laguna Beach School of Art where he spent a year taking both day and night classes. A Walt Disney Studios scholarship allowed Moyers to attend the California Institute for the Arts where he studied animation. Moyers says, "I really grew from the experience. They had such great instructors." Though, like his father, he worked briefly as an animator illustrating Spiderman cartoons at the Walt Disney Studios, in 1979 he was invited to a monthlong workshop at the Okanagan Game Farm in British Columbia taught by Western artist Robert Lougheed. “He [Lougheed] had a great work ethic, did not tolerate being lazy about your approach, and insisted that you work from life whenever possible,” says Moyers.

Moyers paints in oil and watercolor and enjoys painting a variety of subjects, including Indians, cowboys, and New Mexico landscapes. "I paint what excites me. Maybe for two months all I want to do is landscapes, then maybe Native Americans, and then Mexican pieces," he says, "The more you paint, the more comfortable you get with the process. Hopefully, I'm improving all the time. I hope people like what I do. I just try to paint. I try to make the values and colors as true to life as I can." A stickler for historical accuracy, John Moyers says, “I don’t want to paint unless I get everything right.”

It turned out to be a pivotal point in his life and career. There he learned to paint wildlife plein air every day and met his future wife and fellow Western artist, Terri

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WINTER ABOVE TAOS Oil on Canvas 2002 48 x 34 inches 153

JIM C. NORTON 1953 -0000 Born in Price, Utah, Jim Norton was raised in Lyman, Wyoming, where he gained a working knowledge of ranch life by helping friends with cutting and drying hay, and branding and feeding cattle. Though as a child he watched his grandfather, Earl Fausett, paint in his basement studio, and two of his cousins, Lynn and Dean Fausett, would become noteworthy professional artists, as Norton tells it, there wasn’t much in his childhood that would have led anyone to believe he would become an artist. Instead, he spent most of his time hunting, fishing, and hiking, when he wasn’t busy honing his football and basketball skills. “I even had an offer to go play football at Dartmouth, but that was too far east,” he says.

a few hours in the evenings and on weekends to developing his skills as a painter was not enough and he took a major leap of faith, leaving his job to devote himself full-time to painting. “I knew from playing sports that if you don’t put in the hours practicing, you’ll never make it.” When he broke the news to his wife, “She said, ‘I’ll give you five years.’ And that was it,” says Norton.

After graduating from high school, Norton spent two years as a Mormon missionary in Australia. Upon his return from Australia he decided to study art, taking classes at Western Wyoming Community College, where his art teacher, recognizing his talent, urged him to transfer to Brigham Young University to continue his art studies. During his two-and-half-year tenure at BYU he says, “I got my early foundations in art.”

“It’s the light and dark and the colors and reflections that I see and want to paint,” he says. “I’ll lay out on a lawn chair and watch the clouds billowing over me, and I don’t go, ‘Oh, that’s beautiful!’ I think, ‘That’s cobalt blue with a touch of red.’ I don’t really care if it’s a stream or a mountain or a rock. It all starts more abstractly. Color and values and light can be beautiful just in themselves.”

Working from his home studio in Santaquin, Utah and his cabin studio on 20 acres in Uinta Mountains, Norton relies on real-life cowboys and horses and his collection of authentic Plains Indian costumes to inform his typically large-scale paintings.

As grand as his paintings are however, Norton is modest about his success and grateful for the blessings that have been his. “I’m a religious man,” he says. “I don’t create the things I paint. They’re just there.”

Norton’s tenure at BYU ended when he decided to leave to take a job as a supermarket representative with a food broker, to start “… doing [his] own study work,” and paint in his spare time. However, after several years, Norton realized that devoting only

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COLORED CAPOTE Oil on Canvas 1998 24 x 36 ¼ inches

THE FIRST SNOW Oil on Board 19 ½ x 32 inches

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SPRING THAW Oil on Masonite 2002 18 x 23 ¾ inches

SURE SHOT (AKA LINING UP THE SHOT) Oil on Canvas 19 7⁄8 x 30 1⁄8 inches

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THROUGH THE FRESH SNOW Oil on Canvas 24 ¼ x 32 ¼ inches

WINTER’S HUSH Oil on Canvas 1997 30 ¼ x 40 ¼ inches

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DON OELZE 1965 - 0000 of the West magazine. “I used to buy [Art of the West] magazine in Tokyo, Japan at the tower records in Shibuya... couldn't wait for the next issue to come out... It was how I learned about Western art and all those who are connected with it,” he recalled.

Don Oelze is the son of American parents from the West, who lived and worked as missionaries in New Zealand for the first eight years of his life. Don remembers as a child listening to his parents tell stories about growing up in Arizona and Montana and watching Daniel Boone on TV every afternoon in Auckland. In fact, he credits his grandfather and grandmother for sparking his interest in Native American culture. Don’s grandfather collected Native American artifacts he found on his property and in the surrounding area. And, his grandmother sent him a handmade Indian outfit when he was six years old that sparked his interest in drawing Indians, though he remembers, “While this thoughtful gesture cemented my fascination with cowboys and Indians, it also resulted in my getting into trouble at school, because I spent more time drawing Indians than paying attention to my teacher.”

When his paintings began selling well in the western United States, he and his wife, Utako, moved to Montana in 2004 to live and work, later saying, “America was the place I always wanted to return to, and the American frontier was the best symbol of the country in my mind.” Oelze’s career as an artist got a big boost when officials from the Calgary Stampede called to invite Oelze to enter a competition for the painting that would be used for the Stampede’s 2010 poster. His painting of the legendary rodeo bull, Outlaw, won the poster competition and the original painting sold for $135,000, setting a new art auction record at the Calgary Stampede.

When Don was eight, the family moved back to the United States, where he continued to paint and draw through his high school years. After high school he attended the Memphis College of Art for a year, followed by Memphis State University, and finally Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire, where he studied Japanese and art, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree. After college, Oelze moved across the country to Seattle, Washington, where he befriended and began working with a Native American artist who made totems. Encouraged by his friend and co-worker, Oelze produced his first large Native American painting, discovering in the process what would become his favorite subject.

“Most of my paintings are historic in theme with the aim of preserving moments from Native American life and exploring various aspects of the Old West. I always say that I paint for the 10 percent of people who really know the history of [Indian] tribes and will appreciate my efforts to make sure my work is as accurate as possible.” Oelze’s method of working typically involves scheduling two major photography shoots a year. “I begin with a list of ideas I want to paint and then I hire the models, primarily Blackfeet, and have them reenact these poses. After these photo shoots, I come back, sketch out my ideas and then start painting on canvas.” He describes his studio as, “covered with Native American accouterments,” that he says inspire him every time he walks into his studio.

In 1995, Oelze’s interest in Japan led him to move to Tokyo, Japan, where for the next decade he taught English and translated financial documents. However, he found the work very stressful. "You worked from early in the day until 10:00 p.m.,” he said, and "I started painting again to relieve my tension and stress.” For inspiration he bought Art

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WHEN EVERY SHOT COUNTED Oil on Canvas 32 1⁄8 x 34 1⁄8 inches 163

JOHN PHELPS 1948 - 0000 Born and raised in Cheyenne, Wyoming, John Phelps showed an interest in art at an early age. His father, who was president of the Wyoming Wildlife Association, started taking him to meetings when he was just five years old. He was given cardboard and paints during the meetings to keep him entertained, and he’s been painting ever since.

In addition to painting and sculpting Western and wildlife subjects, in 2002 Phelps won a competition to sculpt a World War II Memorial of a soldier standing at a grave morning the loss of a fellow soldier for the Fremont County Veterans Memorial in Wyoming. Just before he shipped out with the Marine Corps in 2003, Phelps’ son, Chance, posed for the sculpture. Tragically, not long after modeling for that sculpture, Marine Corps Private, Chance Phelps was killed in Ramadi, Iraq, during Operation Iraqi Freedom in April 2004. The 2009 HBO movie, Taking Chance, starring Kevin Bacon, told the story of the return of Chance Phelps’ body to his hometown of Dubois, Wyoming for burial.

Phelps attended the University of Wyoming for a year majoring in pre-veterinarian studies. However, when he took a semester off to earn enough money to continue his education and received a draft notice, his destiny shifted toward becoming a different kind of vet. Rather than being drafted into the U.S. Army, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was sent to Vietnam to work with aviation ordinance. While in the Navy, Phelps was given permission to paint the walls of the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga he was serving on, and he remembers doing a trompe l'oeil painting on the wall of the engine room of a window looking out onto the Tetons.

Phelps has received commissions for a number of life-size military memorial sculptures, including: A War and Service Dog Memorial that stands in the Wyoming Veterans Memorial Park in Cody, and two examples of No Man Left Behind, a sculpture installed at Camp Pendleton and Camp Lejeune. Of those commissions Phelps said, “I express myself through my art and this monument is a labor of love for me. Love for not just my son but for my growing Marine Corps family.”

After his stint in the U.S. Navy, Phelps worked as a hunting guide for Elk and Bighorn Sheep and as a log coper, constructing log buildings. All the while he continued to paint the Western and wildlife subjects he knew from a lifetime of outdoor experiences, hunting, fishing, and cowboying. The hunters he guided sometimes commissioned paintings and occasionally he displayed a few paintings for sale on the walls of local establishments. When a friend advised him that he was undervaluing his paintings, Phelps added a zero to the price of a painting and was pleasantly surprised to find that the painting sold quickly. Before long he was working as a full-time artist. Phelps has lived and worked for the last 25 years in Cody, Wyoming.

