Now painting the things that accompanied those memories of yesteryear—ephemera like Western pulp magazines, old-school lunchboxes and Western movie posters—Robert Rodriguez spent most of his life as an illustrator, and is responsible for the Cowboys of the Silver Screen series of postage stamps, Willie Nelson’s album cover for A Horse Called Music, the movie poster for City Slickers II, the Gatlin Bros. album cover for Alive and Well and Livin’ in the Land of Dreams, as well as many movie posters, and several Broadway theater posters.
Rodeo Queen, oil on canvas, 26 x 28"
Rodriguez doesn’t paint the Old West as it was; he is more focused on the West as a part of American mythology. As far back as the late 1800s, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West shows tried to bring eastern audiences a vision of a West that was passing away even then. “That romantic idea of the West still lives in our core as a people, and it is more than wide open spaces, mesas and roundups,” says Rodriguez. “The West, in art, has always been a nostalgic dream that can be molded to fill whatever we need. It is constantly changing to fit the times; though it is nostalgia, it is always new! I paint the West that inspired my dreams growing up, that haven’t ever left me—the West of the imagination.”
Yellow Rose, oil on canvas, 20½ x 28"
Sagebrush Sagas, oil on canvas, 30 x 20"
The artist will have a painting in The Russell in Great Falls, Montana. The work is Arapaho Warbonnet and it will be Lot 161 during Saturday’s live auction. He will also have a booth at the Russell artist suites at the fairgrounds. The show runs from August 17 to 21. He will also have three paintings in the fall group show at InSight Gallery in Fredericksburg, Texas, from September 2 to 23, as well as three paintings at the Museum of Western Art in Kerrville, Texas, at the 39th annual Roundup Exhibition & Sale from September 22 to 24. —
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Represented by Cottonwood Gallery
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