A roundup of Prix de West award winners
By Kristin Hoerth
Butterfly & Bitterroots by Steve Kestrel.
This story was featured in the August 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art August 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
WELCOME TO this month’s special issue focusing on The New West, in which we turn the spotlight on artists who offer contemporary interpretations of traditional western subjects. We begin with Utah painter David Dibble, our cover artist, whose sophisticated renditions of barns in the landscape have a lot to say about western heritage and values. We also introduce a rising star, Abigail Gutting, and learn what’s behind her unique cowboy paintings filled with texture, movement, and emotion. We explore the vibrant work of New Mexico artist Jennifer Cavan, who captures the essence of New Mexico’s rural villages. Finally we turn to the world of sculpture and talk with Michael Tatom, whose bronzes of western wildlife—wolves, elk, longhorns, and more—are full of sleek, minimalist surfaces.
Speaking of sculpture: I was happy to see an unusually high number of sculptures take top awards at this year’s Prix de West Invitational, held in June at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. The biggest prize—the Prix de West Purchase Award—went to Paul Moore for THE PROCESSION, a remarkable 13-inch-deep bas-relief; Moore also won the Robert Lougheed Memorial Award, selected by the participating artists, for his overall body of work. In addition, two awards that often go to paintings were bestowed upon sculptures this year: The Express Ranches Great American Cowboy Award went to Mehl Lawson for NOON BREAK, and the Major General and Mrs. Don D. Pittman Wildlife Art Award went to Ross Matteson for PUNALU’U. Last but certainly not least, the James Earle Fraser Sculpture Award went to Steve Kestrel for BUTTERFLY & BITTERROOTS.
Aside from sculpture, four impressive paintings were honored. The Frederic Remington Painting Award went to COMING TO THE WEST by Benjamin Wu; the Wilson Hurley Memorial Award for landscape painting went to LOST IN SPACE by Len Chmiel; and the Jackie L. Coles Buyers’ Choice Award went to A CHASM OF SUBLIME by Curt Walters. Finally, one of the most ambitious paintings I’ve ever seen at Prix de West won the Donald Teague Memorial Award for a work on paper: T. Allen Lawson’s BLACK ANGUS, which measures 5 feet tall and 8 feet wide, is a true tour de force. It is a monumental achievement in every sense of the word, and I urge you—if you’re anywhere near Oklahoma this summer—to see it before the exhibition closes in August.
This story was featured in the August 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art August 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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