When asked about his method of working Phelps says, “I paint, nap a little bit, then paint some more.”

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MOUNTAIN MAN Oil on Canvas 40 x 30 inches 165

TOM PHILLIPS 1927 - 2005 While many Western artists can claim to have some authentic connection with cowboy culture, Thomas Embert Phillips was a real Indian. Born in Chickasah, Oklahoma, Tom Phillips was a Chickasaw Indian through his great grandmother. Tom’s talent and interest in art were so obvious that by the age of nine his father enrolled him in the Helen Lorenze Art School in Oklahoma City, where he studied for the next seven years.

Mexico; and a painting depicting the Chickasaws’ first meeting with Hernando de Soto for the centennial celebration of the Chickasaw National Capitol building. Phillips’ 1988 painting Paha Sapa Wakan, The Sacred Black Hills is perhaps the most interesting of his commissions. Surprisingly, it was inspired by Flashman and the Redskins by G. M. Frazer, a book in a series of historical novels that have a reputation for being based on accurate historical facts. As always, Phillips meticulously researched the subject to produce the highly detailed painting and wrote a seven-page essay about the subject. It is an especially large watercolor painting in three scenes or panels, depicting three historically significant events, in 1874, 1875, and 1876, that began with the discovery of gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota and culminated with the signing of an agreement between the United States Government and the Sioux Nation, represented by about 150 Sioux Chiefs and headmen. The agreement requiring the Sioux give up their claim to the Black Hills superseded the treaty of 1868 that guaranteed the Black Hills belonged to the Sioux.

At the age of 18, Phillips joined the Merchant Marines and served as an artist with the 45th Infantry in Korea. Following the war, Phillips continued his studies at Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, and the Kansas City Art Institute. For the next 20 years Phillips worked as a commercial illustrator in New York, Colorado Springs, and Kansas City. During that time, he worked as an illustrator for the American Hereford Association, which resulted in the publication of The Sketches of Tom Phillips in 1971, featuring illustrations from Hereford cattle ranches across the country.

In 1991 Tom was authorized to paint a scene from the Academy Award winning movie Dances with Wolves. The painting is titled The Chase and hangs in the South Dakota Hall of Fame.

By 1970 Phillips had decided to devote himself to fine art as a painter and sculptor whose work authentically represented Native American history.

Phillips was inducted into the Chickasaw Hall of Fame in 1998 and was honored with "The Master Heritage Award" from the Five Civilized Tribes Museum in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

Among Phillips’ many interesting commissions were the Lakota Buffalo Days diorama and Paha Sapa Wakan, The Sacred Black Hills, both housed in the Aktá Lakota Museum at St. Joseph's Indian School in Chamberlain, South Dakota; a postage stamp for

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A MOUNTAIN MAN IN A SNOWSTORM Oil on Linen 1972 11 ¼ x 15 inches

ROBERT PUMMILL 1936 -0000 Raised in rural Ohio, Robert Pummill helped out in his father’s restaurant and picked up jobs on nearby farms. Though he loved to draw, Pummill notes that, “Where I grew up, there was little direct art instruction available; correspondence courses were a good alternative.” So, he says, “I took my first art course at eleven and have been serious about it ever since.” Pummill believes that, “The work of one of the founders of the Famous Artist Course, Harold Von Schmidt, and the text he wrote for the course, had a great impact on my art.” And that, “Through the years I’ve realized that the fundamentals taught through the Famous Artists were as good as any art school.” His eventual fascination with Western subjects may have been due in part to the fact that his uncle was a horse trader, though according to him it didn’t happen immediately, “It was all an evolution. I don’t know that there were any lightning strikes.”

In 1977 Pummill turned his attention to working as a full-time fine artist in the Western genre, eventually moving to Kerrville in the Texas Hill Country, where he lives today. “My choice of Western subject matter is the result of a lifelong fascination with the life of the cowboy and the drama of opening and development of the American West,” he recalled. And that, “At the time there were very few painters doing stagecoaches and cattle drives with multiple figures and animals. But I enjoyed doing them, and through the years I became known for those kinds of things.” However, he recently commented, “As I’ve grown older, I’ve been doing more landscape painting. I’d been neglecting it for a long time and decided to get back into it. It’s food for the soul.” While he occasionally works in watercolor or bronze sculpture, Pummill’s primary medium is oil painting. “The artists I admire,” says Pummill, “are Sargent, Remington, N.C. Wyeth, many of the Flemish masters, and some of the French Impressionists. I feel many of the world’s greatest artists are alive today, however, and many are painting Western subject matter.”

When Pummill graduated from high school he joined the Air Force working in avionics. For two of those years he stationed at Great Falls, Montana where the vistas and wideopen spaces would later become the settings for many of his western scenes. Following a nine-year stent in the Air Force he enrolled in evening courses at the Art Center School of Design in Los Angeles, working by day as a commercial illustrator for the aerospace firm TRW. Later he moved to Dallas for a job as an industrial illustrator with Vought Aeronautics and it was while working there that he learned to tell a story through his illustrations. “I was working with concepts of aircraft that hadn’t even been built yet. I was taught to take the blueprints and create a storyline around them—a plane in combat, for instance. To create a visual storyline, you have to have a fairly vivid imagination and be able to put yourself in the scene.”

Pummill tends to work at his easel seven days a week, taking a break for lunch and then back in the studio until dark. He sometimes works on several paintings at a time. “I’ll be working on one and get an idea for another one,” he says. “That’s why I have three or four easels set up.” Pummill says, “I’m always looking for new stories and new ways to tell them. You know, you’ve got all the different landscapes in the West, from deserts to snowy mountain ranges. There must be a million ways to tell these stories.” And, “It never gets boring or dull.”

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PACKING IN THE TETONS Oil on Linen 1980 16 x 20 inches

SEASON OF SILENCE Watercolor on Paper 11 x 13 ½ inches

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THROUGH THE ASPEN Watercolor on Paper 14 5⁄8 x 19 ½ inches 171

WINTER PASSAGE Oil on Canvas 15 7⁄8 x 20 inches

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LEONARD H. REEDY 1899 - 1956 Born in Chicago, Illinois, Leonard Howard Reedy exhibited an aptitude for painting and drawing early. At the age of 10 he was drawing Indians, cowboys, and bandits in the margins of his textbooks. A great admirer of Frederic Remington’s work, Reedy enrolled in the Chicago Institute and Academy of Fine Arts to further his skills as a Western artist, in much the same style as Remington.

he became intimately familiar with a variety of natural environments - from the plains to the mountains, to the desert – as well as the cultures of those who made their living working the land. Reedy’s preferred method of painting was to work with watercolors on relatively small sheets of paper. His paintings can still be found gracing the walls of some Chicago restaurants where he traded his paintings for meals.

Reedy spent much of his life on the move, traveling with Indians and living and working in logging and mining camps. Through his travels and various occupations,

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UNTITLED (RIDING THROUGH THE SNOW) Watercolor on Paper 8 ¼ x 11 ¼

CHUCK REN 1941 - 1995 Chuck Ren was born the middle child of five, in the very small copper mining town of Ajo, Arizona, located about halfway between Gila Bend and the Mexican border, and just outside the Tohono Oʼodham Nation Reservation. Chuck spent a lot of time drawing growing up, because he said, “There wasn’t all that much to do. It was always so hot that I’d spend most of my time indoors, drawing.” At the age of 12 he, “sent in for the Famous Artist School test that you’d always see offered in ads. They sent back my work with a grade of B+ but told me I was too young to enroll. I was really crushed.”

up working for all 28 of the NFL franchises. By 1980, the bulk of his work was for football oriented, producing more than 200 illustrations for the NFL and a dozen covers for Pro! magazine. The NFL described him as “perfect.” However, in 1982 Ren dramatically shifted his focus when he moved to Sedona, Arizona and switched his orientation to fine art related to the Indians of the American West. He explained the change in the orientation of his work this way, “Because that is a way of life that is gone, and I want to preserve it in memory. If you look at a modern cattle round-up, you realize that the American cowboy’s way of life hasn’t essentially changed.” So, Ren chose to focus his work on Indians rather than cowboys, saying, “I’m trying to learn everything I can about the Indians. Most paintings I’ve seen dealt with the Indian in a group or social setting. I’ve tried to focus on the individual.” Ren was meticulous about authenticity, collecting original artifacts and costumes for his work and commissioning reproductions when originals could not be had. Consequently, his paintings of Plains Indians were well received, and the popularity of the prints made of his painting “Mystic Warrior” brought him national attention.

