Among the vast collection of artwork and personal papers that artist Eugenie Frederica Shonnard bequeathed to the Museum of New Mexico system following her death in 1978 is a pair of ceramic candlesticks she created in the form of little squirrels. In old photographs, the...
When Georgia Rowswell’s landscape Thunderhead Off Happy Jack Road won Best of Show during last spring’s Cowgirl Up! exhibition at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, Arizona, the judges described it as “mind-blowing.” That’s a term not often used in museum-speak. Yet, it sums...
James Penfield’s paintings often possess the kinetic energy of a live performance, taking viewers’ eyes on a dynamic journey across canvases that simultaneously feel like abstract compositions and convincingly realistic images of Western wildlife, people, and landscapes. His 2024 painting Minerva, for example, offers dramatic...
Steve Hastings feels driven by some higher power to conceive and create his magically realistic paintings of desert flora backed by the Southwest’s rugged landscape and skies. “If I see a cactus or I’m out on a road trip taking pictures, I might actually hear...
Morgan Irons pays tribute to the timeless spirit of Western women and men in oil-on-linen scenes in the realistic yet romantic style of 19th-century Naturalist artists, including France’s Jean-François Millet and Americans Thomas Cole and Winslow Homer. Her paintings engage viewers with such quietly assured...
Thank the arrival of the digital age for impelling Peter Campbell to become a hands-on expert in oil paintings that portray the grandeur of Western landscapes, most of them crowned by glorious sunrise or sunset skies. “I’m old school, a tinkerer, all about tactile experience,”...
Flipping through this issue of Western Art & Architecture, I’m struck by a simple yet astonishing truth: Despite the collective decades that artists and architects have spent exploring the West’s mythology, beauty, stereotypes, and history, they are still able to come up with interesting new...
Alder & Tweed holds a distinguished niche among interior design firms by specializing in second homes in exclusive communities and hospitality spaces. Their reach has expanded from the ski resorts of Park City, Utah, to Big Sky, Montana — and most recently to another community...
As residents of Los Angeles begin the complicated process of rebuilding after fires wiped out more than 16,000 homes and businesses, the last thing anyone facing that future wants to hear is that they weren’t adequately insured. However, a recent study by the University of...
The Western art market continues to thrive, as evidenced by auctions and events held this winter. From historic artifacts and fine Western paintings to contemporary Native American artwork and cowboy collectibles, recent sales have attracted collectors eager to own a piece of the American West. Notable...