On February 19 the Booth Western Art Museum will honor H. David Wright by presenting him with its Artist of Excellence Award. As the Booth’s executive director, I am excited to add David to the list of great artists we have honored, including Howard Terpning, Ken Riley, G. Harvey, Glenna Goodacre and Ed Dwight. We consider David to be one of the most consistently excellent history painters working today, yet many collectors are not that aware of his work. We look forward to both honoring him and bringing more attention to his art.
Up the South Slope, 1982, casein on panel, 26 x 36”. From the Collection of the Booth Western Art Museum, Cartersville, GA.
H. David Wright on his studio porch in Tennessee.For many years David mainly painted private commissions for discerning collectors who admired his painting style, historical accuracy and attention to detail. However, this meant his work was generally not seen in museum shows, at auctions or galleries, nor in the pages of art magazines like Western Art Collector. In fact, the initial difficulty the Booth Museum staff had finding out about David and his work was one of the things that prompted him to consciously try to become more visible in the early 2000s.
He was selected for inclusion in the newly formed Quest for the West show and sale at the Eiteljorg Museum, and promptly won the Purchase Award in the second year of the event. David has won several other awards at that show and sale since, and three years ago the Eiteljorg mounted a retrospective exhibition of his work.
Gateway to the West — Daniel Boone Leading the Settlers Through the Cumberland Gap, 1775, 2002, oil on canvas, 36 x 48”
Honored Warrior, 2018, oil on board, 10 x 8”
Receiving the Booth Museum award is just the latest chapter in a more than 20-year relationship between the artist and the institution. Even before the Booth Museum opened its doors in 2003, David had visited the museum’s temporary offices and checked out the founding collection. He was pleased to find his painting Up the South Slope in the collection but wasn’t at all surprised to find that it was mislabeled by the gallery that had sold it to the museum’s anonymous founder. The tag on the back said oil on canvas, however David set the record straight, letting the museum staff know that much of his early work like this one was done in casein, a milk-based medium. Living in Gallatin, Tennessee, he was one of the few Southern artists in the founding collection. (The museum has since acquired works by several Georgia artists.) He was also one of the first artists to present a lecture on his artwork at the Booth, only months after opening day.
Born in Kentucky in 1942 and raised in Tennessee, David was professionally trained as an artist with study in Europe. He entered the competitive field of commercial art, working as an illustrator and designer from 1962 to 1978. This period was only interrupted by a two-year stint in the U.S. Army, including a year as an advisor with MACV (Military Assistance Command Vietnam) in Vietnam in 1964 and ’65. Throughout his time as an illustrator and even in his Army years, David painted landscapes and historical scenes in his spare time. Artwork he created while in Vietnam was the subject of an exhibition at a Nashville area museum in 2021.
A Moment Away, 2013, oil on panel, 34 x 24”
Silent Journey, 2010, oil on panel, 12 x 16”
Beginning in 1973, David began selling limited-edition prints of his paintings through Graystone Press, operated by his brother Joe Wright. The 1976 release of his first mountain man print proved so successful he adopted the genre as one of his major subjects. Continued success with subsequent print releases also allowed him to quit commercial work and paint full time. Later he began a series focused on important leaders in the Civil War, which was also quite popular. He and fellow artists John Buxton and Robert Griffing found there was enough interest among collectors in the story of the Native Americans living east of the Mississippi that they could afford to put the time into researching these tribes and painting their history as well.
While history is the overriding element in his work, David generally focuses his attention on the individuals involved rather than portraying the whole event. ”I paint the people, rather than the events, who made history, the common folk—those I feel are the heroes,” says Wright. “The explorers, the hunters, trappers, settlers, the soldiers and the Indians are the subjects of my paintings.”
Over the years, his ability to conduct research, distill a complex idea down to an understandable image and work under deadline pressure has allowed him to win a number of important commissions. These include the official paintings for the bicentennial of Nashville and the Fine Arts Pavilion at the 1982 World’s Fair held in Knoxville, Tennessee. He also created a major painting of Daniel Boone leading settlers west that is the focal point of the new Cumberland Gap Visitor’s Center. In describing his painting Up the South Slope, hanging in the Booth permanent collection, Wright says, “It depicts the hardship and determination of a rugged frontiersman and his horse arduously ascending the snow-capped Rockies.”
Colonel Crockett’s Last Serenade — The Alamo, March 1, 1836, oil on panel, 48 x 60”
The Calling, 2015, oil on panel, 8½ x 12½"
His paintings have been used as covers for a number of history books and magazines, while his writings have appeared in many publications and several books on the American Fur Trade. Another acknowledgement of his research abilities and the respect he has earned in the historical community, is the number of times Wright has been called upon to serve as artistic director or technical consultant for historical films, television programs for the History Channel or museum orientation films. He has also worked on the set of major films such as The Last of the Mohicans and The Patriot.
The Booth Museum today holds in its collection four David Wright paintings, two in its Western permanent galleries and two in its Civil War gallery.
Why are we honoring H. David Wright at this time? We are honoring him for the excellent artwork he has created during his 40-plus year career in fine art, but also for other qualities that make him a great person. He is a consummate Southern gentleman, a meticulous historical researcher, and very generous with his time in helping other artists do research or even loaning them reference artifacts from his studio. He shows the same determination to making great art as his mountain man in Up the South Slope. —
For the Love of Art Gala & Art Auction
February 19, 2022
Booth Western Art Museum, 501 Museum Drive, Cartersville, GA 30120
(770) 387-1300, www.boothmuseum.org
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