Walter Ufer (1876-1936), Hunger, 1919, oil on canvas, 50½ x 50 ½ in. Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK. 17489.

It was the time of the Santa Fe Railroad, Fred Harvey and his Harvey Houses, trading posts in dusty out-of-the-way destinations and East Coast newspapers that devoted enormous amounts of space to the exploits of artists, authors, lawmen, outlaws and socialites who were calling the West home. Americans were obsessed with this new frontier, and it was a time when it wasn’t out of reach. Those brave enough, and wealthy enough, to make the trip need to simply board a series of trains, and maybe a wagon or two. And then there they were in Santa Fe, Denver, Jackson Hole or Cody. 

Alexandre Hogue (1898-1994), Across the Valley, 1929, oil on canvas, 20 x 36 in. Photography by James Hart Photography, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Courtesy of Tia Collection, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

One of the more interesting parts of the Southwest was the fusion of cultures and traditions. America had been called a melting pot, where people from different places with different ways of life could come together and share a future. In places like Arizona, New Mexico, California and Texas, the cultures were Native American, Mexican and Spanish, as well as others. They were enormously different, and yet frequently symbiotic. And each contributed to the scrappy and gritty monoculture of the Southwest. 

Top: Kenneth Miller Adams (1897-1966), Reapers (Harvest), 1946, oil on canvas, 40 x 32 in. Denver Art Museum: Gift from Dr. George C. Peck and Catherine M. Peck, 2013.466. © Estate of Kenneth Miller Adams.  Legacy Gallery, San Francisco Dinner Time, gold and copper leaf with acrylic on canvas, by Alvin Gill-Tapia.  Bottom: Altamira Fine Art, House Rock Valley, oil on panel, 30 x 60 in., by Jared Sanders.

Some of the work spoke about the difficult and strained histories that were shared by the people of the West. Consider Walter Ufer’s Hunger, which was “derived from Ufer’s personal introspection, his courageous attempt to bring symbolism to paintings that deal with the painful issues faced daily by the Taos Indians and the Hispanics,” writes the curators of the 2013 exhibition Walter Ufer: Rise, Fall, Resurrection.

Clockwise from left: Legacy Gallery, Musica, oil, 36 x 24 in., by Terri Kelly Moyers.  Legacy Gallery, Pueblo Culture, Canyon de Chelly, oil, 24 x 20 in., by Robert Peters.  Altamira Fine Art, Kai Yote, oil on canvas, 60 x 48 in., by David Frederick Riley.

Another premier destination that celebrates the Southwest is Altamira Fine Art, which has locations in Wyoming and Arizona. “The Southwest has a presence that artists can approach from completely different directions, and that is what makes it such an enduring subject. Rocky Hawkins taps into its mystery and spiritual intensity, using color, gesture and the human figure to create something that feels mythic. David Frederick Riley approaches that same sense of place through wildlife; his coyote is intimate and beautifully observed, but still carries the intelligence and wildness we associate with the desert landscape. Jared Sanders pulls the view outward, reducing the land to these quiet, beautifully balanced shapes, colors and immense spaces,” gallery owner Jason Williams says. “Together, the works remind us that the spirit of the Southwest isn’t defined by one image of the West. It exists in its people, its animals, its geology, its light and, perhaps most importantly, in the emotional response the landscape continues to inspire.”

Top: Maya Gallery, Joy in Peace, oil, 30 x 48 in., by Carl Bork.  Bottom: Altamira Fine Art, The Mystics, oil on canvas, 48 x 48 in., by Rocky Hawkins.  First Freedom Art, Indian Chief, oil on canvas, 19½ x 15½ in., by Arnold Friberg (1913-2010).

“What drew Arnold Friberg to Native American subjects was his fascination with the enduring relationship among people, nature and tradition. He approached these works as a storyteller as much as a painter, seeking to move beyond stereotypes and portray Native Americans with the same dignity and heroic stature that distinguished his biblical and historical art, including his magnum opus, The Prayer at Valley Forge,” the organization notes about the artist. “Friberg was captivated by the artistry and patience embodied in Native cultural objects. He devoted countless hours to studying ceremonial regalia and beadwork, examining every stitch and pattern with meticulous care. To him, these objects were more than beautiful artifacts. They were living expressions of identity, heritage and cultural memory. By faithfully rendering their intricate designs, he honored the generations of Native artisans and the traditions they preserved.”

Top: First Freedom Art, Raymond Morningstar, oil on board, 32 x 28 in., by Arnold Friberg (1913-2010). Kendall Pace, El Jefe, recycled aluminum cans on board, 36 x 60 in. Private collection,   Bottom: Sue Krzyston, A Richness of Heritage, oil, 30 x 40 in.  First Freedom Art, Untitled, pastel on paper, 20 x 18 in., by Arnold Friberg (1913-2010).

For Kendall Pace, the Southwest is reinterpreted through recycled aluminum cans, which are flattened and arranged on a board. The materials are unique, but the messages will be familiar to collectors. “I build the icons of the American West from the cultures that made it: Anglo-Texas ranching heritage in El Jefe, my longhorn portrait; Mexican-Catholic devotion in Our Lady of Guadalupe; the charrería tradition in El Charro; and Texas history’s most complicated inheritance in Quanah Parker, the last free chief of the Comanche, half-Anglo, half-Comanche by birth, and a bridge between worlds,” Pace says. “Every figure I portray is built from thousands of hand-cut fragments drawn from hundreds of recycled aluminum cans. Every red, blue and gold comes from a can: soda, beer or sparkling water. No paint touches the image itself.”

Top: Sue Krzyston, Enduring Legacies, oil, 18 x 24 in.  Kendall Pace, Quanah Parker, recycled aluminum cans on board, 48 x 36 in.  Bottom: Maya Gallery, Orange Thicket, oil, 30 x 40 in., by Carl Bork.

Maya Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is now offering work by Carl Bork, who paints the beauty of nature. “Aspens have always fascinated me because they seem to hold a kind of quiet energy. When you walk through an aspen grove in autumn, you are surrounded by hundreds of individual trees, yet somehow they become one living presence,” Bork says. “The light moves through the trunks and leaves, constantly changing the color and character of the forest. That feeling is what I am trying to capture in my paintings. I’m less interested in simply documenting a particular place than I am in recreating the emotional experience of standing there.”

From top: Darcie Peet, Evening Trail to Finger Rock, oil, 30 x 36 in.  Kendall Pace, El Charro, recycled aluminum cans on board, 48 x 48 in.

Landscape painter Darcie Peet has painted the desert and surrounding biomes for much of her career. “Having explored the outdoors since childhood, this is where the inspiration for my paintings evolves. Whether hiking, cycling, kayaking, riding or skiing, it is the mood, changing light and shadow, sounds or silence, nature’s aroma’s, boldness or the little things that I spy and absorb to translate into a painting,” Peet says. “Evening Trail to Finger Rock is of the fascinating canyons in the Catalina Mountains on the edge of Tucson, Arizona. Hiking the rocky trails at the end of the day brings the rich color of deep shadows; strong light against canyon walls and often singular silhouettes of saguaro, ocotillo and prickly pear cactus scattered amongst tall, soft, wispy desert grasses. The painting highlights an iconic element from the canyon…the distant shape of Finger Rock up a steep and long trail into the mountains. Times of quiet and serenity as most hikers are gone before darkness falls.” The painting will be available at Settlers West Galleries’ Great American West show on November 21 in Tucson. —