Fortunately, Chuck didn’t give up on his passion for drawing. After finishing high school Ren spent his freshman year at Northern Arizona University and then transferred to the University of Arizona, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts. After college, Ren worked as a commercial artist for Lockheed Air Service and Computer Sciences Corporation producing slide shows, annual reports, and brochures. In addition to working his day job, an advertisement placed in the Los Angeles Illustrator’s Catalog brought Ren a substantial amount of freelance work, illustrating record album covers, movie posters, billboards, and projects for the National Football League. “Whenever I had the chance,” he said, “I’d also do free-lance work for whatever it would pay. I started making a lot of contacts. The free-lance work increased to the point where I couldn’t do both, so I quit my full- time job in 1976 and went totally freelance.” He illustrated the 1980 Super Bowl poster and eventually ended

Interestingly, in many ways the art and career of Chuck Ren are being mirrored by his son Jon, a wildlife and Western artist who graduated from the Art Institute of Colorado and began his career by creating team posters for the NFL.

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WINTER OF ‘41 Oil on Board 1987 36 ½ x 24 ½ inches 177

WINTER SCOUT Acrylic on Board 1987 14 x 10 ½ inches 178

DOUGLAS RICKS 1954 - 2003 Douglas Ricks was one of seven children born to artist Don Ricks. Douglas was born in Logan, Utah, but raised in Rexburg, Idaho - a Mormon colony established in 1883 and named for his great great grandfather, Thomas Edwin Ricks, an influential Mormon church and community leader in both Utah and Idaho.

brother, Douglas Ricks, was in many ways my guide in the world of art. Doug had a great artistic sensitivity and a very extensive knowledge of art and artists.” Douglas studied art at Ricks College in Rexburg (today known as Brigham Young University–Idaho), which, like the town, was also named for his great great grandfather, but he dropped out after a year and instead chose to serve his twoyear Mormon mission in New York City, where he took the opportunity to explore the museums and study the art exhibited there. “Once I’d visually absorbed the masterpieces, I had to know more about the painters who created them. While I was studying their lives and techniques, I began to experiment with changes in my own style.” Returning to Idaho after his mission, he put into practice what he had learned in New York, pursuing a career as an artist full-time.

Douglas Ricks’ father was a successful artist who, with a partner, established a successful plein air summer art workshop known as Painting Vacations, which operated for 15 years. Though Douglas and his three brothers were all involved in the program in one way or another, only his brother Russell was determined from an early age to become an artist, while Douglas and his brother Martin were not particularly interested in becoming artists until much later. Douglas recalled, "My father never pushed art on me, and I was just plain not interested…But the summer before I was 18, something happened…I got an urge to paint. Once I showed the interest, my father did everything he could to help me develop my talent.”

Douglas Ricks described his paintings this way, "I don’t paint cowboys, and I don’t paint action scenes. I consider myself to be pretty much a landscape painter, although there are usually Indians in my work. In my paintings I depict a place where I'd like to be. Sometimes, I like to take myself away from the real and go off into a world that I've made for myself, through my paintings. I would like to be the Indians in the painting. It's sort of like a fantasy, but it's a fantasy I can make come true through my art."

For his brother Martin, the decision to become an artist came even later, when the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center severely affected his frame and furniture business. Martin credits his brother with being his guide to becoming an artist, “My

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WATCHER IN THE WOODS Tempera on Board 1981 31 x 41 inches

MACK RITCHIE 1925 - 2008 Born in Litchfield, Illinois Mack Lee Ritchie was the only child of a plumber who invented several plumbing control devices. Mack demonstrated an early interest in drawing, perhaps influenced by the technical drawings his father produced.

always a painter. Ritchie’s paintings were shown in several Palm Beach galleries. His highly detailed paintings often featured old, abandoned buildings and two Turkey Vultures circling in the distance, references to the fleeting nature of life.

Ritchie briefly attended the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill before enlisting in the U.S. Navy during World War II and being sent to flight school in Pensacola, Florida. During the War, Ritchie flew a Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber and he continued to fly as a private pilot after the War for the remainder of his life. After the War, he attended Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana on the G.I. Bill, earning a civil engineering degree.

Interestingly, when they were kids, Mack Ritchie’s son, Tom, helped save one of this collector’s daughters from drowning when she fell off a dock in Palm Beach and was being swept away by the tide. Later, as a young man, Tom followed in his father’s footsteps, working as a painter and illustrator. Today he is a naturalist working with National Geographic. Mack Ritchie moved the family back to Litchfield, Illinois to care for his aging parents and fittingly he lived out the remainder of his life where he was born and where he met his wife, Patricia Anne Ahren, whom he had known his entire life. Mack and Patricia were born just four days apart and two houses away in Litchfield. Patricia was an avid painter as well.

While working for an engineering firm in Chicago, Ritchie was sent to Palm Beach for a company project. There he befriended architect John Volk. He eventually decided to move to Florida and establish Ritchie and Crocker Engineers, Inc., based in Palm Beach. While overseeing his firm, Ritchie managed to also find time to serve two terms as a Palm Beach Town Councilman and two terms as the Mayor. Mack Ritchie was somewhat of a renaissance man. In addition to being a pilot and engineer, he was an accomplished pianist and artist. But at heart, Mack Ritchie was

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UNTITLED (BARN WITH WAGON IN THE FOREGROUND) Oil on Canvas 18 x 24 inches

GARY LYNN ROBERTS 1953 - 0000 Gary Lynn Roberts recalls, “Once someone asked my father, ‘How long has Gary Lynn been in painting?’ And he said, ‘I don’t know how long he’s been painting, but I used to wipe my brush on his diaper when he crawled by.’ That’s how long I’ve been around painting. It’s all I ever wanted to do.”

back. Roberts likes to paint scenes from the late nineteenth century in a style that is a mixture of Realism and Impressionism. His paintings depict cattle drives, Indian encampments, and cowboys. “When I was a kid, I loved the history of America. I happen to think the people who settled the West were some of the strongest, bravest people ever,” says Roberts. “I’ll paint a snow scene, and people will say, ‘Oh, it would be so nice to live back then.’ And I’m going, ‘I like my thermostat!’ To live off the land, you had to be strong people. I try to depict that in my paintings: the strength of these people who could survive in this and make a country out of it — they built America.” His experience training horses and participating in rodeos as a young man inform his paintings, which he works hard to make historically correct. However, he says, “I want to do more than create a historically correct scene; I want to tell a story. When someone views one of my paintings, I want them to feel like they are part of the painting. I love God. I love my family. I love this country, and that’s what I try to depict in my paintings.”

The son of Western artist Joe Rader Roberts, Gary Lynn Roberts grew up in the small town of Channelview, just east of Houston, Texas. “For as long as I can remember, all I ever wanted to do was be a painter,” Roberts says. “My dad had been bitten by the same bug in his youth, but in the 1950s and ‘60s, you couldn’t make enough money to support a family as a fine artist, so he built a sign painting business while establishing his reputation as a Western painter. I kind of got my start the same way. By the time I was 14 years old, I was helping dad out by painting signs on grocery store windows, listing the special for the week and, during the holiday season, my assignments might include Santa Clauses or Easter Bunnies. This was all hand work, lettering, and even figures done with a brush, so sign painting was actually very good training. I was fortunate to grow up in that atmosphere” he says. “In addition to my father, I received one on one training from many of his friends such as G. Harvey and A.D. Greer to mention only a couple.”

Today, Roberts works from his studio in the Bitterroot Valley, where he and his family have lived since the late 1990’s. For Roberts, painting is a labor of love. He leaves his house every morning, six days a week, except Sundays, to work in his studio, returning home in the evening at about 7:00 p.m. each day. There are easier ways to make a living,” says Roberts. “My faith is everything, and I believe that faith is what allows me to be who I am and to paint the way I do. This has to be a labor of love, or you will have a long, tough life.”

Gary Lynn won his first art award when he was just 14 for a piece he entered at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and shortly thereafter he began selling his Western art at regional art and craft shows. From then on, he has never looked

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DEFENDERS OF THE NORTH RIDGE Oil on Linen 36 x 50 inches

UNTITLED (INDIANS ON HORSEBACK COMING UP THE RISE) Oil on Canvas 20 x 24 inches 186

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NO IMMEDIATE DANGER Oil on Canvas 24 x 29 7⁄8 inches

NORTHWESTERN PRIDE Oil on Canvas 2018 7 40 x 33 ⁄8 inches 188

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RETURN OF THE SCOUT Oil on Canvas 40 x 54 inches

ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ 1954 - 0000 Alfredo Rodriguez is one of nine siblings born in Tepic, Mexico, just inland from the west coast of Mexico, between Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta. A Christmas gift from his mother of a watercolor set when he was six years old seems to have set the course of his life. “We were very poor, but my parents used their savings to buy me a set of watercolors one Christmas night when I was six years old,” Rodriquez recalled. Later he took lessons from a local art instructor, Santiago Rosas, and painting quickly became a way for him to help support his family.

the American West. I went to school to study English and U.S. history the first day I stepped on American land,” says Rodriguez.

School field trips to Indian reservations in Mexico and his love of American Western movies later inspired Alfredo to paint scenes of the American West. “During elementary school in Mexico we used to take field trips to the Mexican Indian reservations, and my admiration toward the natives grew tremendously,” recalls Rodriguez.

“I love painting faces—wrinkles on an old man’s face, as well as the soft values of a baby’s skin or a prairie woman. I think a face can tell a story more eloquently than a multiple-figure scene. I love painting characters of the Old West—mountain men, cowboys, native Americans, old prospectors, as well as children, beautiful women in their environment and activities of the life of the late 1800s. I also like to paint relationships between families—an old man telling stories to his grandkids, or a mother reading a book to her children before going to bed.”

