LANDSCAPES OF THE WEST
Barth, Chapin, Dumas, Fales, Patton, Pepion, Poulsen, Swallow, Von Morisse
September 2024
This exhibition is organized with the support of The Embassy of the Principality of Monaco in Washington D. C.
FRANCES BARTH, A Tiny Pinch, 2017, Acrylic on wood panel, 24 x 36 in.
Bridging cultures through the artistic expressions of the American West, Landscapes of The West celebrates the fusion of ancient traditions and contemporary creativity in a dialogue between contemporary voices, timeless Indigenous artistry, and modern Western influences.
JOHN ISAIAH PEPION (Blackfeet) , Out For More, 2024, Ink, color pencil, and acrylic on antique ledger paper. Size: 9 ½ x 15 ¼ in.
WADE PATTON (Oglala Lakota), Standing Ground, 2022, graphite on 1897 ledger page
FRANCES BARTH, A Tiny Pinch, 2017, Acrylic on wood panel
GENE SWALLOW (Oglala Lakota), Three Textile Art Lakota Dolls, 2024
The works presented here harmonize diverse cultural perspectives through art. The symbiotic relationship between contemporary vision, indigenous heritage and Western artistic evolution.
ANDRE VON MORISSE, Albert 1er Prince de Monaco, 2024, oil on canvas & Three Amigos (Meeting Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, Sitting Bull), 2024.
Frances Barth takes us to the Southwest with her Tiny Pinch. Jane Chapin explores the West with her exquisite “Plein Air” paintings. Wade Patton (Oglala Lakota) is letting clouds tell his peoples stories while longing for the South Dakota skies. John Isaiah Pepion (Blackfeet) fuses stories of his ancestors heritage with mastery of color and form. M. C. Poulsen delights us with his “Monet” Yellowstone Imperial Geyser. Andre Von Morisse invites us to meet Albert 1er Prince de Monaco and three amigos: Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley and Sitting Bull revealing their true names.
M. C. POULSEN, Symphony in White - Imperial Geyser, 2012, oil on canvas, Image size: 18 x 24 in., Frame size: 27 x 33 in.
DISCOVER THE WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION
BARTH, CHAPIN, DUMAS, FALES, PATTON, PEPION, POULSEN, SWALLOW, VON MORISSE.
The exhibition is presented in the same manner as Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge England, displaying the art in a house as gallery in an informal manner to allow visitors to enjoy the collection in a friendly space. The exhibition features paintings, drawings, objects and ceramics by unique artistic voices. A fusion of Contemporary art with the Heritage of the American West.
JOHN ISAIAH PEPION (Blackfeet), Tribute to Running Wolf, 2022, Ink on antique ledger paper, Drawing size: 16 3/4 x 13 3/4 in. Framed Size: 21.5 x 24.5 in. (This work is Framed)
Frances Barth
Frances Barth, A Tiny Pinch, 2017, Acrylic and ink on wood panel, 24 x 36 in.
“A Tiny Pinch offers a grand vista, plateau and a mountainous structure showing deep time, in a vast landscape during late afternoon light like you would see in the southwest. When Travelling through this landscape it’s often impossible to tell the exact scale and distance and where you are in it. There is peace, elegance, restraint in these spaces.” - Frances Barth
Frances Barth is a noted American artist. She makes abstract paintings and videos. She has exhibited her paintings widely in both solo and group exhibitions since the late 1960’s, and her work is represented in numerous public, corporate and private collections, including The Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum, in NYC, The Dallas Museum of Art, TX, The Albright Knox Museum, Buffalo. Frances showed six of her paintings in the 2015 Venice Biennale at the Palazzo Grimani in "Frontiers Reimagined.” Her awards include The National Endowment for the Arts grants in 1974 and 1982, a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1977, the Joan Mitchell Foundation grant in 1995, two American Academy of Arts and Letters Purchase awards in 1999 and 2004, the Anonymous Was a Woman grant in 2006, and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant in 2017.
Jane Chapin
Jane Chapin, Pecos Temple, New Mexico, 2020, oil on linen board, 8 x 10 in. (second from top on the white wall).o
“Plein-Air” is the French expression to describe the act of painting in situ within the landscape, capturing the ever changing weather and light with tonal qualities, color, loose brushwork and softness of form.
With her "Plein Air Paintings", Jane Chapin is part of one of the largest art movements in history. Her paintings express human emotions. We can read her moods and feelings with places that carry deep remembrances for the artist that go beyond the descriptive. Her work has been exhibited internationally with Art Renewal Center and nationally with Oil Painters of America, American Impressionist Society, Salon International, Plein Air Painters of the Southeast and Plein Air Painters of New Mexico.
6 Small works by Jane Chapin are on view in this exhibition. Contact the gallery for more information.
Juliette Dumas
Juliette Dumas, Small Bison, 2024, watercolor on paper in antique 18th Century frame, 7.8 x 6 in.
