Morgan Weistling - The Illuminated Frontier

Morgan Weistling The Illuminated Frontier

Cover: Cowboy Campfire, 34" x 50" Oil

Morgan Weistling is nationally recognized as one of America’s top contemporary painters today. A

successful illustrator in the Hollywood movie industry for fourteen years, Weistling made a transition to the world of fine art in 1998 as he turned his attention to painting his love for the American frontier spirit. His earliest influence was his artist father on whose lap Morgan sat and sketched at just nineteen months of age.

At the age of 15, he began his serious art training in the Los Angeles area at Brandes Art Institute, run by Fred Fixler. Under Fixler’s tutelage, Weistling learned to paint in the traditions of the Golden Age of Illustration.

Weistling was recruited out of art school by the top advertising agency in Hollywood, Bacon Reneric Design, at the age of 19. For 14 years he created movie posters with every major studio in the entertainment business. Morgan thrived under the challenges presented to him in the highly stressed poster industry but was looking forward to a time when he could stretch himself more artistically.

After leaving illustration, Morgan soon became known nationally for his exquisite oil paintings that showcase his well honed drawing ability and his skilled control over values, edges and light. He captures the mood and atmosphere of the past and his attention to the historical aspects of his subjects comes from his desire to portray the truth and beauty of America’s pioneering spirit with a cinematic eye. Each of the paintings in this show reveals his desire to put the viewer in the scene as a witness to the event. His paintings have a deep sense of history to them due to his research and authentic costumes that he has specially made for him. He is inspired by his vast collection of artifacts and period saddles as well as his collaboration with top Old West historian and actor, Peter Sherayko.

Morgan notes, “In my paintings, I hope to communicate with the viewer the same emotional response that I felt and was inspired by.

There has to be something visually stunning in the scene that causes me to want to capture that. Sometimes it is the personality of my model and a particular pose that just begs to be painted. Other times it’s just the way a particular edge stands out among the softer ones around it. Whatever it is, I know it must come from my heart or I won’t stay interested nor will the viewer.”

Weistling’s paintings have won multiple awards and been purchased for permanent display by major museums. He is still the youngest to ever win the coveted Prix de West Award at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. He also went on to win it a second time in 2008.

Also interested in depicting his Christian faith, Morgan has portrayed the life of Christ in many of his paintings. Four years ago he took over the honored position that was held by G. Harvey with Focus on the Family as their official annual print artist. A retrospective book titled A Brush with History chronicled his vast body of work and sold out at first printing.

Morgan and his wife, JoAnn, have been married since 1990 and have two daughters, Brittany and Sienna. JoAnn is represented by Joanne Watson Fine Art and Trailside Galleries and paints under the name “JoAnn Peralta”. She will be exhibiting in the highly anticipated show “America Narratives in Fine Art”, in Texas in 2024.

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The Day They Rode In

28" x 30" Oil

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Morgan Weistling The Illuminated Frontier

premiering a large body of new work November 11-19, 2023 Saturday, November 11th 2023 Scottsdale, Arizona

10:00 am

presentation by Morgan Weistling

5:00 - 7:00 pm

Artists’ Reception & Sale Legacy Gallery • Scottsdale sale will be conducted by draw

S cot tsdale • San ta Fe

7178 Main Street • Scottsdale, AZ 85251 • 480-945-1113 225 Canyon Road • Santa Fe, NM 87501 www. l e g ac y g a l l e r y. c o m 3

For as long as I can remember I always related to the West through movies. It was also how my father and I bonded. I find it to be challenging as an artist to work with one image to tell the story unlike a cinematographer who gets to move around. In my painting called “The Posse”, you are put in the saddle along with the other cowboys that are forming and organizing a plan to capture some renegades. I want the viewer to become a part of the scene and cause your imagination to fill in the answers to the many questions this painting presents. There is a sense that there is a lot more outside the borders of the canvas and a great adventure awaits.

This painting is a very personal one for me because all of the cowboys in it are very special friends of mine. They are un-sung heroes of the long standing history of the Great American Western. I have had the privilege of working with some of the best actors, stuntmen, and wranglers in the Western movie business and capturing them on canvas.