He still visits reservations and a variety of other locations throughout the West doing research for his paintings, sometimes investing months of research into a single painting. Many of his paintings illustrate Bobbie Kalman’s textbooks: Nations of the Plains, Nations of the Southwest, Native Homes, Life in a Plains Camp, and The Life of the Navajo.

When he was still just a teenager, an American art dealer commissioned Alfredo to paint American Indians. “I discovered that some of the Indians I paint, like the Navajos, Hopis and Apaches, have a lot of similarities with the Indians in Mexico— traditions, celebrations, even some clothing. So, it wasn’t difficult for me to make the transition.”

“I never imagined having the life I am having now in America, making a living doing something that I enjoy doing,” he says. “Now I paint pictures for a living in the land of my hero, John Wayne. Being a professional artist has not been easy. But I am enjoying the journey.”

In his early twenties Rodriguez moved to the United States where he settled in Corona, California and has been painting scenes of the American West ever since. “I was determined I was going to be an American and dedicate my life to painting

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NIGHT SOUNDS Oil on Canvas 1998 24 x 36 inches

PARTNERS IN THE HUNT Oil on Canvas 24 x 36 inches 192

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SNOW BIRD Oil on Linen 2008 24 x 36 inches

WINTER HUNTERS Oil on Board 2018 20 x 30 inches

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WINTER JOURNEY Oil on Board 2001 12 x 16 inches

WINTER TRAPPERS Oil on Canvas 2009 36 ¼ x 48 ¼ inches

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WINTER TRAVELERS Oil on Canvas 2002 30 x 40 inches

WILLIAM RUSHING 1936 - 2009 William Everett Rushing was born in Los Angeles and grew up during the Great Depression surrounded by the Paiute Indian reservation near Big Pine, in the Owens Valley of California. His parents were artists, his mother was a landscape painter and his father was an art furniture painter. As a boy, Bill enjoyed drawing and clearly had natural artistic talent. However, as Bill grew taller, eventually to six feet five inches tall, he became a talented basketball player, so much so that he was offered a college scholarship. But inexplicably, rather than go to college, in the middle of his senior year in high school Bill and a friend decided to join the U.S. Navy, where he served on the destroyer the USS Henderson during the Korean War.

In his 30s Rushing decided to seriously pursue a career as an artist. Rushing continued his art education through correspondence classes with the Famous Artists School founded by the New York Society of Illustrators members Albert Dorne and Norman Rockwell. Rushing’s success as a Western artist brought him to the attention of the Governor of Kentucky, who commissioned Rushing as a Kentucky Colonel, the highest title of honor a Kentucky Governor can bestow, for his contribution to Western art. Rushing always credited his talent and success to God-given talent. His preferred medium was watercolor. In each of his paintings his signature is followed by the Christian fish symbol, and somewhere in each painting he included what his wife called “three weeds” that symbolize the three crosses of Christ’s Crucifixion.

After his service in the Navy, Rushing moved to Reno where he took art classes and where he met his wife Peggy. The couple soon moved back near his childhood home in California, and for a few years Rushing worked as a California Highway Patrol Officer. However, the first major accident he was called to that involved children convinced him to look for a different job.

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THE SCOUTS Opaque Watercolor on Paper 11 x 14 inches

DAVID SANDERS 1936 - 2013 Born in San Antonio, Texas, David M. Sanders demonstrated real potential early on to become both a visual artist and a vocal artist. When a teacher encouraged David to pursue his talent as a visual artist, he enrolled, at the age of 10, in classes at the Witte Art Museum in San Antonio, where some well-known Texas artists took their first art lessons. But, David was also interested in the vocal arts and throughout high school and as a young man he pursued a career as a tenor soloist, hoping to become an opera singer.

Sanders received commissions from the King Ranch and the Shelton Ranch, illustrated the book Rangers of Texas, published in 1969 by Texian Press, illustrated issues of Cattleman's Magazine, UT Longhorn Football Programs, the covers of King Ranch sales catalogs, Leanin' Tree notecards, and various other notecards and calendars. Sanders’ paintings appear in many private and museum collections, including the Diamond M collection of Texas Tech Museum in Lubbock and the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco.

In 1957, Sanders was drafted into the U.S. Army and was stationed in Okinawa. When he returned to the States following his tour of duty in the military, he moved to Seattle, Washington to take voice lessons, still hoping to become an opera singer. At some point Sanders gave up his dream of becoming an opera singer and moved back to Texas to attend Southwest Texas State University, where he earned a degree in Commercial Art. Following college Sanders made a living painting portraits and selling his paintings of still-lifes and other subjects at art shows throughout Texas, but ultimately it was as a Western artist that Sanders found his true calling. Though he painted in oil the first few years, he worked primarily in pastels throughout his life. He was known for his careful research of the details: tack, costumes, weapons, and even the angle of the sun at a particular time of day.

Sanders’ paintings hung in the offices of four Texas Governors. Just before his death from Lou Gehrig’s Disease, Sanders was honored with resolutions from Governor Rick Perry, the Texas House of Representatives, and the Texas Senate. Of David Sanders’ passing Governor Rick Perry said, “Men of his caliber are rare in this world, and I can't help but feel that the Lone Star shines a little less bright without him. David gave us so much more than wonderful works of art. He captured moments in time from an era long passed, a time when the very spirit of Texas was being forged by riders and rangers under a vast Western sky. When we study the well-worn faces of his subjects, we see a resiliency, strength and pride that has spanned the generations, and we learn a little more about who we are and what it means to be a Texan.”

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RIDERS IN YOSEMITE Pastel on Paper 1983 28 ¾ x 37 ¾ inches

SNOWY ENCAMPMENT Pastel on Paper 1978 30 x 40 inches

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CONRAD SCHWIERING 1916 - 1986 Born in Boulder, Colorado, but raised in Laramie, Wyoming, Conrad Schwiering loved to draw horses as a child. He first fell in love with the Teton Mountains while traveling with his father. However, at his father’s suggestion, Schwiering chose to major in business when he went to college, earning a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Wyoming where his father was the dean of the College of Education. Schwiering continued to pursue his interest in art by spending his summers taking art classes in Denver, Laramie, and Taos.

Of his style, Schwiering said, “Many people have called me an Impressionist painter. If Impressionism is the study of sunlight, then I am an Impressionist. But, rather than an Impressionist, I consider myself a mood painter. Painting is not an intellectual matter. Now, the technical knowledge has to be there, but art is a gut process, and there is no substitute for sweat.” Conrad Schwiering was the subject of many magazine articles, two books (Schwiering and the West by Robert Wakefield, 1973, North Plains Press and Conrad Schwiering Painting on the Square by Dean Krakel, 1981, Powder River Book Company), several one-man museum exhibitions, and the PBS documentary series, Profiles in American Art. His art studio was recreated in the Nicolaysen Art Museum in Casper, Wyoming.

While attending the University of Wyoming, Schwiering was also a member of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. After earning his bachelor’s degree in business, Schwiering went on to study at the Art Students League of New York before joining the U.S. Army during World War II.

An artist to the end, Conrad Schwiering died of a heart attack while sketching and taking photographs for a painting at Point Lobos State Park, California.

After the War, Schwiering decided to pursue his interest in art and moved to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he opened a gallery in the Wort Hotel. “We sold two paintings that year,” Schwiering recalled, “one for $35 and another for $40. Beans were scarce. It took us thirteen years to acquire land and build our home and my studio.” The many years of hard work did pay off however, as Schweiring became known for his paintings of the Tetons during the changing seasons.

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TETON WINTER Oil on Masonite 1969 25 x 30 inches 205

OLAF CARL SELTZER 1877 - 1957 Olaf Seltzer was born in Copenhagen. When he was 12 years-old he studied art at the Det Tekniske Institut (The Technical Institute) in Copenhagen. Seltzer was 19 years-old when his father died and his mother and he emigrated to Great Falls, Montana, where he would live and work for nearly all of the remainder of his life. Seltzer worked for a year as a cowboy, supplying horses to the Yellowstone Stage Lines. He then got a job as a machinist and later a locomotive repairman for the Great North Railway, where he worked for nearly a quarter century. All the while he maintained an interest in art, sketching in his spare time.

More than 2,500 Olaf Seltzer paintings are known, including a series of 103 miniatures on Montana history commissioned by Dr. Cole, whose Western Art collection included 340 works by Seltzer, nearly half of the entire collection. Dr. Cole had lived and practiced medicine in Helena, Montana Territory as a young man and always harbored the dream of returning. But, his role as President of A. Schrader & Son, the company he inherited from his father and the manufacturer of the schrader valves used on nearly all tire innertubes, kept him in New York. However, his wealth did afford him the opportunity to assemble a massive Western art collection and even build a replica of a Montana ranch in Lake Placid, New York, which he named Last Chance Ranch after Last Chance Gulch, the original name for Helena, Montana.

