Gary Carter was ready to start successful career in illustration, but then fate intervened when he was offered a chance to present his work in a Southern Arizona gallery. The show was a hit, and 33-year-old Carter quickly abandoned illustration to take up fine art instead. The move was the start of a long and acclaimed career that would span throughout Western art. Carter, whose worked touched several generations of art collectors, died January 31. He was 85 years old.
Gary Carter in his studio.
Although he spent much of his career in Montana, Carter was originally from Hutchinson, Kansas. “My family started migrating during the Cherokee Strip land rush and settled in with the Kiowa. My folks started their migrating not too long after I made my debut. Seems like I’ve been rambling ever since,” he said. “I have spent many of the happiest hours of my life packing with my father in search of another Kansan. The dreams and memories of their West have filled my mind with paintings.”
After high school, Carter trained missile crews in the Army and then later attended the Art Center College of Design in Southern California. After he graduated, he spent a brief period in illustration before turning to the American West. He settled in Montana with an Australian shepherd named Patches and cow horse named Amos Moses. In 1982 he was voted into the Cowboy Artists of America, a group that he would eventually lead as president. He became an emeritus member in 2016, one year after the group’s 50th anniversary.
In the Land of Brimstone and Ice – Yellowstone 1885, 2015, oil on linen, 32 x 54 in.
His work, often realistic and historically accurate, is in many great private and public collections around the country. “Gary’s great gift of seeing the beauty in life and capturing it on canvas is a beautiful legacy passed down to his children, granddaughters, nephews and nieces,” his family wrote after his passing. “His wit, wry smiles, laughter [and] affectionate nicknames made time spent with this beloved man unforgettable. He will be missed most of all by his dear wife and family.”
An obituary online noted Carter died after succumbing to Alzheimer’s. His family asked donations be sent to the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation (www.alzinfo.org). —
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