WILLIAM CATHER
HOOK Meyer Gallery
William Cather Hook
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A One Man Show
August 4-17, 2017
Meyer Gallery
225 Canyon Road Santa Fe, NM 87501 505.983.1434 800.779.7387 www.meyergalleries.com
cover image: Taos Valley acrylic 18x24
The American landscape is William Hook’s inspiration. Large skies, low horizons, distant mountains, and textured foregrounds are expressed in his paintings with broad brushstrokes of vivid color. His work is distinctive and stands out from the crowd of today’s genre of landscape painters. The magazines Southwest Art, Art of the West, U.S. Art, American Artist, and Focus Santa Fe have featured Hook’s work in cover articles that proclaim his importance as a leading landscape painter. The book, Leading the West by Donald Hagerty, features William Hook as one of the notable influences on the western art scene. In addition, publishers Harper-Collins and North Light have included his work in numerous books written about the contemporary art process in Europe and America. William Hook’s background in art began at home. It was through the influence of his father and grandmother, a professional photographer and architect respectively, that art became second nature to him. Other family members were art historian Bainbridge Bunting, prominent Italian painters Gino and Bertha Venanzi, as well as Pulitzer Prize winning author, Willa Cather. Mr. Hook’s paintings can be found in the permanent collections of the Denver Art Museum, the Tucson Art Museum, the University of New Mexico, the FORBES Museum, NYC, and the Genesee Museum, NY. In addition, Hook’s work is featured in prints for the New Mexico Symphony, Music from Angel Fire, and the Santa Fe Opera. 1
Leaning Left acrylic 18x36
Hook is an intuitive master of juxtaposing color intensities that advance or recede, while suggesting light that conveys season, time of day, and mood, rather than a mirror of nature, his paintings became exposes of emotions, whether strident or hushed.
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Studio Sunset acrylic 14x11
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The Bishop’s Garden acrylic 18x36
Sonoran Palette acrylic 12x12
Garden Spot acrylic 12x12
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Hook has worked in a square format for decades. The square format departs from traditional horizontal and vertical formats, thus complimenting the contemporary approach of Hook’s style and technique. He enjoys the challenge of organizing shapes within the composition to either complement or overcome the inherent balance, symmetry and solidity of a square. Dynamic movements and lines encourage the viewer to explore the entire composition.
Rociada Fields acrylic 12x12
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Ranchito Door acrylic 12x12
Summer Aspen acrylic 12x12
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Farm Fall acrylic 12x12
Steep Stream acrylic 12x12
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“I’m more interested in theoretical pieces than the literal landscape,” says Hook, who often works from multiple photographs merged together in a way that alters the existing landscape. Mountain ranges that stand ten miles apart in reality are shifted closer in order to create a balanced and intriguing design. This technique, which the artist used when creating “Ranchos Village,” stems from Hook’s illustrative background. Before becoming a full-time artist, Hook had a successful 16-year career in the advertising world as an illustrator, creative director and agency partner. His top level training at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles and competitive advertising career led him to prioritize quality craftsmanship and a creative conceptual approach, both of which are translated into his current artwork.
Ranchos Village acrylic 36x24
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Valley Riders, Taos acrylic 14x11
On the right: Transparent Chamisa acrylic 30x30
“The quality and angle of sunlight are at the heart of my paintings,” states Hook. “Light amplifies and unifies the colors and brings value and harmony to the chaos of landscape details; it also creates shapes that can be used for dynamic design.”
The Great Escape acrylic 11x14
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Couse Studio acrylic 12x12
It’s Show Time acrylic 24x24
“Alley Art” is a piece that is indicative of Hook’s creative perspective and artistic eye for interesting structures. The scene is a back alley in Taos, New Mexico, which the artist came across on a recent visit. While most would’ve obliviously walked past the mundane display of tagged utility boxes and overgrown sidewalk, Hook paused, intrigued by the intersection of lines, shapes and shadows. He later reinterpreted the image with saturated color and realistic lighting effects. Seen through the artist’s eye, this everyday scene becomes a striking work of art.
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Alley Art acrylic 24x24
Hook has always been passionate about trees. “In the fields of Kansas, a tree was a landmark and stood out as something special, ” he recalls. Aspen trees in both Colorado and New Mexico have become a Hook signature. I do portraits of trees as if they were portraits of people. I enjoy negative painting, or creating the branches by defining the spaces around them. “Trees and their shadows are great indicators of time of day and design elements,” he says.
Mission Fall acrylic 11x14
On the following pages: Quaking Color acrylic 24x24 24 Lone Cedar acrylic 12x12
Monastery Beach acrylic 12x24
Ranchos Fields acrylic 30x30 29
Christmas Farm acrylic 24x24 30
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Taos, 1983 acrylic 11x14 31
Ranchito Farm acrylic 16x20 32
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Sangre Light acrylic 12x24
“Sun and shadow create the most interesting shapes and relationships,” says Hook. Hook has an innate ability to capture light’s soft glow and illusive shadows on his canvases, resulting in mesmerizing depictions of quaking aspen groves, bright cliff and horizon lines or charming adobe doorways. His controlled, yet spontaneous brushwork hints toward impressionism while maintaining a poetic realism that transports us to a familiar time and place when viewing his paintings.
