The Museum of Western Art, Kerrville, TX
July 20-September 21
Just an hour’s drive northwest of San Antonio, Texas, is The Museum of Western Art, which dedicates itself to exploring and preserving the nation’s Western heritage through the artwork of creative individuals past and present. Yet, that vision extends well beyond the cowboys-and-Indians West that visitors might at first expect from the museum’s location or its self-described “fortressed hacienda” building of stacked limestone and heavy timbers. “We’re trying to include a broader perspective of what the West means,” says Dr. Darrell Beauchamp, the institution’s executive director since the spring of 2019. “And when people talk or think about the American West, its landscapes are what impress them most.”
Scott Christensen, High in the Wind River Mountains, oil, 26 x 40.
That led Beauchamp some two years ago to talk about a show featuring Idaho-based painter Scott Christensen, “because he’s one of the truly great landscape painters of the West.” Christensen, in turn, suggested sharing the venue with his widely admired colleague and friend Quang Ho, who divides his time between Colorado and rural Pennsylvania and offers a distinctively different take on Western scenes. The result is the exhibition Two Perspectives, featuring a combined total of about 100 works. The art ranges from large-scale canvases to small studies and fills the museum’s three large galleries. Both artists will attend the gala evening opening on Saturday, July 20, as well as participate in talks and workshops the following day.
Quang Ho, Fantasy Arrangement, oil, 30 x 40.
Christensen’s works often reflect the majesty surrounding the alpine West where he lives and paints. This is exemplified by epic canvases like HIGH IN THE WIND RIVER MOUNTAINS, a scene set at such a lofty altitude that the snowpack lingers into midsummer. Seasonal expressions of the Western landscape can be found in other paintings such as his AUGUST TUCSON VALLEY, where monsoonal skies glower over sere summer fields, and MARCH SNOWPACK, which captures the snow-covered late-spring banks of Montana’s Madison River. “While driving back from flyfishing,” notes the artist, “I caught sight of that out of the corner of my eye and had to pull over.”
Scott Christensen, August Tucson Valley, oil on canvas, 48 x 48.
Ho’s contributions to the show, notes the artist and Beauchamp alike, might well at first be mistaken for paintings by 50 different talented individuals. That’s because he relishes the intellectual and creative challenges of executing his works in a variety of styles.
Quang Ho, Blue Rider, oil, 24 x 24.
“Today, I’m going to be a classical musician,” he enthusiastically says by way of analogy, “and maybe I’ll play some jazz tomorrow. I don’t know what I’m going to paint from one day to the next.” The result is masterfully executed and diverse canvases like the intricately detailed still life FANTASY ARRANGEMENT, which celebrates Western flora; the moody forest scene of FORAY; and BLUE RIDER, which sets a realistic horse and rider against a nearly abstract blue-and-orange landscape.
-
- Scott Christensen, Autumn Freemont Lake, oil on canvas, 48 x 52.
-
- Scott Christensen, Comin In, oil on canvas, 30 x 40.
-
- Scott Christensen, March Snowpack, oil on canvas, 44 x 48.
-
- Scott Christensen, Wyoming, oil, 30 x 40.
-
- Quang Ho, Dahlias, 24 x 30.
-
- Quang Ho, Foray, oil, 30 x 42.
-
- Quang Ho, Peaches, 16 x 20.
Such works from both artists fulfill a goal Beauchamp has set for The Museum of Western Art “to turn artists loose and let them express their emotions.” He hopes the resulting experience will “expand people’s thinking about the American West while showing them the creations of world-class painters.” —Norman Kolpas
contact information
(830) 896-2553
museumofwesternart.com
This story appeared in the June/July 2024 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Subscribe today to read every issue in its entirety.