A Bygone Era

Collector's Focus: Western Frontier

By John O’Hern

Currier and Ives published a hand-colored lithograph of Frances Flora Bond Palmer’s painting Across the Continent: “Westward the Course of Empire Takes its Way” in 1868, the year before the “golden spike” completed the last link in the transcontinental railroad. The subtitle is taken from the title of a 20-by-30-foot mural by Emanuel Leutze in the U.S. Capitol extolling the virtues of Manifest Destiny—the 19th century concept that the United States was destined to expand democracy and capitalism across the North American continent. Leutze painted the far-better-known Washington Crossing the Delaware now at the Met in New York.Southwest Gallery, A Wet Windy Day, oil on canvas, 30 x 40", by Joe Rader Roberts (1925-1982).

Palmer (1812-1876) divides her composition with a long diagonal occupied by train tracks with “civilization” on the left and “the wild” on the right. The lithographs were hand-colored with watercolor and vary from image to image. This print from the National Gallery of Art portrays the train cars in a brick red with thick, dark gray smoke obscuring the view of the lands and herds of buffalo from the mounted Native Americans on the right. The print at the Gilcrease Museum depicts the train cars in bright yellow with a less toxic cloud of smoke approaching the Indians. The Crocker Art Museum’s print is barely colored at all.

Joe Rader Roberts (1925-1982) depicts an earlier time in his painting A Wet Windy Day. He was the official Texas State Artist from 1974 to 1975, famed for his narrative paintings of the historical West. A driver maneuvers his wind-whipped wagon in a rainstorm, carrying supplies for the cowboys who are driving cattle across the prairie to a train depot where the cattle would be transported to slaughterhouses in the east. As the railroad expanded, depots multiplied, and drives became shorter. Roberts depicts the edge of the torrential rain that has accumulated on the ground as sunlight has begun to break through the clouds.Top: Victor Blakey, Riding Point, oil on canvas, 36 x 24”; National Gallery of Art, Across the Continent: “Westward the Course of Empire Takes its Way”, 1868, hand-colored lithograph, with touches of gum arabic, on wove paper, 17½ x 27 3/16”, by Frances Flora Bond Palmer (1812-1876). Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon. Bottom: Legacy Gallery, At Home In the Mountains, oil, 20 x 14”, by Michael Coleman; Legacy Gallery, Frontier Comforts, oil, 22 x 28”, by Karin Hollebeke; Victor Blakey, Reflections, oil on canvas, 28 x 22”

Victor Blakey comments on his painting Riding Point: “The point man, also called the point rider or lead rider, is the cowboy who rides near the front of the herd—determining the direction, controlling the speed and giving the cattle something to follow. Larger herds sometimes necessitate the use of two-point men. An honored position on the drive, this job is reserved for more experienced hands who know the country through which they are traveling.” His grizzled rider gazes intently into the distance, constantly making decisions. In all of his paintings of the characters of the West, Blakey shows great attention to detail. In this painting, he displays the trappings crucial to the cowboy’s life from his lasso to his gun and the elaborate leather cuffs that protect the cuffs of his expensive store-bought shirt and his wrists from rope burns.

Throughout the pages of this special section, collectors can journey through time to explore even more depictions of the vast and storied history of the Western Frontier.Tehachapi Arts Commission, A Morning To Give Thanks, pastel, 20 x 16", by Joe Mancuso.

For Blakey, capturing the history and the spirit of the West is everything. His artwork and his approach is about authenticity. “The settling of the American frontier is one of the most significant events in the history of the world,” he says. “Brave men and women had to cross vast distances, endure punishing weather and hostile tribes, in order to make their dreams of a better life come true. It is their remarkable courage that inspires me to paint Western art.” The artist says he feels that portraiture is the best way to capture the lives and personalities of these pioneers. “I try to represent the rugged individual, the fighter and the hero. It is my hope that the viewer will create questions in his or her mind about the characters in my paintings. The importance of these heroes of history cannot be overstated.”Victor Blakey, Looking for Water, oil on canvas, 30 x 40"

Legacy Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona, represents a robust group of more than 100 nationally recognized artists, among them Michael Coleman, C. Michael Dudash and Karin Hollebeke. “The tales of the Western Frontier consist of adventure, danger, discoveries and fresh starts. The history is so intriguing it’s not hard to see why so many artists take up interest in this subject matter. They are able to create a glimpse back in time, a vision of American history,” the gallery notes. “Luckily for us, the ones who have chosen to do so provide us with incredible artwork that will keep the history of the Western frontier alive.”J Watson Fine Art, Near the Yellowstone, oil on canvas, 12 x 16", by Nicholas Coleman.Represented by the Tehachapi Arts Commission, California-based artist Joe Mancuso paints sprawling, bucolic scenes of green meadows and rough-and-tumble structures from bygone eras. In his pastel Journey’s End, a rough path cuts through an overgrown field, leading to an old weathered barn. “This barn is a fixture in a high country meadow in the eastern Sierra of California. For years I was curious about it and eventually learned it was used by local sheep herders. I, however, still like to imagine it was the last stop after a long and perhaps difficult journey. An old homestead from bygone days,” Mancuso says. Another recent painting, Mountain Shadows, came about after spending time in California’s Tehachapi mountains after a spring rain. “Watching the changing light with the passing clouds awakened the desire to share the experience through a pastel painting,” he says.

J Watson Fine Art, in Valencia, California, specializes in original paintings of a variety of subject matter, with a significant focus on Western art. Collectors will find an array of new works of art at the gallery featuring Western frontier scenes, including works by esteemed artists Nicholas Coleman, Morgan Weistling and JoAnn Peralta. Top: Legacy Gallery, Black Robe – Fr. John Pierre Desmet, oil, 40 x 58”, by C. Michael Dudash; Tehachapi Arts Commission, Mountain Shadows, pastel, 9 x 12”, by Joe Mancuso. Bottom: Tehachapi Arts Commission, Journey’s End, pastel, 16 x 20”, by Joe Mancuso; J Watson Fine Art, Brittany, oil on canvas, 7 x 5”, by Morgan Weistling; J Watson Fine Art, Stagecoach of the Rio Grande, 1865, oil on canvas, 20 x 24”, by JoAnn Peralta.“In my studying and reading about the West, I try to imagine what it must have been like to be one of the first explorers of the Lewis and Clark Expedition into the West, and especially Yellowstone,” Coleman says of the inspiration behind his oil, Near the Yellowstone. Commenting on his portrait, Brittany, Weistling says, “I have always painted the time period known as the Old West and the days of the American pioneers, from cowboys to the domestic life of early settlers. This is my daughter Brittany, age 5 here when she posed, depicting an early pioneer girl, and this led to a larger painting, The Dance, which won my first Prix de West award.” Peralta depicts the quintessential American stagecoach in Stagecoach of the Rio Grande, 1865. “My passion and love for the Western genre led me to depict the stagecoach with its team of horses, and brave men and women who chartered unknown territories in search of a better tomorrow so we could be here today,” she says. “As an American, and grateful for the history that enabled us to enjoy our freedoms…I sometimes see myself as a historian in the various captures of people across our expansive land.” —