Image of the Day, March 31, 2012

“Every image he sees, every photograph he takes, becomes in a sense a self-portrait. The portrait is made more meaningful by intimacy - an intimacy shared not only by the photographer with his subject but by the audience.” - Dorothea Lange

Dorothea Lange (1895-1945), Portrait of Maynard Dixon, 1930, 10 x 8 in. On reverse, “John was 2 years old. Made in Lone Pine in red canyon.” Credit: Sotheby’s Dorothea Lange, famous for portraiture and her Great Depression era imagery of migrant families, including her famous “Migrant Mother,” met and married artist Maynard Dixon in 1920. They divorced in 1935, but each has become a legendary figure of the West in their own right and both Lange’s photography and Dixon’s minimalist paintings of the West have become highly collectable. In this photograph, Lange captured Dixon’s contemplative and introverted nature. Lange’s portrait of Dixon is for sale at Sotheby’s on April 3, 2012 for between 7000 and 10,000 dollars.

Image of the Day, March 29, 2012

“No matter how sophisticated you may be, a large granite mountain cannot be denied-it speaks in silence to the very core of your being.” — Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams (1902-1984), White House Ruin, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona, Photograph, c. 1950, 40 x 28 in.  Credit: Sotheby’s  Estimated price at Sotheby’s Auction: $100,000 - $150,000.

"When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence." - Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams (1902-1984), The Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, Photograph, c.1975, 15 x 19 in. Credit: Sotheby’s

Estimated price at Sotheby’s Auction: $40,000 - $60,000.

Image of the Day, March 23, 2012

“Though a living cannot be made at art, art makes life worth living. It makes living, living. It makes starving, living. It makes worry, it makes trouble, it makes a life that would be barren of everything — living. It brings life to life.” — John Sloan

John Sloan is well known as a member of “The Eight” and for his paintings of gritty urban scenes -- often narratives of city life in New York City during the early part of the 20^th century. Like many artists, he travelled west to Santa Fe in 1919. He bought a home and studio and returned every summer for four months until 1950, one year prior to his death.

John Sloan (1871-1951), Still Life, Hat on Chair, 1932, oil on cardboard, 21 x 18 in. Credit: Sothebys.comHis painting Still Life, Hat on Chair, 1932 will be sold at Sotheby’s American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture Auction, New York, 05 April, 2012 at 10:00.

The low estimate is $15,000., and the high estimate is $20,000.

Image of the Day, March 21, 2012

While living in Chicago, Walter Ufer’s patron, Chicago mayor Carter Harrison, sent Ufer to Taos to paint the land and the indigenous people, but cautioned him not to romanticize them, but to paint them as they lived and worked in the landscape. To heighten the realism he was searching for, Ufer often painted at mid-day when the sun bleached the greasewood and sage and the only color to be found was in the bright clothing of the Pueblo Indians, and the arroyos carved by flash floods.

Walter Ufer, Untitled, oil on canvas, c. 1925. Private Collection. Photo Credit: My-West.com.©More on Walter Ufer:

Painting of the Day, November 9, 2011

Image of the Day, March 20, 2012

Jay Moore (1964-) is a Colorado native who began his career, as so many fine artists have, as an illustrator. Moore credits his work with Clyde Aspevig at the Art Students League of Denver as a pivotal point in his decision to turn to fine art. Beyond actual form and color Jay has a wider and richer frame of reference. He responds to the magnitude and scale of the western landscape by depicting his subject in large-scale paintings—often using bodies of water to orient the viewer’s eye horizontally through the canvas.

Jay Moore, View Down Buffalo Valley, c. 2011, oil on canvas 60 x 80 in. Credit: Crested Butte Plein Air InvitationalLower Ugashik Lake, c. 2011, oil on canvas, 36 x 72 in. Credit: Jaymoorestudio.com