Acclaimed for her “Whale Fluke Paintings” (2018), French artist Juliette Dumas continues her commitment to the “Rio Negro Manifesto” and pushes her exploration of the natural world with her new body of work TERRA and TATANKA.
Small Bison (presented in this exhibition) reflects upon the artist dream of connecting with the Northern High Plains of America where the Bison roam free. Dumas visited the Yellowstone region two times and explored the powerful beauty of the region. This small watercolor is the first glimpse at a larger body of work that is presently in gestation.
Jesse Fales
Jesse Fales, three horses, a bison, an antelope, an elk, a big horn sheep, a moose, a mountain sheep, 2024, ceramics.
Born in Cody and raised on the Northfork of the Shoshone River, in Wapiti Valley, daughter of outfitters and dude ranchers, Jesse Fales spent her entire childhood outdoors on pack trips going deep into the wilds of the Absaroka Mountains. Rimrock Dude Ranch has been her home since 14 and she has spent every summer riding horses around Shoshone National Forest and Yellowstone National Park.
She started making sculptural functional ceramics in 2002. Drawing from memory and observation, she brings the wild animals she encounters in her life into her ceramic forms.
Wade Patton (Oglala Lakota)
Wade Patton, Standing Ground, 2022, graphite on original 1897 ledger page, 19.5 x 15.25 in.
“Growing up as a kid, I used to lie in the tall grasses and look up into the sky, watch the clouds and daydream. I never realized how this experience would cross over into my artwork and echo a sense of being grounded. This work is a reminder of how my single mother raised her three sons. She is represented by the buffalo who is “standing ground” while overlooking and protecting her sons, represented by the three tipis in the sky.” - Wade Patton
The influences of his land and ancestry are prevalent in Patton’s artwork, which is respectful of his people, their stories and the land where he is from. Wade is a storyteller for his culture, keeping the Lakota legends alive in a contemporary manner. Through storytelling and design, he draws people into his work and explains the meanings he infuses in his art (symbology, colors, animals, etc.), thereby creating conversation.
Wade Patton in The New York Times, January 9, 2024 For the Lakota, Creativity Thrives Where There’s No Word for Art.
Wade Patton (Oglala Lakota)
Wade Patton (Oglala Lakota), Justice’s District 2023, ink and prismacolor on antique ledger paper, paper size 15 1/4 x 19 3/4 in.
The 9 Buffalos represent the 9 Lakota Districts.
The influences of his land and ancestry are prevalent in Patton’s artwork, which is respectful of his people, their stories and the land where he is from. Wade is a storyteller for his culture, keeping the Lakota legends alive in a contemporary manner. Through storytelling and design, he draws people into his work and explains the meanings he infuses in his art (symbology, colors, animals, etc.), thereby creating conversation.
Wade Patton in The New York Times, January 9, 2024 For the Lakota, Creativity Thrives Where There’s No Word for Art.
John Isaiah Pepion (Blackfeet)
John Isaiah Pepion (Blackfeet), Out for More, 2024, Ink, color pencil, and acrylic on antique ledger paper, 9.5 x 15 1/4 in. (unframed).
John Isaiah Pepion is an acclaimed artist, muralist and educator who hails from the Blackfeet Nation (Piikani Band of the Blackfoot Confederacy) in northern Montana. His Plains Indian graphic art combines traditional design and contemporary illustrations. John considers his art journey ceremonial because his understanding of his past, family, and culture grows with each piece he creates. He had the honor of being selected as the poster artist for the new PBS documentary by the renowned filmmaker Ken Burns titled "The American Buffalo."
John Isaiah Pepion (Blackfeet)
John Isaiah Pepion (Blackfeet), Tribute to Running Wolf, 2022, Ink on antique ledger paper, Drawing size: 16 3/4 x 13 3/4 in. Framed Size: 21.5 x 24.5 in. (This work is Framed).
Tribute to Running Wolf is a dedication to a Blackfeet warrior. The ledger portrays elements of Blackfeet tipi designs. Who would we be without our ancestors or identity? Without our ancestors we would not be grounded.
John Isaiah Pepion is an acclaimed artist, muralist and educator who hails from the Blackfeet Nation (Piikani Band of the Blackfoot Confederacy) in northern Montana. His Plains Indian graphic art combines traditional design and contemporary illustrations. John considers his art journey ceremonial because his understanding of his past, family, and culture grows with each piece he creates. He had the honor of being selected as the poster artist for the new PBS documentary by the renowned filmmaker Ken Burns titled "The American Buffalo."
M. C. Poulsen
M. C. Poulsen, Symphony in White - Unknown Geyser in Bechler Area of Yellowstone, 2012, oil on canvas, image size: 18 x 24 in. Framed size: 27 x 33 in.
“Yellowstone Park is filled with hot pools of all shapes and sizes. Each has a different palette depending on the area, the time of year and like the seasons they are continuously changing. This geyser is in the Bechler area of the Park. The backcountry provides silence and energy apart from the main attractions. This one reminded me of a symphony, each note harmonizing with the environment.” - M.C. Poulsen.
