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.

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.

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. 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.

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.

TETON WINTER Oil on Masonite 1969 25 x 30 inches