It was in Great Falls that Olaf Seltzer met and became close friends with Charles Russell. They would go on hunting and sketching trips together and to the casual observer Seltzer’s work can be mistaken for Russell’s work. It wasn’t until he was in his mid 40s and he’d lost his job with the railroad as part of a massive layoff that Seltzer began painting full-time. Just before he turned 50, Seltzer moved to New York City to assist Charles Russell in completing some of his commissions. It was while in New York City that Seltzer was introduced to Dr. Philip Cole, who was Russell’s patron and would become Seltzer’s friend and greatest patron. When Russell died not long after his arrival to New York City, Seltzer returned to Great Falls, Montana, though he maintained a relationship with Dr. Cole for the remainder of Dr. Cole’s life.

Today, Steve Seltzer continues his grandfather Olaf ’s tradition as a very successful Western artist.

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EVENING AT THE FORT Watercolor on Paper 7 ¾ x 12 inches 207

WILLIAM STEVE SELTZER 1955 - 0000 Born in Great Falls, Montana, Steve Seltzer grew up drawing and painting, influenced by the art of his grandfather Olaf C. Seltzer and his close friend Charlie Russell, whose styles are apparent in Steve Seltzer’s early paintings. Steve Seltzer decided to pursue his lifelong interest in becoming an artist after graduating from Montana State University with a degree in architecture and spending a year working as a designer. Seltzer moved to Southern California, where he shared a studio with his brother-inlaw, impressionist Dan McCaw, for five years. The influence of McCaw and other impressionist painters Seltzer met during his time in Southern California is apparent and very intentional in his work. “I love the surface quality of the impressionist’s oil paintings and I have been trying to incorporate that look and feel with a more stylized approach,” says Seltzer.

Steve Seltzer is just one of two artists to be admitted into all 35 C. M. Russell Auctions, winning the Auction's 1998 Scriver Award, the 2000 Artist's Choice Award, and the 2003 Best of Show Award. On a side note, Olaf Seltzer and Charlie Russell liked to paint together and it can sometimes be hard to tell the difference between their paintings. But, there can be a big difference in the value of the two artists’ paintings. Besides being an accomplished artist in his own right, Steve Seltzer is an expert on his grandfather’s work, as was evidenced when a jury awarded him more than $21 million in a countersuit against a collector and law firm who sued him, wrongly claiming that a painting was by Charlie Russell, which Steve had correctly identified as his grandfather’s work.

Steve Seltzer returned to his roots in Montana many years ago. His paintings are predominately of Plains Indians

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RETURNING OF THE WAR PARTY Oil on Canvas 18 x 24 inches

IRVIN SHOPE 1900 - 1977 Irvin “Shorty” Shope was born on his parents’ Circle Arrow Ranch in Boulder, Montana and grew up working on ranches. Though he contracted polio when he was nine, he continued to work on the ranch, eventually becoming an excellent horseman and ranch hand. When he was 12 his father died and Shorty moved with his mother to Missoula, where he met Western artist Edgar S. Paxson who became his mentor while Shorty was still in high school.

Shope remembered Dunn as “very good for me” and his advice to “Paint a little less of the facts and a little more of the spirit. Paint more with feeling than with thought.” Shope began as an illustrator, receiving commissions for book and magazine covers and murals for the University of Montana. He also worked for the Montana Highway Department illustrating maps, brochures, and posters. And later, he became the chief graphic artist for the Montana Power Company.

After high school Shope attended Reed College and the Portland Art Academy. And when at the age of 30 he’d sold his first painting, he returned to college attending the University of Montana, where he spent his winters in class and his spring and summers working as a cowboy, leaving drawings at every ranch he rode or worked on. Eventually, Shope earned a Bachelor of Art degree in Art, History, and English from the University of Montana.

In 1959 and 1960 Shope was commissioned to produce 11 paintings for The Northwest Paper Company featuring Mounties, Indians, ranchers, and cattle. However, Shope’s preferred subjects were Blackfeet Indians and cowboys against backdrops of mountains and deserts. In fact, when he was 37 the Blackfeet tribe adopted Shope, giving him the name “Moquea Stumock,” meaning “Wolf Bull - Man the Size of Wolf with Heart Big Like Buffalo.”

Shope remembered that, “Charles M. Russell complimented my work to those who wished to finance my future study in New York, but he encouraged me to stay in Montana and study the men, horses, and country I loved.” Nevertheless, when he was 32 Shope went on to study at the Grand Central School of Art in New York for a year with Harvey Dunn, who was probably had the greatest influence on Shope’s career.

Shope said his goal as an artist was, “to paint Western history as truthfully as research on its subjects will allow …” and that he believed, “One good painting is worth 10,000 words.” But, one small symbol seems to speak volumes about the man. Shorty Shope signed his paintings with the distinctive Circle Arrow brand of the Montana ranch where he was born.

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COME IN MY FRIEND Oil on Canvas 1969 16 x 22 inches

DON SPAULDING 1926 - 0000 Born in Brooklyn, New York, young Donald spent a lot of time on his aunt and uncle’s farm on the Housatonic River that runs through western Connecticut and Massachusetts, which made a huge impression on him. “I spent so much time on the farm that I often feel as though I have lived in the last century. Perhaps that’s why I have such a feeling for the era and why I enjoy painting 19th century life,” Spaulding recalls.

the next quarter century Spaulding worked as an illustrator for a variety of publishers. Later in life Spaulding worked as a fine artist, concentrating on military and Western subjects. His military paintings are in the collections of the West Point Museum, New York; the Fort Riley Cavalry Museum, Kansas; the United States War College, Washington, D.C.; and The Pentagon. Spaulding pays special attention to the details of dress, gear, and weapons in his paintings, relying on his personal collection of Western and military artifacts. He is especially interested in period costumes and equipment of cavalry troopers, Plains Indians, and cowboys.

Spaulding took up drawing as a boy and was encouraged by his high school teachers to get formal training, which he did. Following high school he enrolled in the Art Students League in New York. However, his training there was interrupted by the war, when about a month later he was drafted into the U.S. Army. Spaulding returned to the Art Students League following the war, spending the next four years studying there. While he was at the Art Students League, Spaulding was invited to study with Norman Rockwell at an art school he had established near his home in Vermont. While studying there, Spaulding got a contract to illustrate more than a dozen Lone Ranger covers for Dell Comics, which Rockwell’s next-door neighbor modeled for. For

Regarding his love of Western art, Spaulding says, “I’ve always been intrigued with the look of history. There is a special thrill I get handling artifacts from the Old West. It’s like holding history in my hand. I was put on the earth to paint the historical West. It’s my great love and passion.”

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THE EMISSARIES Oil on Board 1984 24 x 20 ¼ 213

GENE SPECK 1936 -0000 Born in South Dakota, Gene Speck’s early childhood was spent on the family farm. A persistent drought that began in the late 1930s eventually led to the loss of the farm and the family’s move to the San Joaquin Valley of California, due east of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Like his brother, Gene’s paintings tend to be small and highly detailed. But rather than still lifes, Gene’s paintings are of beautiful and tranquil Western scenes of Indian encampments, ranches, deserts, and meadows. He prefers to paint with oils on Masonite rather than canvas because the harder surface permits him to work in fine detail that has to be seen with a magnifying glass to be fully appreciated.

As a young man Gene worked a variety of jobs, early on in his father’s bakery, followed by a stint in the military, and later working in construction. In the meantime, his younger brother, Loran, who studied art at the Academy of Arts in San Francisco, was beginning to enjoy some success as an artist specializing in small still lifes in the style of the Dutch Masters. Intrigued by his brother’s success as an artist and in spite of his own lack of formal training, Gene decided to try his hand at art, displaying a few paintings at Bay Area street shows in the early 1970s. His paintings sold, which motivated him to further refine his skills and pursue art full-time. Soon, his paintings began to appear in San Francisco and Carmel galleries and today his paintings can be seen in galleries from coast to coast.

From the late 1970s through the first half of the 1980s, Gene and Loran often jointly exhibited their paintings in California’s Coachella Valley, in Palm Springs and Palm Desert. Inspired by the wide-open spaces of the West and his childhood memories of farm life in South Dakota, in 1976 Speck moved to Nevada and bought a working ranch, where he lives and works today. His ranch continues to be a source of inspiration while providing the solitude he needs to immerse himself in his paintings. Speck says of his paintings he would “rather be there than in the here and now.”

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FEEDING TIME Oil on Masonite 1994 8 x 10 inches

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SUMMER GRASS Oil on Masonite 1996 8 x 10 inches

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217

WARNING SIGN Oil on Masonite 1996 6 x 8 inches

WESTERN SKIES Oil on Masonite 1994 8 x 10 inches 218

OLEG STAVROWSKY 1927 - 2020 Oleg Stavrowsky was born in Harlem, New York to Russian immigrants. His interest in art began while he was attending high school, though he managed to finish only two years of high school. He was drafted into the Army at the age of 18, serving honorably in Europe during his four-years as a soldier. After the war Stavrowsky said, “I fooled around with ten thousand incidental jobs and finally when I was about thirty, decided I liked graphics. I started out as a draftsman, then I got a pretty good job as a technical illustrator and I was really cooking with McDonnellDouglas Aircraft. Then I got interested in fashion drawing and got into free-lance commercial art.”

year his work was exhibited at the Cowboy Hall of Fame. Eventually Stavrowsky moved from Santa Fe to the Texas Hill Country just outside Austin, where he lived and worked for the rest of his life. Though he once said, “I turned out to be a real country hick. I have no desire to live in the city anymore,” his taste in music and his work environment were anything but country. He described his studio environment this way, “One big factor in my life is jazz. When I paint, I am listening to music. Sixty-four bars of good saxophone is like four square inches of good brush licks on a canvas.” And, somehow the combination of his love of jazz and his life in the Hill Country of Texas inspired Oleg Stavrowsky to produce Western art much sought after by collectors.

