Michael Cassidy Paintings

MICHAEL CASSIDY

Gerald Peters Gallery Santa Fe, NM

COWBOY STORIES, SIXGUN SYNDICATE, OIL ON LINEN, 70 X 48 INCHES

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FAR WEST THE WEST IS A PLACE BUT ALSO A STATE OF MIND. There’s a reason why Western art is still popular today more than a 120 years after the heyday of its subject matter. It represents something intrinsic to us. It just won’t die... we won’t let it die. Few artists paint pirates or colonial subjects anymore. Western art is more popular than ever. Why the West? Simply, the West represents more than a western shoot-out or an Indian hunting buffalo. It’s much more than the sum of its parts.

The West represents a set of values. I acknowledge that the myth and the reality of the West are two different things. The reality was a beautiful but wild, harsh, brutal and unforgiving environment for all concerned. Life was cheap. In our case, it may very well be that the myth of the West is more important than the reality.

In almost every western movie ever made the basic theme is remarkably similar. Good outnumbered by impossible odds somehow triumphs in the end. What’s good, right and just becomes reality. We wish that to be our reality! I think that desire is written in the hearts of most human beings. The desire to live in freedom where with enough good fortune, determination and willingness to work and endure hardship, we might build a life worth living.

The West also represents something crucial to living life to its fullest: Beauty, romance and adventure. The things that really make us come alive. The West also represents liberty and the freedom to go where you want when you want. Whatever you can dream just might be possible.

That was the attraction of the West then, and it still is today. There are wild places few people visit.

Plenty of elbow room if you want to go look for it. There are lots of places you can be alone with your thoughts in stunning beauty. You would be shocked by where you can go with a four wheel drive and good maps. I do it for a living. Believe me it’s still there. If somebody thinks it doesn’t exist anymore they ain’t lookin’ very hard.

In my opinion, we don’t get nearly enough of beauty, romance and adventure. We’re starving for it. We have an unquenchable desire for it. That’s why the myth of the West still lives. It’s hardwired into us.

It’s my hope, desire and pleasure to tell those stories through painting. These paintings are stories on a wall to remind us what we’re looking for and what really makes us come alive.

Michael Cassidy Bend, Oregon 2020

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THE DREAMER, JICARILLA APACHE, OIL ON LINEN, 41 X 30 INCHES

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CHASE AT DAWN, OGLALA SIOUX, PINE RIDGE, OIL ON LINEN, 38 X 27 INCHES

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HUGH CLARK, HORSE CREEK, WYOMING, PORTRAIT, OIL ON LINEN, 12 X 9 INCHES

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RANGE BOSS, ARIZONA, PORTRAIT, OIL ON LINEN, 12 X 9 INCHES

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COWBOY STORIES, GUNS IN GHOST CANYON, OIL ON LINEN, 70 X 50 INCHES

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FAR WEST, OUTLAW VALLEY, OIL ON LINEN, 70 X 52 INCHES

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ABSAROKA MAN, OIL ON LINEN, 16 X 12 INCHES

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TSISNAH APACHE, OIL ON LINEN, 16 X 12 INCHES

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LEMHI SHOSHONE MAN, OIL ON LINEN, 16 X 12 INCHES

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RANGE BOSS, ARIZONA, OIL ON LINEN, 43 X 37 INCHES

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JOHN WAYNE, THE SEARCHERS, OIL ON LINEN, 16 X 12 INCHES

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ODE TO F. T. JOHNSON, OIL ON LINEN, 48 X 36 INCHES

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TEX AUSTIN, “KING OF THE RODEO,” OIL ON LINEN, 16 X 12 INCHES

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RANGE BOSS, BONDURANT, OIL ON LINEN, 16 X 12 INCHES

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CROW MAN, RED LODGE, MONTANA, OIL ON LINEN, 29 X 22 INCHES

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OREGON BUCKAROO, OIL ON LINEN, 41 X 30 INCHES

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HUGH CLARK, HORSE CREEK, WYOMING, OIL ON LINEN, 48 X 23 INCHES

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GREAT BASIN BUCKAROO, OIL ON LINEN, 48 X 23 INCHES

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POUNDMAKER, PLAINS CREE, OIL ON LINEN, 24 X 18 INCHES

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EMILIANO ZAPATA, OIL ON LINEN, 30 X 22 INCHES

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BELOW TAOS MOUNTAINS, OIL ON LINEN, 48 X 27 INCHES

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THE WATER CARRIER, OIL ON LINEN, 28 X 24 INCHES

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THE DANGER TRAIL, GUNPOWDER STRIP, OIL ON LINEN, 70 X 49 INCHES

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MACLAVIO HERRERA, OIL ON LINEN, 40 X 30 INCHES

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ON THE LLANO ESTACADO, OIL ON LINEN, 57 X 22 INCHES

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THE LAST TRAIL, OIL ON LINEN, 70 X 30 INCHES

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For information please contact Maria Hajic mhajic@gpgallery.com

1005 Paseo de Peralta Santa Fe, NM 87501 505.954.5700

24 East 78th Street New York, NY 10075 212.628.9760

@geraldpetersgallery gpgallery.com