Tom (Thomas) Ryan
Soaking Up
c.1970

About the Item

This artwork titled "Soaking Up" c.1970 is an original lithograph on paper by noted western artist Tom (Thomas) Ryan, 1922-2011. It is hand signed, titled and numbered 68/100 in pencil by the artist. The artwork (image) size is 12 x 17.35 inches, sheet size is 17.5 x 21.65 inches. It is in excellent condition About the artist: Tom Ryan was born Jan. 12, 1922, in Springfield, Ill., to William Martin Ryan — whose family immigrated to Illinois from Ireland in the 1880s — and Sarah Helen Behrens, whose ancestry predates the Revolutionary War. They had nine children — six boys and three girls. He began drawing before he went to school. "I was 4 years old and drawing airplanes, and an older brother was helping me," Ryan told the Reporter-Telegram in a 2002 interview at the Haley Library's going away party held in his honor. "Those were my first art lessons." He did not decide to be an artist until after his service in World War II. While in the U.S. Navy during the war, he "made quite a bit of money" drawing portraits of his shipmates and other servicemen. After being discharged in 1945, he picked up a Life magazine that carried an article about N.C. Wyeth. "I read the article, and I liked what I read, and I loved the pictures reproduced from his paintings in the article," Ryan said in 2002. "I decided then and there to be an artist." Following his graduation from the American Academy of Art, an education made possible through the GI Bill, he returned to Springfield where he married Jacqueline "Jacquie" Harvey, daughter of a local doctor. She died in 1998. The Ryans moved to New York City where he continued his studies at the Art Students League. During his second year at the Art Students League, he won a contest. His winning painting became the cover for Western writer Ernest Haycox's novel The Outlaw. "Every month after that I also received an assignment from this publisher, and they would be Western novels," Ryan said in 2002. "So that's what I did for the next six or seven years. Then I started exhibiting at the Latendorf Gallery on Madison Avenue. What I sold mainly were the book covers. They would be published and I would get paid by the publisher, and I'd take them to the gallery, and I'd get paid again." Ryan began making trips west in the late 1950s. He would stay three or four months painting, sketching and photographing scenes he'd need later. At that time, his works centered around historical events and places. "I particularly liked to do some of the trail drive things that I did, like the old longhorns," Ryan said in 2002. In the early 1960s, a work by Norman Rockwell and one by Ryan appeared in the same catalog. Rockwell, who was doing the Boy Scouts calendars for Brown and Bigelow, the premiere calendar publishing company in the United States, told the calendar company about Ryan. "The art director gave me a call and asked if I'd like to do a contemporary cowboy painting for Brown and Bigelow," Ryan said in 2002. "I damn near fell out of the chair. It was unbelievable." He traveled west to the 6666 Ranch and 'fell in love" with the place. From the material he put together during his three-week stay, he did his first calendar for Brown and Bigelow. He also quit painting historical scenes and "went smack right in on the cowboy contemporary scene." In the mid-1960s, he was invited to join the Cowboy Artists of America and served as president 1969-1970. He also, during those years, moved to Texas, settling first in Lubbock and then in Stamford. In 1971, his work was featured in a book by Dean Krakel, Tom Ryan: A Painter in Four Sixes Country. He was director of the OS Ranch Art Exhibit at the OS Ranch, Post, in 1973, and a year later did the same thing for the Stamford Art Foundation. In the mid-1970s, Ryan participated in four or five shows annually. In 1977, he added the Nita Stewart Haley Memorial Library's Art Show and Sale to his list. In 1987, he was the Arts Assembly (now Council) of Midland's Celebration of the Arts Distinguished Artist. His work hangs in private collections and public facilities across the country. In 1994, he was honored by his hometown and home state. The Springfield Art Association honored him with an exhibition of 45 paintings on loan from institutions and collections. Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar proclaimed Sept. 10, 1994, Tom Ryan Day in Illinois and the mayor of Springfield issued the same proclamation. His work was featured in a 2002 book, this time a 250-page coffee table book, Cowboy Artists of America, that showcases art by 24 artists. Within its covers are seven works by Ryan. "From the 1960s through the 1990s Ryan exhibited in a wide variety of one-man and group shows and won virtually every honor available to a contemporary Western artist," said the biography of Ryan on the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum website, noting that a 2001 career retrospective at the museum that featured not only Ryan's paintings and drawings, but also many of the 6666 Ranch photographs that served as his source material, demonstrated "the breadth and depth of his artistic legacy." In her 2001 book on Ryan, Susan McGarry wrote: "His legacy of paintings not only documents 20th century cowboy life, it is also a profound statement about [the] indomitable spirit of men caught up in complex relationships with other men, with animals and with the unpredictable faces of Mother Nature." Hi work is held in several museums throughout the country, including the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City; Cowboy Artists of America Museum, Kerrville, Texas; American Quarter Horse Association Heritage Center and Museum, Amarillo, Texas; Ranching Heritage Association Museum, Lubbock, Texas; and Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Creator:

Tom (Thomas) Ryan (1922 - 2011, American)

Creation Year:

c.1970

Dimensions:

Height: 17.5 in (44.45 cm)Width: 21.65 in (55 cm)Depth: 0.01 in (0.26 mm)

Medium:

Lithograph

Movement & Style:

American Realist

Period:

Late 20th Century