The art world has been more than patient with the virtual viewing, Zoom openings and online purchasing. They served their purpose as they kept us home and safe. And now that the country is opening back up, the Prix de West is returning and it will remind us what we’ve been missing for more than a year. James Morgan, Flurries, oil on linen, 30 x 20”

The annual show at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City is not the first museum show to return to a full in-person event, though it certainly is one of the biggest and most glamourous. This year, beginning June 7, guests will once again stream into the Oklahoma museum’s galleries to catch a glimpse of artworks from many of the top Western artists. The celebration weekend, June 25 and 26, will look familiar to previous years, with a two-day seminar with speakers, an opening night reception, an awards presentation, a live auction and fixed-price sale, among other events. Logan Maxwell Hagege, Places Never Seen, oil on linen, 36 x 36”

C. Michael Dudash, Teller of Tales, oil on linen, 54 x 38”

Artists in this year’s show include the best of the best: William Acheff, Carrie Ballantyne, Greg Beecham, Eric Bowman, Tom Browning, George Carlson, G. Russell Case, John Coleman, Brent Cotton, Glenn Dean, Josh Elliott, Bruce Greene, Martin Grelle, Logan Maxwell Hagege, Oreland Joe, David A. Leffel, Z.S. Liang, Jeremy Lipking, Dean Mitchell, Paul Moore, James Morgan, John Moyers, Terri Kelly Moyers, Bill Nebeker, Howard Post, Kyle Polzin, R.S. Riddick, Curt Walters and many others. Presenting for his first Prix is Phoenix-based painter Ed Mell, and guest artists are Thomas Blackshear II, Huihan Liu and Roseta Santiago.

The artists represent nearly every facet of Western art, from still life and sporting art to modernism and impressionism, as well as Western landscapes, cowboys, Native American scenes, pioneers and the Old West, wildlife and much more. The artists work in oil, watercolor, acrylic, pastel, graphite, bronze and this year there is even an artist who’s working in a polymer medium. Ed Mell, Nightfall, oil on linen, 22 x 22”

Tom Browning, All Business, oil, 14 x 14”

One of the returning artists is painter C. Michael Dudash, the Idaho-based artist who paints Old West works that have a lot of depth in the storytelling. The former illustrator has spent much of his fine art career telling stories, and for this year’s Prix he brings an actual storyteller, a large oil titled Teller of Tales. “The sharing of oral history and stories in every culture has always been important, and some individuals naturally have a talent for spinning a yarn with an exceptional dramatic flair,” Dudash says. “This ‘Teller of Tales’ seems to be one such fellow as he certainly has his listeners’ full attention. And who hasn’t had a similar experience around a campfire when the dim light and dancing shadows add an extra element of excitement, mystery or suspense.”Greg Beecham, Gone Fishin’, oil on linen, 30 x 48”

Glenn Dean, Heritage, oil, 25 x 20”

Another artist keen on telling stories is Paul Moore who will be bringing his bronze-like polymer works, which are one-of-a-kind pieces that should provide some excitement during the by-draw sale. Moore, who has won numerous top awards at past Prix shows, is known for offering unique perspectives on stories of the West and this year is no different with works such as Santa Fe/The Blending of the Cultures, showing a Native American figure in a decorative nicho, and The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, showing an altar with a Catholic religious leader bound and pierced with arrows. The works (see them on Page 51) speak to an important period of New Mexico’s history. “Because of the harsh treatment of the Spanish and the Catholic church in 1680 the pueblos rose up, attacked the Spanish and drove them out of what is now known as New Mexico. They retreated to the El Paso area, eventually returning 11 years later with a much lighter and easier approach towards the pueblo people,” Moore says. “The Catholic church blended many of the natural beliefs of the Native people into their ceremonies and for over 400 years the cultures have lived together in peace. The moon and the clay on the arms represents the natural beliefs of the pueblo people and the altar represents the Spanish and the Catholic church. The altar wraps around the individual and still is a little confining.” R.S. Riddick, Once Was Lost, Now is Found, oil on canvas, 60 x 40”

George Hallmark, Tres Generaciones (Three Generations), oil on linen, 30 x 40”

George Hallmark is returning to the Prix de West with his painting Tres Generaciones (Three Generations), showing a quiet scene south of the border. “Another spring morning in Mexico and small markets like this come to life across the country,” the Texas artist says. “Even though there are grocery stores available, most locals frequent their neighborhood vendor. The produce seems to be a little fresher and, you get to visit and tell stories longer. Here, La Abuela, the grandmother, oversees the placement of items while her son runs the scale. El niño, watches and listens and will someday take over the family business.” Terri Kelly Moyers, The Soloist, oil on canvas, 30 x 40”

The show will also feature incredible work from artists like Scott Tallman Powers, whose paintings are filled with gorgeous light and luscious detail, and Jason Rich, who paints monotones and duotones that create a dramatic sense of color and composition. Mell should also delight Prix buyers. His work veers more into modern art, geometric abstraction and Southwest Modernism, than traditional Western work, and yet his Arizona-set paintings will be right at home amid the more traditional West in the show. 

Another category that should excite bidders is wildlife, which has strong offerings this year, including from Luke Frazier, John Banovich, James Morgan and Greg Beecham, who will be bringing exceptional new work, including Gone Fishin’, showing a mountain lion pouncing into a stream.Oreland Joe, Holyman Blue Birds and Buffalo, acrylic on canvas board, 24½ x 12”

Josh Elliott, Echo Cliffs, oil, 35 x 32”

Elsewhere in the exhibition and sale will be a 96-inch-wide Native American scene with dozens of figures titled Vanguard of the Northern Plains by John Moyers; a beautifully lit Morgan Weistling painting titled The Long Journey Ahead; a brand new ledger-inspired oil painting, Holyman Blue Birds and Buffalo, by Oreland Joe; and a dazzling variety of works by Tom Browning that includes cowboy paintings, landscapes and Native American scenes.

For more information about the Prix de West, including how to bid on works without attending the opening weekend, visit the museum’s website at
www.nationalcowboymuseum.org. The full exhibition continues through August 8.—

Prix de West
June 7-August 8, 2021
• Seminar, June 25-26, 10 a.m.
• Reception, June 25, 6 p.m.
• Awards presentation, June 26, noon
• Sale, live auction and closing celebration, June 26, 5:30 p.m.
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73111
(405) 478-2250, www.nationalcowboymuseum.org

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