Montana artist R. Tom Gilleon never shared this world with Charles M. Russell, who died decades before he was born, and yet the two painters have intersected in fascinating ways. One intersection is Gilleon’s own ranch on the banks of the Missouri River, which hosted Russell numerous times during his lifetime.
Lantern Light, oil on canvas, 36 x 36 in.Gilleon paints another connection in Winter Haywagon, one of his newest pieces. “Winter Haywagon is my tribute to Charlie Russell and his close friend William Taylor. They shared the same birthday on March 19, 1864, and died in the same year 100 years ago in 1926. Russell wintered his horse at Taylor’s ranch outside Cascade, Montana, which I now own, in the same barn I kept my horses. I imagine Russell and Taylor working cattle together, using this haywagon to bring in the hay harvest or hitching up horses to feed the cattle in winter,” Gilleon says. “It now sits in front of my home. On the other side of that hill in the background is the looming presence of Fort Mountain, the square butte that Lewis and Clark named, and which Russell rode his horse to and painted many times. I feel Russell’s energy here, walking in his footsteps, saddling up my horse in the same barn he did, riding the same cedar fence posts, and up that same hill to set up my easel where he did. The haywagon was such an important tool of ranching and Montana culture. Living with this historic artifact connects me with Russell and Taylor every day.”
Going to the Sun, oil on canvas, 60 x 60 in.
Winged Messengers, oil on canvas, 30 x 24 in.
The impressive new painting, along with five other pieces, will be part of a new show opening June 4 at Cassens Fine Art in Hamilton, Montana. Although Gilleon has presented new work at the gallery, the show is his first solo exhibition at the art venue. “This show features never-before-seen pieces from Gilleon. For collectors who follow his work, that is a significant opportunity. For someone encountering him for the first time, there is no better place to do it than right here in Montana,” says Michelle Cassens, director and curator at the gallery. “Tom Gilleon grew up sketching by kerosene lamp. He illustrated for NASA before Disney employed him to paint concept designs for theme parks on four continents. When he turned that discipline toward fine art, he brought all of it with him. He approaches every canvas as if it might be the last one he ever paints. You can feel that in his work. This June, he’s coming to Hamilton at Cassens Fine Art.”
Glacier Moon, oil on canvas, 50 x 40 in.
Gilleon is a legend in Western art, but also in larger American art circles, thanks to his work for NASA, Disney and Hollywood. Some of that earlier work, much of it rarely seen publicly, was in a recent exhibition devoted to the artist at Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West in Arizona. After leaving the world of illustration and concept design to focus on the American West, Gilleon turned his attention to thoughtful and peaceful images that spoke to the mythic qualities of the people and places that call the West home.
Yellowstone Take Out, oil on canvas, 18 x 20 in.
One of the pieces in the show is Lantern Light, which is an tonalist snow scene that offers a counterpoint to Gilleon’s bright teepee paintings. He admits that when he first painted it he went too far and laid down too much paint. “You get excited about all that gorgeous detail. That temptation to overpaint it is always there, so I went back and brought it back to where it is now,” he says. “If you look closely you can see the haywagon behind the barn.”
Winter Haywagon, oil on canvas, 20 x 20 in.
Sunset on the Red Man, oil on canvas, 22 x 28 in.
In another work, Going to the Sun, the Montana artist paints a Native American subject with wings. “Going to the Sun is an ode to Montana’s famous Glacier National Park and Tom’s connection to the Blackfeet tribe,” the gallery notes. “It is named after the prominent peak in the park, Going to the Sun Mountain. When viewed from the west, the snowfields on the mountainside are said to outline the face of the mountain spirit ascending to the sun after teaching people the basics of hunting.”
Of course, no Gilleon show would be complete without his iconic teepee paintings, and there will be at least four of them, including Winged Messengers, which features a pleasing series of diagonal lines that run through the composition.
The show opens on June 4, with a reception on June 5, from 5 to 7 p.m. —
Cassens Fine Art 215 W. Main Street » Hamilton, MT 59840 » (406) 363-4112 » www.cassensfineart.com
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