Stavrowsky recalled it was a visit to the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City that convinced him to give up commercial illustration and move to Santa Fe, New Mexico to pursue Western art. “One day back in about 1969, I was in Oklahoma City, and decided to see what was happening at the Cowboy Hall of Fame. I liked what I saw and made up my mind that I'd like to give that a try. I guess we all like Cowboys and Indians. It was pretty successful right from the start.” Within a

While subjects of Stavrowsky’s paintings include jazz musicians, automobiles, oil fields, and even abstract subjects, it was his love of Western Art that brought him the deepest sense of satisfaction, which he described this way, “Western painting is my life, my income, my joy, my everything."

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CUTTING ONE OUT Oil on Canvas 37 ¼ x 24 inches 221

FREE RIDER Oil on Linen 22 x 34 inches 222

RON STEWART 1941 - 0000 Though Ron Stewart was born in Brooklyn, New York, he grew up in a rural area of San Diego, California. As a boy he loved sports, drawing, and riding horseback. As a young man he worked as a ranch hand, caring for horses and working as a drover on cattle drives. Ron’s love of horses has been deep and lifelong, so much so that he spent five decades raising Arabian horses. His favorite quote is, "The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man.”

Stewart credits his wife with encouraging him to quit his job to become an artist fulltime, his fellow Western artists for helping him along the way, and his love of and deep experience with horses for his skill as an artist, saying, “The horse taught me my craft.” Today Ron Stewart lives and works in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he welcomes customers to his studio to watch him work. His art can be found in collections as far flung as in England, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Spain, the Philippines, and Japan.

As an artist Ron Stewart is both a sculptor and painter, working in bronze, oil, and watercolor. Given his deep love of and experience with horses, it is not surprising that horses figure prominently in Stewart’s artwork and that he is known for his attention to detail when depicting horses.

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225

CAMP ALONG THE SNAKE Oil on Canvas 15 7⁄8 x 20 inches

TRAPPER IN WINTER Gouache on Paper 15 x 22 inches

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JOHN PAUL STRAIN 1955 - 0000 Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Strain recalls, “I began painting at an early age and decided to become a Western artist when I was in high school. I attended the University of Redlands in California and Brigham Young University in Utah as an art major. After college, I was employed as an illustrator for the Department of Energy for a year and then I launched out on a career as a full-time Western artist.”

just two or three hairs, he often works for months to produce just one of these highly detailed paintings. Strain’s paintings have appeared on more than 75 magazine covers, in many books (including two of his own, Witness to the Civil War: The Art of John Paul Strain and The Historical Art of John Paul Strain), films, and National Park Service publications. His paintings have been used to raise funds for restoration projects and battlefield preservation.

By the time Strain was 21 years old, Trailside Galleries was showing his paintings. For years the subjects of his paintings were Western landscapes, wildlife, and depictions of Indian life. “The style of my work," Strain says, "has been called reminiscent of the romantic landscapes and portrayals of Indian life of Henry Farny and Thomas Moran. I try and attain a certain mood and atmosphere in each of my paintings.”

Strain’s many commissions and historical paintings include a number of works for the United States Army that are on permanent exhibit at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Fort McNair, Washington D.C., and the Visitor's Center at Normandy, France, and a commission by the University of Alabama of the Confederate Corps of Cadets assembling to fight the Union invaders in April 1865. His paintings also appear in the collections of Thomas Jefferson's home Monticello, Charlottesville, Virginia, General Stonewall Jackson’s Headquarters Museum, Winchester, Virginia, the Museum of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and The Texas Civil War Museum, Fort Worth, Texas. In addition, his paintings have been reproduced on historical plaques for: General Robert E. Lee’s home Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia; Harper’s Ferry National Battlefield Park, Jefferson County, West Virginia; Fort Donelson National Battlefield Park, Stewart County, Tennessee; Stone’s River National Battlefield Park, Murfreesboro, Tennessee; General J.E.B Stuart’s Home Laurel Hill, Patrick County, Virginia; and the Patrick Gass House of the Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery, Penn State, Franklin County Master Gardeners of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

In 1981 Strain painted a series of Tarahumara Indian portraits, based on his personal observations and photographs taken during a trip to the Sierra Madre region of northwest Mexico. He was drawn to the Tarahumara because, as he said, “They have changed very little despite 300 years of contact with Spanish soldiers, missionaries, and the Mexican people.” In 1991 Strain expanded his work to include Civil War scenes and he began participating in reenactments in order to become more familiar with the subject. "Working with men, horses, and equipment gives me insight into what life was like back in the 1860s. I know from experience how horse equipment should look when in use, or how a seasoned horseman carries himself in the saddle. I feel it really helps my art." His Civil War scenes are most often of the Confederate Army and they tend to be larger and hyper-realistic compared with his Western paintings. Working from his studio in Benbrook, Texas, using a jeweler’s magnifying glass and paint brushes with

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INDIAN RED COAT Oil on Masonite 1978 1 14 ⁄8 x 20 inches

LYLE TAYSON 1924 - 2014 Lyle Tayson, Sr. was born in Omaha, Nebraska but raised in Chicago, Illinois. While he was in high school, he won a scholarship to the Art Institute of Chicago. However, Lyle dropped out of both high school and the Art Institute when he was 15 or 16 to travel around the country. When Pearl Harbor was attacked, Tayson tried to enlist in the armed services but was denied because he was still only 17. Instead, the next day he joined the U.S. Merchant Marines and worked on convoys crossing the Atlantic, in the Mediterranean, and in the Pacific theater.

Angeles he moved to Eugene, Oregon to be near his mother, working as an illustrator for The Eugene Register-Guard. While working at the newspaper, Tayson produced a series of 20 paintings depicting the Lewis and Clark Expedition that are now in the permanent collection of the University of Oregon. Tayson moved back to Chicago in the late 1960s and worked as an illustrator there for the next five or six years. In 1974 Tayson decided to pursue a career as fine artist, eventually settling in Cheyanne, Wyoming, where he enjoyed a long and successful career, working both in oil and watercolor, painting western landscapes reminiscent of Bierstadt, historic portraits of Indians, and scenes portraying the everyday lives Indians and cowboys of the Old West. A number of Tayson’s historic Indian portraits in watercolor were used in 1977 to illustrate a series of first day covers postmarked in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Tayson joined the U.S. Army during the Korean War and initially served as a radio operator, which he disliked, but he soon talked his superiors into reassigning him to work as a draftsman. When he walked by a building on the base one day where posters and illustrations were produced, he talked his way into being transferred, yet again, to that unit for duty. After serving three years in the Army, Tayson worked as a house painter and advertising illustrator.

Lyle Tayson’s son, John, studied with him and followed in his footsteps, becoming a Western artist and later a Maritime artist, until his death in 2020.

In the early 1960s, Tayson moved to Los Angeles, California to work as a freelance illustrator, where he established a studio on La Brea Avenue. After a few years in Los

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WINTER HUNTER Oil on Board 30 x 40 inches

KARL THOMAS 1948 - 0000 Karl Thomas says art has always been a part of his life. His father, a doctor, was a Sunday Painter and both his grandmothers were also artists. He recalls getting into trouble at school for drawing caricatures of his teachers, but he didn’t decide to become an artist until he was a student at Brigham Young University, where he majored and earned a bachelor’s degree in art. After college, Thomas continued his art studies at the Los Angeles Art Center.

he loves, he has become very adept at dressing appropriately for the season and packing his gear into areas where the terrain can be very difficult. “I enjoy painting the Grand Canyon, especially in winter. After a snowfall, the Canyon can be hidden in the clouds and fog, and you might have to wait for days to get a warm afternoon light. However, he says, “Nothing can substitute for experiencing a place with all its lights and conditions and doing color studies on the spot.” Painting en plein air he says, has forced him “… to work faster, especially in the winter, in changing weather conditions, and at sunrise and sunset. I don’t get bogged down in unnecessary detail and my strokes and color remain fresh.” Working in oils in the winter requires him to not only dress in heavy clothing and to work fast, but to use a palette knife and turpentine to soften the paint. The result is a style he describes as ‘realistic impressionism.”

Following his formal education in art, Thomas worked a variety of jobs, including as an illustrator and art director for a sports magazine, and as an assistant golf pro before he ended up teaching art for eight years at the Waterford School, a private school outside Salt Lake City, Utah. While teaching, Thomas spent his summers and holidays traveling and painting. By the time he was 40 years old, Thomas was able to quit teaching and focus full-time on his art.

Working from his studio in his hometown of Provo, Utah, Thomas continues to challenge himself to stretch as an artist saying, “I’ll always strive for something new, something a little different than what is expected, something more creative.”

