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.”

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.”

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 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.

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.

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