Image of the Day, March 3, 2012

By Donna Poulton

March 5, 2012 is the anniversary of Dean Cornwell’s 120^th birthday (1892-1960). Trained in the fine arts, his murals appear in Rockerfeller Center, Bethlehem Steel, the Los Angels Public Library and General Motors Building in New York. His work has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum of Art, the Chicago Art Institute and the National Academy of Design. Cornwell turned to illustration in 1914 and his illustrations appear in books by Ernest Hemingway, W. Somerset Maugham, Pearl S. Buck and dozens of American magazines.

Dean Cornwell, The Man You Plan to Hang was published in 1924 in the novel “The Enchanted Hill.” (Courtesy of Myriam Moran). Credit: theepochtimes.com Like most artists he trained at the Arts Students League and the Chicago Art Institute, and he was fortunate to have training under Harvey Dunn (who trained with Howard Pyle). Dunn taught summer courses at the Brandywine School of Illustration. His painting The Man You Plan to Hang reveals his loose painterly style and flair for composing dynamic genre scenes. 

Credit: ebayCredit: Amazo

Image of the Day, March 1, 2012

By Donna Poulton

Jimmy Swinnerton painted in every kind of weather, the most dramatic being when dark-clouded thunderstorms loomed over the large buttes.  In Desert Clouds, Utah, the vertically developed cumulus clouds, common in the West during hot summer months, seem to emerge audaciously from terra firma.  In reality, cumulus clouds can hover as low as 300 feet above the desert landscape.

James Guilford Swinnerton, Desert Clouds, Utah, 1940s, oil on canvas, 22 x 34 in. Credit: Painters of Utah’s Canyons and Deserts“I don’t use many colors,” Jimmy volunteers. “Two blues, one green, blue black, several reds—I’m finding all the time that it’s how you use them, not the number involved.  Light is superimposed on darkness.  You can notice that as the day grows long.  There are so many parts to a landscape that attention must be paid to all of them.  The clouds should float, instead of looking like rocks.  The sky should be air, not blue paint…” - Jimmy Swinnerton, from Painters of the Desert by Ed Ainsworth

Other Posts on Jimmy Swinnerton:

Painting of the Day, October 23, 2011

Painting of the Day, February 29, 2012

By Donna Poulton

Artist:  Steve Songer, Park City Cottage, c. 2012, oil
, 24 x 30. Credit: Monttomeryleefineart Utah artist Steve Songer was listed in Southwest Art Magazine’s “Artists to Watch” series and in Art of The West Magazine. Much of his work comes from the area around his home in Huntsville, Utah — an area nestled in the heart of the Wasatch Mountain range. The old mining town of Park City, now a skiing and Sundance Film Festival destination, is a recurring theme in Songer’s beautifully textured works. The colorful charm of the homes that scatter the snow-filled mountain side create a mosaic of color in the deep snow that the area is famous for.

Songer’s most recent work can be seen at the Montgomery Lee Fine Art Gallery in Park City, Utah. 

Artist:  Steve Songer
, Park City Winter, oil
, 36 x 40. Credit: Monttomeryleefineart

Image of the Day, February 28, 2012

“To paint trees well, we should know them well.  Each and every tree has its characteristics.  These should be studied.  Some trees have very thickly massed foliage which suggests compactness and solidity.  Others have sparse foliage with perhaps many opening between the leaves and twigs.  Certain species are tall and slender, some more “squatty” or round in form.  Aside from their shapes, texture and local color, seasonal changes and atmosphere modify their appearance.” – Edgar Payne

On view now at the Crocker Museums exhibition: Edgar Payne: The Scenic Journey, from February 11th to May 6th, 2012.

Edgar Alwin Payne (1883-1947), Sycamore in Autumn, Orange County Park, c. 1917, oil on board, 32 x 42 in. Credit: Crockerartmuseum.orgOther posts on Edgar Payne:

Painting of the Day, November 14, 2011

Image of the Day, February 25, 2012

By Donna Poulton

"I inhale the natural world, and love it most when it's moody, stormy, wet, snowy, and dusky-colored." - Michael Coleman

In a different century it could be imagined that Michael Coleman would have traveled with Jedediah Smith, Peter Skene Ogden, Jim Bridger or any number of American Indian tribes exploring the American West.  The scientific explorations of artists such as James Audubon, Karl Bodmer and William Henry Holmes would have interested him, but not as much as living in the moment, existing in nature and surviving by the skill, wit and resourcefulness of the early mountain men. Coleman’s paintings are an amalgam of his rich personal experience in the wilderness and his impression of life in the 19^th century. From his practical knowledge of the outdoors he has developed a keen sense of observation of animals: an auburn fox resting on lichen covered rocks, bears snooping in camps and mountain goats lolling on precipitous cliff edges so high that they overlook birds circling below. These are the subjects of Coleman’s intensely rich and detailed paintings.

In 2009, a book of Coleman’s work titled “On Wings of Eagels” was released.  It was written by the foremost author on western art today - Peter Hassrick - and is a beautiful collection for any collector of images of the West.

Michael Coleman, In the Cliffs, Rocky Mountain Goats, 1995, oil on board, 34 x 60 in., private collection. Credit: Colemanart.comMichael Coleman, Morning Sun, Red Fox, oil, 12 x 16 in. Credit: Colemanart.com  Interns in the Buffalo Bill Historical Center's Conservation Residency program clean "Big Hal," a sculpture currently on loan to Yellowstone Regional Airport to welcome visitors to Cody.

Michael Coleman, Big Hal, modeled 2002, cast 2003, bronze, 84 inches. Gift of Jim and Kathy Taggart. Credit: Buffalo Bill Historical CenterCredit: Colemanart.com