Thomas prefers to paint en plein air and is well-known for his paintings of the Grand Canyon, the Tetons, and the Wasatch Mountains. In order to paint the natural scenes

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WINTER SNOW - GRAND CANYON Oil on Canvas 1992 30 x 40 inches

RICHARD D. THOMAS 1939 - 2019 Richard D. Thomas grew up in the small town of Avenal, in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Following high school Thomas attended the Arizona State University. By the time he finished college the Viet Nam War was ramping up, so Thomas enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1962, serving in Vietnam in 1965. Following his service in the Marine Corps, Thomas worked for many years for a high-tech defense contractor and painted as a hobby. When his marriage ended and the plant he worked in closed, Thomas decided to paint full-time, spending years refining his technique and showing his work in hotels, shopping malls, and at convention centers.

his work, becoming a part of what he painted on the canvas, saying, “A painting is an expression of what goes on around an artist. You can’t hide anything. You’re in there.” As an impressionist, the challenge for Thomas was to convey to the viewer the reality of the feeling of being there, but not the precise detail. “I really like to hear people say, ‘I feel like I’ve been there.’” For Thomas that meant less can be more and that it was important to know when to stop. “You have to bring a painting to the extent your personality and temperament will allow and learn when to stop. You don’t want to make it too pretty.”

Living for more than two decades in Colorado and later in Montana, Thomas was surrounded by many inspirational vistas from which he drew inspiration. He tended to paint plein air, spending a lot time observing his surroundings, often including local ranchers in his paintings. He also carefully researched his subjects and used photographs for reference. However, as he said, “I pretty much paint only that which I can experience myself.” He immersed himself in

Apparently, the natural beauty of the West and the challenge of conveying the reality of the feeling of being there, without allowing the detail to detract from that impression, was a lifelong quest for Thomas. He described his process this way, “There is always something to learn...there is no final attainable goal in art. It’s always just a little out of reach, just enough to keep you going.”

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BACKCOUNTRY RENDEZVOUS Oil on Canvas 1995 50 x 36 inches 235

CAUTION ALONG THE ARKANSAS Oil on Canvas 1997 24 x 36 inches

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SHOSHONE Oil on Canvas 1997 34 x 48 inches

WINTER ENCAMPMENT OF THE UTE Oil on Canvas 1991 32 x 50 inches 238

HUBERT WACKERMANN 1945 - 0000 Hubert Wackermann was born in Solingen, West Germany, the birthplace of Western Landscape painter, Albert Bierstadt. For centuries, the city has been known for the manufacture of fine swords, knives, scissors, and razors. Hubert was raised by his mother and grandparents on a farm, right on the East German/West German border, between Braunschweig and Berlin and he remembers East German refugees regularly escaping to the West.

Saxony Convalescent Technical College) in Bad Pyrmont, West Germany for two years where he learned photography, silkscreen, brush and ink, landscape and composition. Wackermann then studied for five years at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (the Arts Academy of Düsseldorf), West Germany, where he earned a degree of Master Student of Art and was certified as an art teacher. He rounded out his interesting combination of formal and hands-on training through scholarship funded study trips to Canada, the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, and Egypt. Given his broad training in a variety of media, not surprisingly Wackermann is comfortable working in acrylic, gouache, watercolor, and oil paints.

Wackermann says he developed an interest in North American Indians at an early age while watching American Western Movies and reading Karl May books about Indians, though he later learned May’s books were not particularly accurate since May had never actually seen the American West. Later he pursued his interest by visiting museums and libraries and during one of those visits was particularly inspired by an exhibition in Düsseldorf of the work of Karl Bodmer and Rudolf Friedrich Kurz, Swiss painters who documented the landscape and Native American life along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers during the mid-nineteenth century.

Wackermann got his chance to study North American Indians firsthand when he first visited Canada at the age of 24 on one of those study trips, and again Canada and the United States in subsequent visits over the next six years. He immigrated to Canada in 1976 and lived for a year on the Six Nations Iroquois (Mohawk) Reservation in Southern Ontario, where he taught art classes for the Mohawk children. The next year Wackermann immigrated to the United States, eventually settling near Albuquerque in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.

Wackermann worked for three years at the Georg Westermann Verlag (printing works) in Braunschweig, West Germany, where he worked as a lithographer and learned watercolor, pencil, pen and ink, crayon, tempera, gouache, lettering and design. He was conscripted into the Bundeswehr (Federal Defense Forces of Germany), but when he fell ill from what may have been tuberculosis, he was sent to the Harz Mountains to recover and then on to the Niedersächsische Versehrten Berusfachschule (Lower

Today Wackerman works from his studio in Marietta, Georgia, where he moved in 1987 Wackermann to be close to his wife’s family and a bit closer to Puerto Rico, where his wife is from. However, he has made many trips back to the West to do research and to attend reenactments popular with painters of the West.

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BLACKFEET WINTER CAMP Oil on Canvas 2018 24 ½ x 36 inches

CHEYENNE WINTER CAMP Oil on Linen 2019 16 x 20 inches

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INDIAN CAMP IN WINTER Casein on Illustration Board 1981 20 ¼ x 14 ¾ inches 243

NEZ PERCE CAMPFIRE Oil on Canvas 2019 12 x 24 inches

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OLAF WIEGHORST 1899 - 1988 Wieghorst’s life story is worthy of a movie, and indeed it is the subject of his 1969 biography written by William Reed. Olaf Carl Wieghorst was born to Karl and Anna Wieghorst the last year of the nineteenth century, in the village of Viborg, Jutland, Denmark. Olaf ’s father was a photographic retoucher and engraver. At the age of nine Olaf began appearing as “Little Olaf- The Miniature Acrobat” at the Tivoli Theater in Copenhagen and as a bare-back rider with the Schumann Circus, later touring Europe with the act. However, by age 14 Olaf had grown much too big to be promoted as “The Miniature Acrobat” (he would eventually grow to be six feet four inches tall). Instead, he took a job on a stock farm, where he developed his lifelong love of horses and began to teach himself to paint.

continued painting and near the end of his career as a mounted policeman he managed to sell a large quantity of his work to be used as calendar art and to illustrate Western novels and magazines. Eventually he was represented by Grand Central Art Galleries in the Biltmore Hotel. After more than 20 years on the New York City police force, Wieghorst retired in 1944 and moved to El Cajon, California, where his career as a Western artist fully developed and he produced the majority of the work for which he would become best known. In addition to his Western paintings, Wieghorst painted numerous portraits of horses, including Gene Autry’s Champion and Roy Roger’s Trigger. By 1955 there was a waiting list for his horse portrait work, perhaps because as Wieghorst said, he tried “to paint the little natural things, the way a horse turns his tail to the wind on cold nights, the way he flattens his ears in the rain, seasonal changes in the coat of a horse, and the psychology of his behavior.”

Inspired by stories and images of the American West, when he was 19 Wieghorst joined the crew of a Danish steamer as a cabin boy, arriving in New York on the last day of 1918, where he promptly jumped ship with only $1.25 to his name, not knowing a word of English. He made it to the American West, courtesy of the U.S. Army, when he enlisted in a U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment that patrolled the Mexican border. The 7th Cavalry Regiment, once led by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, adopted Garryowen as its marching tune and was nicknamed Garryowen. While the 7th Cavalry Regiment was on its way to Douglas, Arizona in 1921, Wieghorst’s horse fell on him and broke his ankle. In order to avoid being left behind, Wieghorst stayed on his horse throughout the long intensely hot day and into the night, until his horse finally died of exhaustion. After mustering out of the Cavalry in Arizona, Wieghorst briefly drifted picking up work as a cowboy in Arizona and New Mexico, finally settling in as a ranch hand in Arizona at the Quarter 2C Ranch, whose brand he incorporated into his signature as a painter.

Tall, handsome, and personable, Wieghorst even wound up appearing in two John Wayne movies, McLintock! (1963) and El Dorado (1966), and some of his artwork was even being used in the open titles sequence of El Dorado. Wieghorst’s paintings became a part of some of the great private collections of Western art including those of: Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Clint Murchison, Leonard Firestone, Barry Goldwater, Earl Adams, Sam Campbell, Jack Goodman, Read Mullan, C.R. Smith, Bruce Gelker, and Fred Utter. Befitting his amazing life, Wieghorst lived to see two of his works, The Navajo Madonna and The Navajo Man sell in 1985 for over one million dollars. In 2000 the original Wieghorst family home in El Cajon was opened to the public as the Wieghorst Western Heritage Center, dedicated to the preservation and appreciation of the art and heritage of the American West.