4

The Posse

30" x 60" Oil

5

Just Passing Through

35" x 24" Oil

6

Cattle Watch Disturbance

24" x 24" Oil

7

Apple Picking

30" x 40" Oil

8

Butterflies

Sticks in the Mud

20" x 28" Oil

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16" x 24" Oil

There is a universal experience that all humans have shared and it occurs around a fire. These cowpokes are deep in thought after a long day on the trail. Beans and coffee are being warmed in the flames as the camp unfolds in the background. Indications show that they might have some settlers tagging along on the trail. I composed this painting in such a way as to bring the viewer into the scene as one of the cowboys at the campfire. I want you to come in close enough to feel the heat and hear the crackling. When this was originally conceived, it was just one cowboy, his horse, and a fire. But paintings speak to me and beg me to expand the story more and more. It actually is shocking to me to see where it ended up.

10

Cowboy Campfire

34" x 50" Oil

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Mashed Potatoes

34" x 30" Oil

12

A Lasting Love

32" x 26" Oil

13

The Search for Vasquez

32" x 26" Oil

14

The Elkhorn Gang

14" x 34" Oil

15

Taking to Higher Ground

24" x 18" Oil

16

Reflection of Love

26" x 20" Oil

17

A Narrow Pass

32" x 22" Oil

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Awards • 2000 Patrons Choice award in the Masters of the American West show at the Autry Museum • 2001 Prix de West award at the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma. Morgan’s painting, The Dance, is in the permanent museum collection • 2001 Nona Jean Hulsey Buyer’s Choice Award at the Cowboy Hall of Fame’s Prix de West • 2002 Trustees Purchase Award from the Autry Museum. Morgan’s painting, The Family Trade, is in the permanent museum collection.

• 2007 Patron’s Choice Award from the Autry National Heritage Museum for his painting The Quilting Bee • 2007 Artist’s Choice Award from the Autry National Heritage Museum for his painting The Quilting Bee • 2008 Patron’s Choice Award and the Artist’s Choice Award from the Autry National Heritage Museum show “Masters of the American West” for his painting titled The First Dance • 2008 Prix de West Purchase Award for his painting titled Indian Stories. This painting now is in the National Cowboy and Western Heritage permanent collection.

• 2010 Patron’s Choice Award from the Autry National Heritage Museum show “Masters of the American West” for his painting titled The Country Schoolhouse 1874 • 2011 Patron’s Choice Award from the Autry National Heritage Museum show Masters of the American West” for his painting titled Where Stories Were Told • 2011 Collector’s Choice award at the Coeur D’Alene Art Auction • 2013 Patron’s Choice and Artist’s Choice award at the Masters of the American West show for The Country Doctor • 2014 Master’s of the American West Purchase award for Family Traditions

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Publications • Art Talk Magazine Feb. 1998 - Artist to Watch article

• Western Art Collector Jan. 2010 - Feature article

• US Art Magazine Dec. 1998 – Cover and article

• Western Art and Architecture Winter/Spring 2010

• Art of the West Magazine April 1999 – Cover and

• International Artist Magazine April 2010

feature article

• American Artist July/August 2010 - Feature Article

• Southwest Art Magazine Nov. 2000 – Cover and article

• Art of the West May/June 2015 - Feature Article

• Persimmon Hill Magazine Summer 2001 - Cover and feature article

• Western Art Collector Feb. 2017 - Feature Article

• U.S. Art Magazine Dec. 2001 - Article

• The Epoch Times July 2017 - Feature Article

• American Artist Magazine August 2002 - Feature article

• Art of the West May/June 2018 - Article about new book

• Southwest Art Magazine June 2002 - Feature article

• Western Art Collector Magazine August 2018 - Book review

• Art of the West November 2002 - Cover and feature article

• Western Art Collector Magazine Sept. 2018 - Feature

• Art of the West Jan. 2004 - Feature article

article on one-man show

• American Artist Workshop Magazine Summer 2005 - Feature article

• Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine October 2019 - Feature

• Art of the West April 2006 - Feature article

• Focus on the Family Magazine December 2019 - Feature

• Western Art Collector Jan. 2008 - Feature article

• Wild West Magazine December 2019 - Feature

• Persimmon Hill Magazine Summer 2008 - Cover and article

• Cowboys and Indians Magazine May/June 2020 - Feature

• Western Art Collector June 2009 - Cover

• Western Art Collector Magazine Sept. 2020 - Feature

• Art of the West Nov/Dec. 2009 - Cover and feature article

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S cot ts dale • San ta Fe 7178 Main Street • Scottsdale, AZ 85251 • 480-945-1113 225 Canyon Road • Santa Fe, NM 87501 www. l e g ac y g a l l e r y. c o m