Art Forms

Modern Western Art

Western art is like many other forms of art.  There are many great artists whose paintings encompass a wide spectrum of subjects, while remaining in the general genre.

The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Western and American Indian artworks and artifacts. The Museum of Western Art in Kerrville, TX, displays Western art by artists from across the United States. Subjects include cowboys, Native Americans, settlers, mountain men and others who tamed the West.  Sedona, Phoenix, Santa Fe and Ruidoso, plus so many other places where the history of the American West actually happened, contain galleries of exquisite artworks by artists working in traditional and contemporary styles.

Of those artists, many receive awards for excellence and gain great recognition.  With hundreds of talented and accomplished Western artists from which to choose, here we will highlight Jack Sorenson of Amarillo, TX, and Tim Cox of northern New Mexico.

Although most of his work is sold through galleries in Santa Fe, NM, Jack Sorenson is humble when it comes to his success.  Every painting that he creates sells, a situation any artist would envy.  In addition to the gallery works, he is called upon to do many commissions annually.  All of his works exhibit a classic style and structure plus a thorough knowledge of subjects so necessary in any successful art – Western or any other. He is known for the subtle humor, the sense of family/community missing in much of contemporary art and the sheer beauty of his landscapes and portraiture.

Jack Sorenson is very supportive of the art community in his home city, where he often shares his talent and teaching skills.  His work is prominently featured in items marketed by Leanin’ Tree.  Conversion of many of his paintings to greeting cards brings his images closer to those unlikely to visit museums and galleries.  Sorenson was featured in a recent exhibit at the Panhandle Plains Museum of History in Canyon, TX.  Google Jack Sorenson + art images to see many of his paintings.

Tim Cox was born in 1957 in Safford, AZ, and grew up in the small farming and ranching community of Duncan, near the New Mexico state line. When only 5 years old, Tim vowed he "was going to be a cowboy artist" when he grew up. He currently lives in northern New Mexico, is considered one of the great Western artists of our time, and in 2000 was voted into the U.S. Art Magazine’s Print Hall of Fame.

Tim Cox combines the basic ingredients of color, value, perspective and pleasing design with his desire to be a perfectionist in portraying the real working cowboy.  One look at one of Cox’s paintings and you see his knowledge and understanding of horses and the men who ride them.  While most of Cox’s time is consumed by painting, Tim continues to raise cattle, train his horses and coach young riders. Google Tim Cox + art images to see dozens of his paintings and how his vision is transferred to canvas--perfectly.

Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 18 No. 12 — October 2008