Coors Western Art Show | Edward Aldrich

By Bonnie Gangelhoff

All Dressed Up, oil, 10 x 10.

Viewers of Edward Aldrich paintings would never guess that the artist grew up in the heart of New York City. Perhaps that is because Aldrich, who now lives in Colorado, has a well-known talent for capturing the wildlife of the West. “The wide open spaces and the animals that call those 
places home have always drawn me in,” Aldrich says. He adds that he doesn’t normally zero in on horses as subject matter, but, for the Coors Western Art Exhibit and Sale, he decided to train his creative eye 
on the elegant creatures. “They are really fun to paint with their color variations, their wonderful structure, and their overall grace and power,” he says. In PULL TEAM, Aldrich depicts a team of draft horses that once pulled a sleigh that carried his family to a winter marshmallow roast in the Colorado Rockies.

Another painting in the show, titled THE GREAT PROCESSION, brings together all the elements of paintings that he personally enjoys. Mood, interesting lighting, color variations, and the animal and landscape genres all are incorporated in a single piece.

In March the Ironwood Gallery at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson features a retrospective of 40 works by Aldrich, who is a member of the Society of Animal Artists. He is represented by Saks Galleries, Denver, CO; Sage Creek Gallery, Santa Fe, NM; Mountain Trails Gallery, Jackson, WY; Evergreen Fine Art, Evergreen, CO; and Sorrel Sky Gallery, Durango, CO; www.edwardaldrich.com.

Featured in January 2012.