Painting of the Day, November 17, 2011

By Donna Poulton

After being hired by the Saturday Evening Post, in 1919, to illustrate several articles with Western themes, William H. D. Koerner threw all of his interest and considerable talent into learning everything possible about the West.  He made numerous trips to Montana to study the details of ranch and mountain life and the mannerisms of the lively personalities that populated the region. Over eighteen hundred of his images were featured in the most popular magazines of the day and he illustrated for authors such as Zane Grey. Koerner’s Riding the Open Range, was featured in the Saturday Evening Post.

Credit: FineArt.ha.com

William Koerner (1878-1938), Riding the Range, oil on canvas 30 x 24 in.

Image of the Day, November 16, 2011

By Donna Poulton

Navajo classic chief’s blanket. Credit: Bonham's San Francisco

Bonham’s Native American Art catalogue notes it was “Woven in a first phase Ute style pattern of rich indigo and brown panels overlaid on the striped ground, on a dark brown warp in handspun yarns.” It “probably dates to the first half of the nineteenth century.”  The size is approximately 4 x 5 ft 11 in.

It is estimated to sell at a low estimate of US $250,000 and a high estimate of $350,000. We’ll let you know the hammer price of the December 5, 2011 auction.

Painting of the Day: November 15, 2011

By Donna Poulton

The painting Moving Cattle is typical of the unusual aerial perspective and bold shadows found in much of Howard Post’s work.  Raised on a cattle ranch near Tucson, his paintings are narratives of life and labor on a working ranch.

Credit: With permission of the artist

Howard Post (1948 - ), Moving Cattle, c. 2006, oil on canvas, 43 x 55 in.

Painting of the Day, November 14, 2011

By Donna Poulton

Credit: Bonhams & Butterfields, San Francisco

Edgar Alwin Payne (1883 -1947), Blue Canyon, c. 1930s, oil on canvas, 28 x 34 in.

Edgar Alwin Payne trained briefly at the Art Institute of Chicago before eventually settling in California. During the 1930s he was commissioned to create mural work and befriended Conrad Buff and Buck Weaver, both of whom helped him with the large scale work. Famous for his landscapes and mountain scenes set in the High Sierras of California, Payne was also attracted to the desert southwest and worked around Canyon de Chelly and the Grand Canyon for the Santa Fe Railroad. Payne wrote the primer Composition of Outdoor Painting in 1941. Now in its seventh edition, it is still considered today to be one of the most important and cherished books found on an artist's shelf.

Painting of the Day, November 12, 2011

By Donna Poutlon

Credit: Image courtesy of Josh Elliott

Josh Elliott, Midnight Passage, c. 2011, oil, 30 x 30 in.

Josh Elliot continues to offer discerning and fresh images of the West. He first came to our attention with his painting of a beaverslide in Hay Season, painted during haying in his home state of Montana. His painting of a desert nocturne Midnight Passage is rare because we see so few contemporary artists tackling the complex tonal values inherent in the difficult and cumbersome process of painting by moonlight.