Smack in the middle of the year—and in the middle of the country—is the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum’s Prix de West. The grand event, featuring nearly 100 artists, is widely considered the most important gathering for Western art in the country.
This year’s show opens May 31 and continues through August 4, but collectors will want to mark their calendars for June 7 and 8, when the museum will roll out the red carpet for the artists and their fans during the sale weekend. Festivities begin with a presentation on Donald Teague’s Western illustrations led by Scott Gale, Teague’s grandson, on June 7. That will be followed by a seminar by T. Allen Lawson and then one by John Coleman. On June 8, Walter Matia will offer a seminar while Daniel J. Keys and Huihan Liu will present separate art demos. Additionally, there will be receptions, a Saturday luncheon and awards ceremony, and the Saturday night sale.
Thomas Blackshear II, A Much Needed Break, oil on canvas, 36 x 31 in.George Carlson will be honored at this year’s show with the museum’s Lifetime Achievement Award. It arrives on a milestone for the artist, who will be celebrating his 40th Prix de West.
Other artists at this year’s show include Eric Bowman, G. Russell Case, Glenn Dean, Carrie Ballantyne, Bruce Greene, Martin Grelle, Logan Maxwell Hagege, Oreland Joe, Steve Kestrel, Z.S. Liang, Jeremy Lipking, Dean Mitchell, John and Terri Kelly Moyers, Kyle Polzin, Howard Post, Sherrie McGraw, Grant Redden, R.S. Riddick, Matt Smith, Sandy Scott and many others. New artists to this year’s show are Tony Abeyta, Dan Friday, Abigail Gutting, Brett Allen Johnson, Jerry Jordan, Mary Whyte and Kim Wiggins.
Huihan Liu will be showing several works with Native American subjects, including his work Winter Song.“The piece was inspired by my trip to Rancho de Taos in New Mexico,” he says. “I experienced the severe winter weather on a snowy day when I walked on the muddy road up the mountain…I was happy to catch the last dramatic light on the figure while he was singing.”
Brett Allen Johnson, Mountains and Clouds, oil, 38 x 30 in.Returning artist James Morgan will be bringing Riding the North Wind, showing a painting of swans in flight. “Tundra swans are magnificent long-distance travelers. These birds have found a favorable tail wind and are emerging from the threatening skies of an Autumn stormfront to continue their annual, uncertain journey,” he says of his subjects. “One of my favorite things to interpret are the effects of sunlight on white.”
Kyle Sims, Survival of the Fittest, oil, 36 x 60 in.
C. Michael Dudash also painted birds, though in a much different setting for Flight of the Dove. “I will sometimes create a work that springs from my imagination that is less narrative than my usual work. Flight of the Dove is just such a painting. Though realistic in its rendering, the chances of a Native woman on a horse, surrounded by a flock of doves in the latter day’s light would be a bit rare.”
Josh Elliott, Otherworld, oil, 28 x 30 in.
Tim Cherry, Shade Tree, bronze, 21 x 34 x 4 in.
Tom Browning turns to Native American subjects for his work Winter Chill,showing a camp made in a clearing within a frigid landscape. “Although the opening that was chosen for a camp provides warmth from the morning sun, the cold, heavy snow from the night before blankets everything including areas normally protected by the trees,” Browning says of the painting. “The chill of winter has set in.” Browning’s other pieces are cowboy-themed images with horses.
Morgan Weistling, Teddy Roosevelt and His Elkhorn Riders, 1884, oil on canvas, 20 x 50 in.
Josh Elliott will be showing a major new work that is already generating interest from collectors. The painting, Otherworld, shows a famous peak in Monument Valley in Arizona. “I painted a small, quick study of Agathla Peak one November night under a full moon. This study was the inspiration for Otherworld,” Elliott says. “While painting in the Navajo Nation, a sovereign nation, I was aware and respectful of the fact that I am a visitor. With their own laws and customs, we are separated, at the same time we are all on this same planet, floating in space, orbited by the moon. The title refers not only to the idea that earth could be one of many worlds in the universe, with the moon representing what is beyond our knowing, but also to the fact that there are different ways of living, or knowing, even within our own country, our place on this world. It was a lot to wrap my head around, but I enjoyed putting it all together in this painting.”
Top: James Morgan, Riding the North Wind, oil on linen, 24 x 30 in.; Gladys Roldan-de-Moras, Arreos, oil on linen, 30 x 24 in.. Bottom: Mary Whyte, Pan Head, watercolor, 20 x 26 in.; Brent Cotton, Down the Backroad, oil on board, 32 x 40 in.
Kim Wiggins is presenting Autumn in the High Country, an image done in his distinctly modernist style that shows an elk, fall color and purple mountains. “Modernism in its purest form is developed through experimentation and has its foundation in abstract design and color. As a Western modernist, I’ve sought to develop highly saturated works with manipulated lines of linear distortion evoking a sense of emotional intensity at times bordering on the surreal,” Wiggins says. “My feature work, Autumn in the High Country, balances the beauty of nature through geometric divisions in an almost stained-glass approach. This painting is an allegory of autumn.”
Eric Bowman, The Low Road, oil, 30 x 30 in.
C. Michael Dudash, Flight of the Dove, oil on linen, 50 x 34 in.
Coming from Texas to the Oklahoma show is Gladys Roldan-de-Moras, whose star has quickly risen in the art world. The artist shows works about Mexican culture, and sometimes filtered through Texas and its rich history. In Arreos, she paints a woman and her horse. “In the quiet of early morning, an escaramuza dressed in traditional adelita attire readies herself for the day’s ride to the lienzo,” Roldan-de-Moras says. “Surrounded by hay and the old stable, the scene captures a fresh start. This painting highlights the special connection between the escaramuza and her horse as she gently prepares the harness. It’s a moment of quiet anticipation, reflecting the deep bond and shared excitement for the day ahead.”
Glenn Dean, Western Romance, oil, 24 x 24 in.
Prix de West will remain on view through August 4. —
Prix de West
May 31-August 4, 2024
Art Sale Weekend, June 7-8
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
1700 Northeast 63rd Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73111
(405) 478-2250 www.nationalcowboymuseum.org
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