The Legacy Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
August 10-14
G. Russell Case, Clouds and Cows, oil, 16 x 20.
In July, The Legacy Gallery celebrated the grand opening of its new Santa Fe outpost in the former Canyon Road location of Manitou Galleries. Now, owners Brad and Jinger Richardson and associate director Cyndi Hall introduce “our first really heavy-hitting show that expresses our vision to display the best of the best of what western art looks like now,” says Hall. Entitled Forever West, the show features works by five preeminent artists portraying western subjects—Bill Anton, Glenn Dean, Jeremy Lipking, Howard Post, and G. Russell Case—who look forward to attending an opening reception on Friday, August 12, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Hall expects a total of about 18 paintings displayed in the Canyon Road setting, which the Richardsons renamed and redesigned after acquiring Manitou Galleries’ two Santa Fe locations last September. Though all of the works are western-themed, they express a wide range of subject matter and styles.
- Glenn Dean, Catching the Last of the Sun, oil, 25 x 20.
- Howard Post, The Inspection, oil, 36 x 48.
- G. Russell Case, October in New Mexico, oil, 18 x 24.
Anton, for example, is “a master’s master who makes you feel the grandeur and emotion of the place,” says Hall, “much like an old John Ford film.” She particularly looks forward to there being one of Anton’s widely admired nocturnes, moodily romantic depictions of a cowboy, his horse, and the herd they’re watching over.
Equally evocative are works by Dean like CATCHING THE LAST OF THE SUN, in which “two riders walk to a higher point for the remaining warmth of the sun as they wind their way up through thick rabbitbrush,” notes the artist.
Hall is excited to see the show’s contributions from Lipking. “To me, he paints like the European masters, and we don’t get a ton of his work,” she says. Two of his paintings for the show depict Navajo people, “showing the soft moments and pride in a hard life.”
Post—a sort of “cowboy’s Thomas Hart Benton,” as Hall admiringly describes him—captures quietly contemplative scenes in a dusty, gritty life. An example is THE INSPECTION, which the painter describes as “an example of my longtime fascination with animals crowded together in a corral or holding pen.”
Case, Hall says, “reminds me of the turn-of-the-century artists who showed us the magnitude of the countryside that the average person doesn’t get to see and brought it down to a scale that isn’t overwhelming.” OCTOBER IN NEW MEXICO, for example, captures a scene along the High Road from Santa Fe to Taos that the artist describes as “one of my favorite places to be in autumn, a really spectacular time of year there.”
Case also says he appreciates having his works exhibited alongside the show’s other artists. “I’m honored to be in such good company,” he says, a feeling echoed wholeheartedly by the others. And Hall believes gallery-goers will find themselves equally edified by Forever West. “These five painters evoke the emotions of the West, conveying the complex spirit of these places, peoples, and communities. At a time when anyone can take a picture with modern technology, this is art that will make you feel something deeply when you look at it.” —Norman Kolpas
contact information
505.986.9833
www.manitougalleries.com
This story appeared in the August/September 2022 issue of Southwest Art magazine.