Elsa Sroka “never grew up around cows,” she says of her Fort Collins, Colorado, childhood. More and more these days, however, her rocketing reputation as a painter owes credit to what she calls her “unconventional series of cows,” which include bovines reclining serenely on a...
Jeremy Winborg eagerly anticipated the moment his entry came up for sale at the 50th annual Russell Live Auction at the C.M. Russell Museum back in March 2018. Originally entitled High Caliber, it portrayed a stern-faced teenaged American Indian girl — modeled by his part-Navajo...
Some of Ben Jordan’s earliest, fondest memories date back to childhood excursions with his dad to old Native American sites on the desert plateau near their family’s home in Kingman, Arizona. “We’d look for pottery shards, and that got me asking questions like, ‘Who made...
The prevailing mindset among most collectors is that sculptures are forever durable. Although bronze, wood, and even marble may seem less fragile than two-dimensional artworks, simple care and maintenance are a must in order to preserve a sculpture’s original beauty. Prevention is key when it comes...
As I write this letter, a few states across the country are slowly reopening after closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The world has been a surreal place for some weeks now, a Twilight Zone of sorts. The pandemic has grounded us. It brought us...
When it comes to Iroquois beadwork, Dolores Elliott of Johnson City, New York, is one of the world’s top experts. With a collection of nearly 2,600 pieces at the last count, the raised designs made with tiny glass beads can be found on pincushions, picture...
Good design doesn’t only transform a space, it can change a life. Just ask interior designer Lisa Samuel, founder of the award-winning Samuel Design Group in Santa Fe, New Mexico. “I grew up in a humble setting and didn’t even really know that interior design existed,”...
The market for Western works held steady in the early months of 2020, which is always a welcome sign for auction officials and gallerists. Yet, the nugget of news contained within a variety of winter sales was variety itself. Sotheby’s saw a high in the sale...
Fortune destined Tylee Abbott, vice president and specialist in Christie’s American Art Department, to be attuned to the art of the U.S. West. Abbott’s namesake ancestor, William Tylee Ranney, was a famed 19th-century artist known to paint everything from sporting to landscape art, including the...
Despite the diverse creative avenues and mediums showcased in each issue of WA&A, this issue, and every issue, is about place. And while it’s generally accepted that the territory lying west of the 98th meridian defines “the West” in terms of geography, the identity of...