Award Winning Western Artist, M.C. Poulsen, was introduced in 2012 to The Guide to Yellowstone Waterfalls and their Discovery. Until then, most of the waterfalls in Yellowstone remained hidden and undiscovered. Poulsen’s exploration of Yellowstone Waterfalls and its geysers can be seen in the Whitney Western Art Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. With Symphony in White, Imperial Geyser, presented here, Poulsen renders a luminous palette of pastels and light, “Monet” style.
M. C. Poulsen
M. C. Poulsen, Along the Border Trail, Limited Edition of 500 books, Signed and numbered by M. C. Poulsen with an original oil painting in each copy.
“Along The Border Trail” is a limited edition of 500 books, published by artist M. C. Poulsen and his wife. The book reproduces M. C. Poulsen’s father, Chuck (C. Poulsen), 1938 hiking and camping journals he started when he was 13 years old. The journals document his experiences in the backcountry of the rocky mountains. Handwritten field notes & original sketches of the outfitting camps and supplies are reproduced in this luxurious leather bound edition.
Award Winning Western Artist, M.C. Poulsen, was introduced in 2012 to The Guide to Yellowstone Waterfalls and their Discovery. Until then, most of the waterfalls in Yellowstone remained hidden and undiscovered. Poulsen’s exploration of Yellowstone Waterfalls and its geysers can be seen in the Whitney Western Art Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. With Symphony in White, Imperial Geyser, presented here, Poulsen renders a luminous palette of pastels and light, “Monet” style.
Gene Swallow (Oglala Lakota)
Gene Swallow, is an enrolled citizen of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Gene is a textile artist who creates textile fabric sculptures and Lakota inspired dolls. Gene recently won the Best of Division III: Three Dimensional Award in the 2021 Native POP People of the Planes Art Show. He was also recognized as a 2021 First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership Fellow.
Gene has a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, Early Childhood Education, and Cosmetology. Before joining NDN Collective Gene spent 10 combined years of rewarding experience working in the Oglala Lakota County and Rapid City Area School Districts implementing the Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings.
Andre Von Morisse
Andre von Morisse, Portrait of Albert 1er Prince de Monaco, 2024, oil on canvas, 24 x 22 inches.
This portrait of Prince Albert 1er of Monaco is an hommage to the Prince of Monaco who came to Cody in September 1913 and met with Buffalo Bill, Sitting Bull and Annie Oakley in a famous expedition called “Camp Monaco”.
Andre Von Morisse, triptych titled: Three Amigos (Meeting Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, Sitting Bull), 2024, oil on three canvases, each 24 x 22 in.
This triptych is a continuation of the artist series “The Impossibility of Meeting Someone Famous Objectively”. The artist continues his exploration of iconic figures in history focusing on the American West. With Three Amigos he reveals the real names of each amigo: Annie Oakley’s real name was Phoebe Ann Moses. A formidable young woman, she impressed Sitting Bull who adopted her as his daughter and gave her the Indian name “Watanya Cicilla” (Little Sure Shot); When a young boy, Sitting Bull was named “Hoka Psice” (Jumping Badger), his nickname was “Hunkesi” (Slow) because he used to take his time to think things through before taking action. As a grown man he became “Tatanka Iyotake” (Buffalo Bull Who Sits Down) which was translated as Sitting Bull; William Frederick Cody was friend with both and was nicknamed “Buffalo Bill” after his contract to supply Kansas Pacific Railroad workers with Buffalo meat.
Andre von Morisse is a conceptual painter, interested in exploring aspects of human psychology and how we interact with the world. His works were featured in many group shows in galleries and museums in the US: Kunstnerenes Hus Oslo, Norway; The Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC; Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL; Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI; Museum of Southwest Texas, Midland, TX ; Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX. In 2005, Von Morisse was the recipient of the Best New Contemporary Artists Award 2005, at the Kunstnerenes Hus Museum, Oslo, Norway.
Von Morisse work is held in prominent museum and private collections in the United States.
Andre Von Morisse
Andre Von Morisse, Childhood 2 (Forest), 2024, oil on canvas, 36 x 48 in.
Remembering the forest of his childhood in Norway, Von Morisse extended his longing for Nature in his “Forest” series with Autumnal colors of the Far West Rockies. There, the freedom of the children roaming into the wilderness is felt throughout the picture.
Andre von Morisse is a conceptual painter, interested in exploring aspects of human psychology and how we interact with the world. His works were featured in many group shows in galleries and museums in the US: Kunstnerenes Hus Oslo, Norway; The Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC; Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL; Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI; Museum of Southwest Texas, Midland, TX ; Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX. In 2005, Von Morisse was the recipient of the Best New Contemporary Artists Award 2005, at the Kunstnerenes Hus Museum, Oslo, Norway.
Von Morisse work is held in prominent museum and private collections in the United States.
ANDRE VON MORISSE, Three Amigos (Meeting Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, Sitting Bull), oil on canavs each 24 x 22 in.