Chama Canyon acrylic 18x24
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Bright Horizon acrylic 24x36 37
News Travels Fast acrylic 18x24 38
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William Cather Hook -A Retrospective Hardcover 244 pages 12�x12�
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Price List: Cover p. 3 & 4 p. 6 p. 7 & 8 p. 9 p. 9 p. 10 p. 11 p. 11 p. 12 p. 12 p. 13 p. 15 p. 16 p. 17 p. 19
Taos Valley Leaning Left Studio Sunset The Bishop’s Garden Sonoran Palette Garden Spot Rociada Fields Ranchito Door Summer Aspen Steep Stream Farm Fall Ranchos Village Valley Riders, Taos Transparent Chamisa The Great Escape Couse Studio, Taos
acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic 41
18x24 18x36 14x11 18x36 12x12 12x12 12x12 12x12 12x12 12x12 12x12 36x24 14x11 30x30 11x14 12x12
$6500 $8900 $3200 $8900 $3000 $3000 $3000 $3000 $3000 $3000 $3000 $9900 $3200 $14,000 $3200 $3000
p. 20 p. 22 p. 23 p. 25 p. 26 p. 27 & 28 p. 29 p. 30 p. 31 p. 32 p. 33 & 34 p. 35 p. 37 p. 38 Back cover
It’s Show Time Alley Art Mission Fall Quaking Color Lone Cedar Monastery Beach Ranchos Fields Christmas Farm Taos, 1983 Ranchito Farm Sangre Light Chama Canyon Bright Horizon News Travels Fast Surf Shine
acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic acrylic
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24x24 24x24 11x14 24x24 12x12 12x24 30x30 24x24 11x14 16x20 12x24 18x24 24x36 18x24 12x12
$6900 $7200 $3200 $7200 $3000 $5800 $14,000 $6900 $3200 $5900 $5800 $6500 $9900 $6500 $3000
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William Cather Hook DISTINCTIVE COLLECTIONS
EDUCATION 1970-72 1969 1966-70 1963-66
Art Center College of Design - Los Angeles, CA Universita Italiana per Straniere - Perugia, Italy BFA, Fine Art - University of New Mexico - Albuquerque, NM Kansas City Art Institute - Kansas City, MO
SELECTED INVITATIONAL & MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS 2014 2013 2012
“Windows to the Divine” Colorado Dominican Vocation Foundation National Invitational - Denver, CO Friends of Western Art - Artists of the Year Invitational - Amerind Museum - Dragoon, AZ David Cook Galleries - Art of the National Parks - Denver, CO Autry Center of the American West - California Art Club 101st Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition - Los Angeles, CA Saks Galleries – Small Gems - 100 Artists From Across America American Art Invitational - Denver, CO The Albuquerque Museum Foundation – Miniatures/ & More 2012 Invitational Show – Albuquerque, NM California Art Club - Monumental Miniatures III - Signature Artist Member Invitational Pasadena, CA
MUSEUM COLLECTIONS Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum – Tucson, AZ The Denver Art Museum - Denver, CO The Forbes Museum - New York, NY Genesee Museum - Mumford, NY Pioneer's Museum - Colorado Springs, CO The Tucson Art Museum - The John Goodman Collection - Tucson, AZ The University of New Mexico Fine Arts Museum - Albuquerque, NM AWARDS/HONORS 2014 2013 2013 2008 2005 2004 2003 2002 2000 2000
Windows to the Divine - Artist of the Year Award Friends of Western Art - Artist of the Year Award Mountain Oyster Club – Wieghorst Award, Members voted Best in Show Mountain Oyster Club – Wieghorst Award, Members voted Best in Show Artist-in-Residence - Big Sur Land Trust/Brazil Ranch – Big Sur, CA Music From Angel Fire Chamber Music Festival - Featured Poster Artist Carmel Plein Air Festival - Best Local Artist Carmel Plein Air Festival - Honorable Mention Carmel Plein Air Festival - co-winner Best of Show Artists of America - Master Artist Award
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AOL/Time Warner - New York, NY Banc One - Denver, CO Blockbuster Video Headquarters - Houston, TX Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher – New York, NY Guarantee Bank and Trust - Denver, CO Erivan & Helga Haub Western Art Collection – Wiesbaden, Germany FORBES Magazine – New York, NY Founders Asset Management, Inc. - Denver, CO Holland and Hart, Attys. -at-law - Denver, CO Indonesian Secretary of State Raymond James Collection - Dallas, TX R.J. Bank and Company, Inc. - Tampa, FL Texaco World Headquarters – New York, NY World Trade Center - Los Angeles, CA SPECIAL COMMISSIONS Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum - Tucson, AZ Affiliated Bank Shares of Colorado - Denver, CO AmFirst Bank – Denver, CO Bank of Ireland – Dublin, Ireland Chevron Corporation - San Francisco, CA Denver Convention Center - Denver, CO First National Bank of Colorado Springs - Colorado Springs, CO Metro Bank - Denver, CO Texaco International Headquarters - New York, NY
Surf Shine acrylic 12x12
William Cather Hook A One Man Show
Opening Reception Friday August 4, 2017 5 to 7pm __________________________________________
Meyer Gallery
225 Canyon Road Santa Fe, NM 87501 505.983.1434 800.779.7387 www.meyergalleries.com