December 18, 2021-March 6, 2022 | Desert Caballeros Western Museum | Wickenburg, AZ

Back on the Trail

After Covid forced an exhibition cancelation, Bill Anton is back at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum.

Exhibitions take a long time to set up and organize. There are curators tirelessly working right now on shows that won’t be viewable until 2023 or even 2024. At museums, progress isn’t gauged in weeks and months, but years.

So when a major Bill Anton exhibition and retrospective was announced early in 2020, no one could have foreseen something called Covid wrecking every museum’s exhibition schedule. The museum held out hope through the spring and summer of 2020, but by the fall the writing was on the wall—the winter exhibition would have to wait.Passing Shadows, oil on canvas, 40 x 48”. Desert Caballeros Western Museum Collection, museum purchase.

Now a year later, Bill Anton Paints the West is ready to open at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, Arizona. Not only will the exhibition be on view, from December 18 to March 6, 2022, but the heART of the West Gala, which was also cancelled in 2021, is returning on January 15, 2022. Anton, who is one of Arizona’s most prominent and respected Western painters, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the gala.Morning Glory, oil on canvas, 32 x 48”. Private collection.

“At the time, I remember the museum asked me if I wanted to do a virtual exhibition, but I had a belly full of virtual exhibitions at that point, so I asked if they could put it off a year until we could all see each other in person,” Anton recalls. “They seemed to be on the same page, and I’m grateful. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone.”

Though Anton is receiving a major award and recognition of his career, he won’t be dwelling too much on the honor or what it may mean. “I have a workman mentality. I’m constantly in the studio trying to make things work, trying to make paintings better. Certainly this is a big milestone, and I’m honored, but there is little desire on my part for self congratulations,” Anton says. “Everything I do is a work in progress, and in many way’s I’m still a student and I’ve always been a student.”Incoming Tide, oil on canvas, 40 x 48”. Private collection.

Anton, who owns horse and rides almost daily, will be showing some of his iconic cowboy images that speak to the beauty of the West, as well as the ruggedness of the people who live in it. Works include major examples from his studio, including Passing Shadows, which shows horses and a ride silhouetted against desert cliffs, and Incoming Tide, a rare horse scene set on the Pacific Coast.Road Hazard, oil on canvas, 36 x 30”. Private collection.Anton joins an exciting roster of artists who have received the museum’s Lifetime Achievement Award, including fellow Arizona artists John Coleman and Ed Mell. —

Bill Anton Paints the West
December 18, 2021- March 6, 2022
heART of the West Gala, Jan. 15, 2022, 6-9 p.m.
Desert Caballeros Western Museum, 21 North Frontier Street, Wickenburg, AZ 85390
(928) 684-2272, www.westernmuseum.org