Susan Hallsten McGarry

In the vernacular of the West, the term pure quill means “authentic; real, through and through.” Barbara Van Cleve’s gripping black-and-white photographs of the West she knows and loves give vision to that term. Born and raised on a working Montana cattle and horse ranch, for seven decades she has focused her lens on the land and sky, and the men, women, and animals who animate it. Through riveting compositions, subtle values, and captivating textures her photographs dispel the myths associated with the West while conveying its true adventure and compelling drama. In this first book featuring the breadth of her subject matter, readers experience her other themes, including Rodeo as Dance, striking night scenes, the Great Montana Centennial Cattle Drive series, and documentation of the Spanish Mission Trail in Baja California, Mexico. Honesty, consistency, and versatility are the hallmarks of Van Cleve’s oeuvre, and pride of place is her brand.

For three decades the signature “W. C. Hook” has connoted dynamic design, saturated colour, and muscular brushwork. William Cather Hook’s ability to straddle the border between pictorial illustrationsion and pure paint, between traditional yet modern, has won him collectors worldwide. Less well-known about this master of acrylics is the breadth of his subject matter. In this retrospective of paintings dating from the early 1980s to the present Hook guides the reader on a journey that includes the back roads of northern New Mexico, the high country of the colourado Rockies and Sangre de Cristos, California’s Pacific coastline and central valley, the reaches of the Sonoran Desert, and historic vistas in England and Italy. Whether depicting crashing surf, aspen forests, or luminous big skies, Hook’s vision is inviting, vibrant, and infused with radiant light. Also explored is the artist’s biography, from his Kansas roots to his current studios in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Carmel, California.

Inspired by nineteenth-century painters and photographers, Congress passed legislation preserving America’s spectacular natural resources for the enjoyment of all. Today, artists continue to play a significant role in interpreting these iconic panoramas, intimate corners, and diverse wildlife within our national parks. In Art of the National Parks, seventy painters and sculptors offer distinctive visions of eight of the nation’s most beloved wild lands: Acadia, Everglades, Grand Canyon, Grand Tetons, Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Zion. Susan Hallsten McGarry, well-known author and curator, guides readers on a lively journey through the artists’ styles, techniques, and philosophies. Art historian/author Jean Stern, director of the Irvine Museum, discusses the historic artists who put into motion our nation’s conservation consciousness. And Terry Lawson Dunn, biologist and educator, highlights the national parks’ ecological successes and challenges. With more than 450 artworks, this glorious, large-format book is a must for anyone who has hiked the trails, watched a sunset, marveled at buffalo herds, or yearned to experience our nation’s mythic and transformative vistas. It is also an indispensible compendium of artists who are at the forefront of twenty-first-century American landscape and wildlife art. Art of the National Parks is available in seven different book jackets depicting the art and beauty from each national park featured in the book. Featured parks include: Acadia, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone/Tetons, Zion, Everglades, Yosemite, and Rocky Mountain. Special cover requests will be accommodated as stock allows based on cover availability. To ensure special handling, please order direct.

In the history of art only a select number of artists distinguish themselves as originators of a personal idiom that reverberates beyond place and time. John Nieto is one of those originals. His eye-dazzling paintings rank him among the vanguard of contemporary American colorists. Recognized worldwide for his signature blend of expressive colors, dynamic brushwork, and powerful compositions, Nieto is an American artist who speaks in a universal Language. His personal story, told here for the first time, is a journey of discovery. His paintings combine reverence for his heritage with a sophisticated worldview. They are also autobiographical. Nieto depicts Native peoples as icons of dignity and unity. His buffalo, bears, and coyotes are symbols of survival. Each is captured in pulsating saturated hues that affirm the vibrant spirituality inherent in all living things.

Such are the observations that filter through the galleries during Tom Palmore's exhibitions in which animals steal the show. Born in Ada and living in Oklahoma, Palmore emerged from the 1970s Photorealist movement as a maverick. His career includes more than a decade on the East Coast, where he refined his skills at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and exhibited in New York's prominent contemporary galleries. Palmore used his technical virtuosity to explore his passion for the animal kingdom. Then as today, his monumental paintings received critical acclaim, and his incongruous juxtapositions of realistic primates in silk-and-velvet interiors earned him the nickname Gorilla Man. Palmore's fidelity to an animal's visage is intended to make it proud. However, the contexts in which he places them are pure Palmore, infused with his penchant for wit and the unexpected. His portrait of Oscar, the famed rodeo bull, is set against Palmore-designed wallpaper of cowboys catapulted into the air. A rooster surveys its Grant Wood countryside, and an imposing lion is oblivious to the diminutive monarch butterfly that shares its epithet. In all cases, Palmore's paintings loom large not only in scale but also in raised consciousness of the -earthlings with whom we share this planet, - as he says.

For Twenty years, Gene and Rebecca Tobey worked together as husband and wife and artistic partners. They are best known for their creations of ceramic and bronze sculptures of abstracted animal forms. In their art, bear, buffalo, elk, and other majestic animals stand in dynamic, timeless attitudes. Their work is a sculptural statement about the dominant personality of the animal. Magic occurs as the sculptures' surfaces become canvases upon which the Tobeys have carved, drawn, painted, and scratched graffito drawings of other animals, human figures, scenes of starry night skies, mountain ranges, and symbols and geometric shapes, all on beautifully patinated surfaces. In the pages of ""Partners in Art"", Rebecca Tobey shares her insights into their creative and collaborative process and shows the creations she and Gene forged during their two-decade partnership. In 2006 Gene Tobey passed away after battling leukemia. Rebecca Tobey lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and continues their legacy of creation and spirit.

From ranch scenes to wildlife, landscapes to Native America, this stunning book brings together the foremost artists of the contemporary West. Also available in a slipcased limited edition, individually numbered and signed by the artists.

From ranch scenes to wildlife, landscapes to Native America, this stunning book brings together the foremost artists of the contemporary West. Also available in a slipcased limited edition, individually numbered and signed by the artists.