Martin Grelle has one of the storied careers in Western art: Born in Texas amid humble beginnings. Inspired by artists like Melvin Warren and mentored by the great James Boren. Cowboy Artists of America member in 1995. Auction records at every turn, including his current record of $575,000. A hit show in 2017 that produced $1.7 million in sales. Collected at the highest level of Western art. Awards and gold medals from all the top shows. Fame and fortune, and then more fame and more fortune.
So what’s next? For Grelle, the answer is the same as when he started painting: “There are still more stories to be told,” he says.
The Run, oil on linen, 44 x 58”
“That’s what I’ve been focusing on is storytelling. There are great stories everywhere, you just have to find them,” he says from his studio in Clifton, Texas. “For me, it all comes down to strength and honor. The Native Americans I paint were all about strength and honor, but also about compassion, even if they were living in times of violence or fighting. There was order in their lives, from the interactions between men and women, to children and grown-ups—it is all very interesting to me, and very admirable. These were times of horrible conflict, but they responded to it exceptionally, even amid toil and hardship.”
Cheyenne Sewing Class, oil and acrylic on linen, 42 x 42”
His stories of strength and honor will be presented in a major new show opening October 30 at Legacy Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona. Titled For the Love of the West, it will be the first major follow-up since his monumental solo show at Legacy in 2017. That sold-out event, the one that brought in $1.7 million in sales and further cemented Grelle’s place at the top of Western art, allowed the artist to tell stories across 20 paintings—most people at that time had only ever seen three or four new Grelle works in the same room at the same time. For the Love of the West will again offer as many as 20 works, including a number of pieces that took the artist in exciting directions.
One of the new works is Tales of Glories Past, a 60-inch-wide scene set inside a teepee with four Native American men recounting events from their lives. The central figure, an older man who is proudly recounting an adventure from his youth or possibly even a story from battle, is composed within the scene to give him prominence, even reverence.
Tales of Glories Past, oil on linen, 38 x 60”
“I had the idea for years and years, particularly the idea of an older fellow telling a story to the younger guys while he held up his bow,” Grelle says of the work. “I’ve had the idea for so long that the original photoshoot took place in 2009. For whatever reason I couldn’t get it to a point I was happy with. Finally, I really worked out some issues with the positions of the hands and legs, where they’re sitting in relation to each other and then the lighting, and it slowly started to lock down in my head. That was all before I ever started painting it. Once it was all planned out, the rest came together.”
Most of Grelle’s works are set outdoors, which makes Tales of Glories Past even more unique for the artist. The interior setting allowed him to have some fun with the light. “I really wanted that feeling of warmth, particularly because of the luminosity of the lodge and the light that was coming through. That feeling of warmth is what helps me tell this story with these figures,” he says. “It was also fun to fill the painting with these objects as they are stored near the figures. It was important, though, that the main figure was sort of segregated from everything—you have to see him first because he commands all the attention.”
The Gifts of Summer, oil on linen, 24 x 46”
Another major work in the new show is The Run, showing a horse and rider during a buffalo hunt. The painting works as an action scene, but also a magnificent landscape with Wyoming’s Wind River Range filling the background. For perceptive viewers, the mountains play a larger role in the painting than just as background filler. “If you trace your finger across the back of the buffalo entering the painting on the left, across the back of the horse and over to the other two buffalo, the line you trace follows the contour of the mountains. I love these ideas of repetition, and even broken repetition,” Grelle says. Another element of the painting that might catch sharp eyes is the long braided rope that is tied around the horse. These long ropes can be seen as far back as George Catlin and Alfred Jacob Miller paintings from the 1800s. “I had read passages about these ropes and I just thought they were really cool. Some were as long as 25 feet trailing behind the horse, while others were smaller. They were there in case the rider was dismounted from his horse. The long rope made it easier to catch it again,” Grelle says. “Of course, the reality of riding into a buffalo hunt with that much rope dangling behind you must have been interesting because there is a high chance it would get stepped on or tangled. It was all dangerous, but everything served a purpose.”
Remembrance, oil and acrylic on linen, 42 x 40”
Warrior’s Horse, acrylic and oil on linen, 24 x 14”
Elsewhere in the show, Grelle will be showing a number of images of women and children, including the powerful 42-by-40-inch Remembrance, showing a single figure holding a buffalo robe bearing the stories of previous battles; The Umbrella Keeper, with a young girl who has been asked to hold an umbrella while a camp is being organized after a move; and Cheyenne Sewing Class, a quiet scene of two girls, one fast asleep, with a maternal figure. “Cheyenne Sewing Class has a lot going on, including different colors and patterns. It took a long time to paint this one because I wanted it painted fairly loosely, especially the rocks and things behind them that I wanted to fade back around them,” he says. “And getting her hands to read correctly was challenging. I wanted you to feel the ruggedness of her hands—she wouldn’t have had delicate or dainty hands.”
Signals in the Night, oil on linen, 40 x 32”
In addition to a farming image, The Gifts of Summer, which calls back to Grelle’s early days of painting ranching and cowboy scenes, he explores some new territory with Warrior’s Horse, which is essentially a formal portrait of a horse, and Signals in the Night, a rare nocturne that has some exciting areas of paint where flickering flames cut through the softness of the moonlight.
Blackfoot Passage Seekers, oil on linen, 48 x 60”
The artist has had plenty of time to experiment and plan these paintings over the last several years, in part because of the pandemic and its effects on the exhibition schedules, but also because the 2017 show was a pivotal moment that came with some much-needed rewards, including some time off. Grelle and his wife, Joyce, went to visit friends in Maine, where he painted on the beach (a Grelle seascape!!!); he did some work on his home and studio in Texas; and he participated in the occasional museum exhibition and the annual CA show, but otherwise he’s had plenty of time to gather his thoughts for this new show, but also his career as a whole.
Martin Grelle in his Texas studio with Tales of Glories Past on the easel.
“I’ve been blessed with a career in which amazing things have happened to me. I am so thankful. I start with a prayer every day, and I pray that God can help me be the best I can be. I want to do this as long as I can, but want to do it well. I want to keep doing work that honors the people I paint, but also honors the people who purchase my work,” he says. “I will always put my heart and soul into every piece, and I’ll always push myself—that is who I am.” —
Martin Grelle: For the Love of the West
October 30-November 7, 2021
Discussion: “Art the Way I See It,” Oct. 30, 10 a.m.
Reception & Sale: Oct. 30, 6 p.m.
Legacy Gallery
7178 Main Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85251
(480) 945-1113, www.legacygallery.com
Powered by Froala Editor
