William McKim

'Bighorn' — Mid-Century American Regionalism

1940

James Houston McConnell, 'Equus Uirumpu' (The Man's Horse), color serigraph, c. 1945, edition not stated but small. Signed and titled in pencil. Initialed in the image, lower right. ...

Dale Nichols, 'Partners', lithograph, edition 250, 1950. Signed in pencil. A fine, richly-inked impression, on cream wove paper; the full sheet with margins (7/8 to 1 5/8 inches); tw...

George Elbert Burr, 'Old Cedars – New Mexico', etching, 1920, edition 40, Seeber 218. Signed and annotated '(c) George Elbert Burr Del. et Imp.' in pencil. ...

Ira Moskowitz, 'Relic of the Insurrection of 1845' also 'Taos Pueblo with Ruin)', lithograph, 1944, edition 30, Czestochowski 121. Signed and titled in pencil. Signed and dated in the stone, lower right. A fine, richly-inked impression, on cream wove paper, with full margins (1 3/8 to 1 15/16 inches). Very pale light toning within a previous mat opening, otherwise in excellent condition. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 11 5/8 x 15 1/2 inches (296 x 394 mm); sheet size 15 1/8 x 19 inches (384 x 483 mm). ABOUT THE IMAGE The Taos Revolt was a populist insurrection in January 1847 by Hispano and Pueblo allies against the United States occupation of present-day northern New Mexico during the Mexican–American War. The rebels killed provisional governor Charles Bent and several other Americans. In two short campaigns, United States troops and militia crushed the rebellion of the Hispano and Pueblo people. The New Mexicans, seeking better representation, regrouped and fought three more engagements, but after being defeated, they abandoned open warfare. The hatred of New Mexicans for the occupying American army, combined with the rebelliousness of Taos residents against imposed outside authority, were causes of the revolt. In the uprising's aftermath, the Americans executed at least 28 rebels. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1850 guaranteed the property rights of New Mexico's Hispanic and American Indian residents. ABOUT THE ARTIST Ira Moskowitz was born in Galicia, Poland, in 1912, emigrating with his family to New York in 1927. He enrolled at the Art Student's League and studied there from 1928-31. In 1935, Moskowitz traveled to Paris and then lived until 1937 in what is now Israel. He returned to the United States in 1938 to marry artist Anna Barry in New York. The couple soon visited Taos and Santa Fe in New Mexico, returning for extended periods until 1944, when they moved there permanently, staying until 1949. During this especially productive New Mexico period, Moskowitz received a Guggenheim fellowship. His work was inspired by the New Mexico landscape and the state’s three cultures (American Southwest, Native American, and Mexican). He focused on Pueblo and Navajo life, producing an extensive oeuvre of authentic American Indian imagery. He and Anna also visited and sketched across the border in Old Mexico. While in the Southwest, Moskowitz flourished as a printmaker while continuing to produce oils and watercolors. Over 100 of Moskowitz’s works depicting Native American ceremonies were used to illustrate the book American Indian Ceremonial Dances by John Collier, Crown Publishers, New York, 1972. After leaving the Southwest, printmaking remained an essential medium for the artist while his focus changed to subject matter celebrating Judaic religious life and customs. These works were well received early on, and Moskowitz was content to stay with them the rest of his life. From 1963 until 1966, Moskowitz lived in Paris, returning to New York City in 1967, where he made his permanent home until he died in 2001. Shortly before his death, Zaplin-Lampert Gallery of Santa Fe staged an exhibition of the artist's works, December 2000 - January 2001. Other one-person shows included the 8th Street Playhouse, New York, 1934; Houston Museum, 1941; and the San Antonio Museum, 1941. The artist’s work was included in exhibitions at the Art Students League, Art Institute of Chicago, Philadelphia Print Club, College Art Association (promotes excellence in scholarship and teaching), and the International Exhibition of Graphic Arts (shown at MOMA, 1955). Moskowitz’s lithographs of American Indian...

Russell Gordon's "Bighorn Moonrise" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts big-horned sheep in a majestic purple landscape. Russell is a r...

In th Bighorns (Wyoming) Drypoint, c. 1930's Signed in pencil lower right (see photo) Titled in the plate lower left Condition: Excellent Image/Plate size: 6 3/8 x 4 3/8 inches Hans Kleiber (1887-1967) Hans Norbert Kleiber, painter, etcher, illustrator, and naturalist, was born in Cologne, Germany on August 24, 1887. He emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1900, settling in Massachusetts before moving to Wyoming. Kleiber first worked in lumber camps before working for the United States Forest Service from 1906 until 1924. One of his duties as a ranger was to monitor the logging camps in the Bighorn Mountains. Kleiber was primarily self-taught as an artist and it was in the 1920s that he began devoting himself to art. It appears that he first began to work in watercolor and oil but was producing etchings and drypoints as early as 1924. He traversed the mountains of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, and his subjects are drawn from the pristine landscapes and wildlife. Kleiber's first exhibition of his etchings was mounted in 1928 at Goodspeed's Book Shop in Boston. His etching, Crossing the Platte, was included in the 1939 New York World's Fair exhibition, American Art Today. There was an exhibition of fifty of his etchings at the National Museum in 1944, and an exhibition of his watercolors was mounted at the Grand Central Galleries in New York in 1950. Kleiber was a member of the Society of American Etchers and the California Society of Printmakers. He received a silver medal in 1931 from the Printmakers Society of California for his print, Leaving the High Country...

Original oil painting on linen by artist Kyle Sims. Framed.

Signed lower right, 'Leslie H. Van Nimwegen' (Dutch-American, born 1951) and painted circa 1990. A large oil landscape showing a group of male big...