By 1923 Wieghorst had returned to New York City and joined the police force, eventually becaming a member of the Police Show Team of the Mounted Division, though he spent most of his time on his horse named Rhombo patrolling Central Park. In his spare time he

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CAUGHT IN A STORM Oil on Canvas 1979 24 x 30 inches

GAME IN SIGHT Oil on Canvas 1981 16 x 20 inches

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INDEX OF PAINTINGS 31 71 141 235 7 183 111 135 32 43 241 109 51 17 225 119 105 61 247 125

Along the Lolo Trail - Jim Carson After Lost Horses - Robert Duncan And the Band Played Garryowen - Dan Mieduch Backcountry Rendezvous - Richard D. Thomas Back from the Hunt - Cassilly Adams Untitled (Barn with Wagon in the Foreground) Mack Ritchie Beaver Creek Camp - Ted Long The Benjamin Bonneville Expedition - 1832 Gerry Metz Bitterroot Crossing - Jim Carson Blackfeet Winter Camp - Michael Coleman Blackfeet Winter Camp - Hubert Wackermann Blacktail Crossing - Hayden Lambson Bryce Canyon - Guy Corriero Buffalo Hunter - Dan Bodelson Camp Along the Snake - Ron Stewart Camp Apache - Wendell Macy Campfire at Dusk - Thomas Kinkade Careful Passages - John DeMott Caught in a Storm - Olaf Wieghorst Caught in the Open - Mitchell Mansanarez

236 242 103 85 99 155 142 211 221 44 33 185 126 91 21 213 207 215 121 156 222 143

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Caution Along the Arkansas - Richard D. Thomas Cheyenne Winter Camp - Hubert Wackermann Clyman Saves Sublette - Harvey Johnson Cold Trail to the Railhead - Joe Ferrara The Cold Winter - Heinie Hartwig Colored Capote - Jim C. Norton Colter’s Hell - Dan Mieduch Come in My Friend - Irvin Shope Cutting One Out - Oleg Stavrowsky Dawn of a New Day - Michael Coleman Deep Winter - Jim Carson Defenders of the North Ridge - Gary Lynn Roberts Early Fall Grizzly - Mitchell Mansanarez Early Snow - David Halbach Earth and Sky - Don Brackett The Emissaries - Don Spaulding Evening at the Fort - Olaf Carl Seltzer Feeding Time - Gene Speck First Light - David Mann The First Snow - Jim C. Norton Free Rider - Oleg Stavrowsky Free Trapper - Dan Mieduch

INDEX OF PAINTINGS continued 136 Friend or Foe - Gerry Metz 89 Friends or Enemies - Raul Gutierrez 151 Frosty Outing - Lanford Monroe 3 The Fur Trader - Paul Abram, Jr. 248 Game in Sight - Olaf Wieghorst 137 Goin’ to Trade - Gerry Metz 81 Going Home - Robert Farrington Elwell 72 The Guardians - Robert Duncan 65 Heading for Shelter - Austin Deuel 87 Hunter’s Morning - Martin Grelle 144 In Hot Pursuit - Dan Mieduch 131 In the Open - Frank McCarthy 45 In the Woods - Michael Coleman 243 Indian Camp in Winter - Hubert Wackermann 229 Indian Red Coat - John Paul Strain 23 Indian Scout for the 7th Cavalry Reynold Brown 24 Indians Approaching Trapper in Jackson Hole Reynold Brown 186 Untitled (Indians on Horseback Coming Up the Rise) Gary Lynn Roberts 9 Jeremiah Johnson - William Ahrendt

10 11 145 73 34 158 62 146 92 112 69 165 167 191 244 187 74 147 188 169 55 122

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Jeremiah Johnson (small version) - William Ahrendt Jim Bridger, Mountain Man - William Ahrendt Last Stage to Prescott - Dan Mieduch Leaving Winter Camp - Robert Duncan Left Behind - Jim Carson Sure Shot (AKA Lining Up the Shot) - Jim C. Norton Many Snows Ago - John DeMott Miles and Miles of Miles and Miles - Dan Mieduch Moments of Freedom - David Halbach Montana Morning - Ted Long Untitled (Mountain Lions) - Gene Dodge Mountain Man - John Phelps A Mountain Man in a Snowstorm - Tom Phillips Night Sounds - Alfredo Rodriguez Nez Perce Campfire - Hubert Wackermann No Immediate Danger - Gary Lynn Roberts No Match for One Muzzle Loader - Robert Duncan Northwest Passage - Dan Mieduch Northwestern Pride - Gary Lynn Roberts Packing in the Tetons - Robert Pummill Paiute Autumn - Don Crowley The Parley - David Mann

192 189 209 201 175 79 95 93 199 170 35

Partners in the Hunt - Alfredo Rodriguez Return of the Scout - Gary Lynn Roberts Returning of the War Party - William Steve Seltzer Riders in Yosemite - David Sanders Untitled (Riding Through the Snow) - Leonard H. Reedy Robes for Trade - Charlie Dye Rustlers of Winter - Carl Hantman Safety in Numbers - David Halbach The Scouts - William Rushing Season of Silence - Robert Pummill Sequoyah Meeting with John Ross, Chief of the Cherokee - Jim Carson Sharing with Friends - Paul Calle Shoshone - Richard D. Thomas Shoshone Winter - Ted Long Sierra Crossing - Jim Carson Signal at Sunrise - David Mann Silent Dog First to Bite - Stan Davis The Silent Trail - Roy Andersen Slow Progress on the Bitterroots - Jim Carson Snow Bird - Alfredo Rodriguez Snow Sounds - Dan Bodelson Snowy Encampment - David Sanders

158 53 75 138 139 205 171 159 117 76 66 226 27 49 101 38 148 107 217 181 77 218 163 14 177 153

28 237 113 36 123 57 13 37 193 18 202 157 Spring Thaw - Jim C. Norton 4 Untitled (Stagecoach in Winter) - Paul Abram, Jr. 216 Summer Grass - Gene Speck

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Sure Shot (AKA Lining Up the Shot) - Jim C. Norton Surprise Snow - Sheila Cottrell Suspicious Mother - Robert Duncan Tense Peace - Gerry Metz Teton Traders - Gerry Metz Teton Winter - Conrad Schwiering Through the Aspen - Robert Pummill Through the Fresh Snow - Jim C. Norton Time of the Wolf - Kim Mackey Trail of the Fur Brigade - Robert Duncan Trapper in the Snow - Austin Deuel Trapper in Winter - Ron Stewart The Trapper’s Feast - Paul Calle Trapper’s Feast - Nicholas Coleman Traveler’s Fire - John Jarvis Two by Two - Jim Carson Two Dollars an Ounce on Thin Paper - Dan Mieduch The Vanishing American - Morton Künstler Warning Sign - Gene Speck Watcher in the Woods - Douglas Ricks Weary Travelers - Robert Duncan Western Skies - Gene Speck When Every Shot Counted - Don Oelze When Trails Vanish - Roy Andersen Winter of ‘41 - Chuck Ren Winter Above Taos - John Moyers

INDEX OF PAINTINGS continued 46 47 39 238 194 231 195 96 172 178 115

Winter Camp - Michael Coleman Winter Camp - Michael Coleman Winter Camp Guard - Jim Carson Winter Encampment of the Ute - Richard D. Thomas Winter Hunters - Alfredo Rodriguez Winter Hunter - Lyle Tayson Winter Journey - Alfredo Rodriguez Winter Medicine - Carl Hantman Winter Passage - Robert Pummill Winter Scout - Chuck Ren Winter Shadows - Dustin Lyon

233 58 40 132 129 196 197 160 83 41

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Winter Snow - Grand Canyon - Karl Thomas Winter Solstice - Stan Davis Winter Sioux - Jim Carson Winter Trail - Frank McCarthy Winter Trails - Gerald McCann Winter Trappers - Alfredo Rodriguez Winter Travelers - Alfredo Rodriguez Winter’s Hush - Jim C. Norton Winter’s Journey - John Fawcett A Word of Advice - Jim Carson

THE COLLECTOR The great grandson of Standard Oil co-founder Henry Morrison Flagler, George G. Matthews has spent a lifetime involved in a variety of nonprofit organizations and community service. While much of his nonprofit involvement has been related to the conservation of wildlife and the natural environment – as an Everglades Regional Commissioner of the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission (the predecessor agency of today's Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission), a chairman and trustee of the International Game Fishing Association, a member of the Boone & Crocket Club, and a member of the Shikar-Safari Club International - he has also devoted a significant part of his time and resources to serving his community as a philanthropist, a Palm Beach Town Councilman, a chairman and trustee of a several community service groups, and as a chairman and trustee of a number of museums and cultural nonprofits, including the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum, a National Historic Landmark in Palm Beach, Florida. As a sportsman, he has traveled the world on land and at sea for more than six decades. In 2010 he was inducted into the International Game Fishing Hall of Fame for his work to protect game fish and their habitats and his decades of advocacy for the catch, tag, and release of game fish, especially giant tuna. When Matthews acquired an exotic game ranch in the Hill Country of west Texas in 1992, which he named in honor of his great grandfather, naturally his passion for collecting branched out into art depicting the American West.

The George G. Matthews Collection of Western Art

Articles inside

Hubert Wackermann

Richard D. Thomas

John Paul Strain

Karl Thomas

Lyle Tayson

Ron Stewart

Oleg Stavrowsky

Don Spaulding

Gene Speck

Irvin Shope

William Steve Seltzer

David Sanders

Alfredo Rodriguez

William Rushing

Conrad Schwiering

Gary Lynn Roberts

Olaf Carl Seltzer

Mack Ritchie

Douglas Ricks

Robert Pummill

Leonard H. Reedy

Chuck Ren

John Phelps

Tom Phillips

Don Oelze

Jim C. Norton

John Moyers

Gerald McCann

Mitchell Mansanarez

David Mann

Frank McCarthy

Wendell Macy

Gerry Metz

Lanford Monroe

Kim Mackey

Dustin Lyon

Ted Long

Hayden Lambson

Morton Künstler

Harvey Johnson

Thomas Kinkade

John Jarvis