Some of the rising stars of Western art were the big winners at the Prix de West at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. The opening weekend, held June 7 and 8, was well attended and supported, with sales totaling more than $3 million.
History was made when Thomas Blackshear II won the Prix de West Purchase Award for his work A Much Needed Break. Blackshear is the first black artist to win the top prize at the show, which has been held for 52 years. During his speech, Blackshear told the story of the piece and how he painted a woman from his church. Her image had come from a reference photo shot many years earlier, and Blackshear has lost touch with her. “Someone needs to find her to let her know her face is in a museum,” he told the crowd.
Thomas Blackshear II stands in front of his work A Much Needed Break, which won the Prix de West Purchase Award.
Blackshear, who was showing at his fourth Prix de West, was joined by other up-and-coming award winners, including Abigail Gutting, who won the Great American Cowboy Award, and Dan Friday, who won the James Earle Fraser Sculpture award. Gutting and Friday were both showing at their first Prix de West. Others who took home gold medals were Kyle Sims, who won the Wildlife Award; Joel Johnson won the Donald Teague Memorial Award for a work on paper; Grant Redden won the Wilson Hurley Memorial Award for landscape; T. Allen Lawson won the Frederic Remington Painting Award; and Dan Smith won the Buyers’ Choice Award. George Carlson also had a big night, winning not only the Robert Lougheed Memorial Award for his entire presentation of new art, but also the Lifetime Achievement Award.
George Carlson speaks after winning the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Finally, in a moving moment at the Saturday night gala, Dean Mitchell was presented the Director’s Choice Award for his painting titled Why, which focused on the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Mitchell, overcome with emotion, thanked the museum for allowing him to shine a light on a tragic moment in Oklahoma history.
Across the museum, at the sale portion, a number of artists performed extremely well, including Blackshear, Scott Burdick, Tim Cherry, Eric Bowman, John Coleman, Josh Elliott, Martin Grelle, Oreland Joe, Susan Lyon, Andrew Peters, Gladys Roldan-de-Moras and Curt Walters.
The exhibition will remain on view through August 4. —
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