The Masters of the American West exhibition and sale is returning to the Autry Museum of the American West on February 11 in Los Angeles. The show is a unique experience for many of the artists: except for a very select few who already live near the Pacific coast, almost the entire roster of invited artists must travel toward the sunset to get to the museum. As it was in the 1800s, so it is in 2023—all roads lead to the West.
Ezra Tucker, Undefeated, acrylic on illustration board, 30 x 20”This year’s show will feature more than 55 artists who will be bringing more than 150 artworks representing the West across many subjects, styles and mediums. The exhibition opens February 11 and continues through March 26. The key dates for collectors will be February 24 and 25, which is when the sale and other events will take place. February 24 will feature a preview event with a cocktail party, followed by an awards presentation, artist discussions, sale and soiree on February 25. This year’s artist discussions will include Ezra Tucker, Jim Wilcox, Kyle Polzin and Walter Matia speaking on the roots of Western art, and Brenda Kingery, Preston Singletary, Tony Abeyta and Brett Allen Johnson discussing where Western art is today and where it’s going. 
Brett Allen Johnson, Ladders, oil, 28 x 28”Tucker’s work—which include cowboys, wildlife and snapshots of Western history—should thrill collectors at this year’s show. In his wildlife work Undefeated, Tucker paints magnificent subjects familiar to many. “The North American bull moose is a flamboyant herbivore that inspires me to paint it in its majesty,” he says. “To observe the natural instinct of the bull moose engage in its seasonal ritual to defend its territory is an impressive event. These annual battles can be spectacular as well as brutal when two bull moose challenge each other for dominance. The most resilient of these noble skilled swashbucklers will stand strong for a season until another opponent challenges. My painting depicts the aftermath of one of these dramatic one-on-one encounters.”
Mateo Romero, Tsiping Owingeh, oil on canvas, 30 x 40”
John Moyers, Against the Mysterious Blue, oil, 24 x 24”
In his work Between Matinees, Tucker shows a unique pairing of elephants and buffalo as they might have been seen together after Buffalo Bill’s Wild West extravaganza paired up with Sells-Floto Circus in 1915.
James Morgan is returning to the Masters, this year bringing a magnificent avian scene titled White on White. “On a cold winter day, an elegant pair of trumpeter swans rest and preen on a gravel bar on the banks of an unfrozen river somewhere in the West,” Morgan says. “The flowing shapes of the swans are complemented and contrasted by the deep snow drifts and abstract patterns of the river stones. I always enjoy interpreting the effects of different light sources on snow at different times of day.”
Gladys Roldan-de-Moras, Fiesta Charra in Texas, oil, 30 x 40”Grant Redden is another returning artist. He will be showing a cowboy holding tight as his horse bucks under him in a piece titled Feeling Fresh. “The painting depicts a young cowboy trying to stay in the saddle on his horse who is ‘feeling fresh,’” he says. “Sometimes a horse will blow up for no good reason so you can never take them for granted.”
Grant Redden, Feeling Fresh, oil on linen, 28 x 36”
Eric Bowman, Luckless Hunter, oil, 30 x 34”
Eric Bowman has found tremendous success at the Masters of the American West, and this year he returns with two major new works: Luckless Hunter, showing a blanket-clad figure perched on a hill, and Morning Broken, showing a Native American rider in brilliant light raking across shadows. “Morning Broken is a cold sunrise piece depicting a Taos [man] in the foothills above his pueblo…This painting was inspired by a recent expedition to Taos in October where I attended their annual Feast Day celebration where no photography is allowed—not even a sketchbook. The blue-greens of the pines on Taos mountain make for a nice complement to the warm, red-browns of the rider’s horse,” Bowman says. “Luckless Hunter depicts a dejected Native American with his grandfather’s rifle resting atop a high desert mound. As if finding no game weren’t bad enough, a storm now heads his way while the warm, dry bluff in the distance mocks him like a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, just out of reach.”
Terri Kelly Moyers, Mission of the Swallows, oil, 40 x 30”Len Chmiel will be showing his painting On a Walk with Maizie, which depicts prickly pear cactus poking through fresh snow. The painting was discovered by an unlikely assistant for the artist. “On our way back home from Grand Junction, my golden retriever Quartermoon Mesa Breeze, aka Maizie, let me know it was time for a pit stop. She has great instinct for finding subject matter.”
Howard Post, The Section Line, oil, 24 x 36”
Eric Merrell, In the Carrizo Badlands, oil, 30 x 40”John Fawcett will be showing work in both oil and watercolor. His oil painting, Moving Day, shows a herd of horses surrounding a man in a wagon. “There are certain ranches in the West that started as land grants over 100 years ago and have grown to thousands of acres today. On the ranch depicted [in Moving Day], the history of five generations is evident in the pride of continuing the tradition of roundups and brandings. The pounding of hooves, the creaking of wagon wheels and the clinking of the trace chains are the only sounds heard on ‘moving day,’ when the remuda and supplies are moved from one area of the ranch to another,” the artist says. His watercolor work, The Dance, is a dramatic close-up of a rider and horse. “The relationship between a cowboy and his horse cannot be understated when working on a ranch. A good horse can often anticipate what the rider wishes to do beforehand when gathering and in the branding pens, making the job much easier and safer. Balance, control, fluidity and responsiveness adds to the choreography of The Dance with the horse.”
James Morgan, White on White, oil on linen, 24 x 30”
John Fawcett, The Dance, watercolor, 20 x 26”
The Masters is the hometown show for painter Eric Merrell, who lives in the Los Angeles area. For his work In the Carrizo Badlands, he paints desert cliffs and canyons under dramatic light. “While out camping we make day trips, sometimes by vehicle, sometimes on hiking trails,” he says. “I always carry a sketchbook and a set of colored pencils to make notes about potential ideas, searching for colors and shapes. You never know what you might encounter around the next bend in the canyon—the green of an oasis, a skeleton or even a partially buried Viking ship.”
Len Chmiel, On a Walk with Maizie, oil, 20 x 26”
Other artists in this year’s show include Bill Anton, Bill Nebeker, Billy Schenck, Brett Allen Johnson, Dean Mitchell, G. Russell Case, John Moyers, Terri Kelly Moyers and many others. —
Masters of the American West
February 11-March 26, 2023; art sale, Feb. 25, 2023
Autry Museum of the American West, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 667-2000, www.theautry.org/masters
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