Tom Lockhart, Along the Old Cochetopa Highway, oil on linen, 22 x 28.
During the 19th century, Colorado’s scenic attributes inspired numerous fine-art masterpieces, including prized landscape paintings by Charles M. Russell, Thomas Moran, George Caleb Bingham, and even a few traveling Hudson River School painters. Later, as modernism and other art movements took root, new generations of artists emerged throughout Colorado, contributing fresh interpretations of life in the Centennial State. The following section presents a sampling of fine artists who are forging new paths in their state’s artistic legacy today. In an assortment of traditional and contemporary styles, they portray Colorado’s alpine scenery, equine traditions, ranching culture, Native American heritage, and much more.