M a rt i n Gre l l e
For the Love of the West
Martin Grelle began drawing and painting when he was very young and was fortunate
to have James Boren and Melvin Warren, two professional artists and members of the prestigious Cowboy Artists of America, move to the area when he was still in high school. It has had a lasting impact on his direction and career. Mentored by Boren, he had his first oneman show at a local gallery within a year of graduating from high school in 1973. In the 44 years since that time, he has produced some 30 one-man exhibitions, including annual shows at Overland Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona from 1989 through 2014, and has won awards of both regional and national importance at shows around the country. Grelle was invited to join the membership of the Cowboy Artists of America in 1995, fulfilling a dream that began in the early 70’s when he first met Boren and Warren. That same year he was invited to participate in the first Prix de West Invitational at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. Since that time, he has won the Prix de West Purchase Award, twice (one of only seven artists to do so), the Nona Jean Hulsey Rumsey Buyers’ Choice Award, three times, the CA People’s Choice Award in 2002, the CA Ray Swanson Award in 2008, the CA Buyers’ Choice Award in 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2018, and the Silver Award for Water Solubles in 2012 and 2014. In addition he was awarded the Silver Award for Oil in 2017, the Gold Award for Drawing in 2018, and the Silver Award for Mixed Media in 2019. He was awarded the Legacy Award by The Briscoe Museum in 2012 for his impact on western art and was presented the Spirit of the West Award by the San Dimas Festival of Arts in April of 2016, and the Artist of Excellence Award by the Booth Museum in Georgia in 2020. He was awarded the Sam Houston Best Painting Award at the Briscoe Museum’s Night of Artist Exhibition in 2020. In May of 2021, Grelle was acknowledged for his Artistic contributions to the state of Texas by the state Senate.
Grelle has served on the board of directors for the CA organization, serving as President for 2014 and 2018, and as Chairman of CAA 50th Anniversary Events during 2015. He was the co-volume editor of The Sons of Charlie Russell book released in 2015 to celebrate the CAA’s 50th year. He is also involved with The Joe Beeler Foundation, founded by the Cowboy Artists of America to coincide with their mentoring program, which provides scholarship opportunities for artists seeking to improve their skills and has served on the Board of Directors for the past several years and as President during 2014-2015 and 2018-2019.
Martin & Joyce Grelle at the Texas Capitol
being honored for his artistic achievement by Senators Bryan Hughes & Brian Birdwell
Martin Grelle has a real sense of responsibility to his collectors, which fills his heart every morning when he walks into the studio believing that what he does is a gift entrusted to him from God and must not be left unused or taken for granted, but developed and improved upon. His parents and Jim and Mary Ellen Boren, all set that example for him – an example of not only striving to be the best artist he can be, but the best man he can be as well. Beyond his studio, Grelle strives to pass on what others have passed to him. He has given multiple demonstrations around the country, teaches an annual weekend workshop along with his good friend and fellow CA, Bruce Greene – which they have done for 30 years - and mentors other aspiring artists by critiquing their work. He has donated work to a large number of organizations to aid in their progress including The Bosque Arts Center in Clifton, Texas where he resides with his wife Joyce on small ranch a few miles out of town. He also has two sons, Josh and Jordan, who have left home to pursue their dreams.
Remembrance 42" x 40" Acrylic & Oil 2
M a rt i n Gre l l e For the Love of the West Show & Sale • Scottsdale, AZ October 30th - November 6th, 2021 Artist Reception Saturday, October 30th 5:00 - 7:00 pm draw and live auction will start at 6:00 pm For more information on additional works please view the entire show online at www.legacygallery.com. Sale will be conducted by draw or live auction. Those in attendance at the opening will be given preference on the sale of selected items. Please contact the gallery for more details, (480) 945-1113.
scot tsdale • santa fe www.legacygallery.com 480-945-1113 3
Tales of Glories Past 38" x 60" Acrylic & Oil The idea for this painting has been in development for 9 years. I shot the first reference photos with a group of models in 2012. Since then, I have been letting it mull in my mind, as well as shooting various other references to help me set it up the best way possible for the visual story I wanted to portray. Story telling was an important and entertaining method of passing down the history of various Nations of the American Indian peoples. Oral stories and histories were told over and over, so that the younger generations were able to remember them and then pass them down as well. Visual records in the form of robes, tipis, tipi liners, etc. - as well as ledger books in the latter part of the 19th century – told of individual heroics as well as tribal stories of glories and hardships. The older man in the painting has employed his bow to help illustrate and re-enforce the stories he is telling of his younger days. They sit inside a canvas lodge, with an old hide liner covered with various pictographs, and with many other items that were usually found within the lodge. My goal was to capture the character of the story-teller and to honor the traditional ways. -Martin Grelle-
4
5
6
Cheyenne Sewing Class 42" x 42" Acrylic & Oil One of the things most important to me in creating the paintings that I do, is to try to point out the beauty in the ordinary, everyday parts of life. As with all people, the people who called the American west their home would teach their children how to do things that they had learned from their own parents. Boys would learn from their fathers, uncles, and others how to do the things required of a man of their tribe. Girls learned from their mothers, aunts and other women in camp how to do the many things they did daily for the benefit of their family and their people. They were just people being people, and I find a great beauty in it. In this painting, a mother is teaching her children to put together fresh moccasins. She is separating sinew to be used to sew the upper leather piece to the lower, harder sole of the moccasin while explaining how it will be done. The girl is holding an awl in her right hand, which she will use to punch the holes for the sinew to be threaded through. Meanwhile, the younger girl has gotten tired on this pleasant autumn day and has dozed off on her mother’s lap. It is an ordinary moment, and I hope others will see the beauty in it as I have. -Martin Grelle-
7
Blackfoot Passage Seekers 48" x 60" Oil In early July of 2019, my wife, Joyce and I had the opportunity to travel into Canada and explore the area of Banff and Jasper National Parks. The setting for BLACKFOOT PASSAGE SEEKERS is the first major piece that I’ve done from that experience. It is a location along the North Saskatchewan River as we traveled back to our hotel at Lake Louise late in the day. The sun was hitting directly the upper portions of the incredible mountains in that area, while the light illuminated the clouds in the west creating a glow in the valley where I stood. This area was home to the Blackfoot Confederacy (the Siksika, Kainai, and Piikani Nations), the Stoney Nakoda Nations, and the Tsuut’ina First Nations. This setting is very close to a passage used for centuries along what is now called the Howse River. It was easy to imagine a group of Blackfoot warriors looking for an elusive smaller pass where they sought to camp for the night, away from the more travelled areas. I sought to capture the grandeur of the area, the wonderful lighting of that time of day, and a moment in the everyday lives of these men. -Martin Grelle-
8
9
10
Signals In the Night 40" x 32" Oil This is another painting that took a while for me to get organized in my mind and to make sure it was a viable concept. I wrote down the idea and did a small thumbnail sketch many years ago, and finally had models pose for me in 2017. After further sketches and research, I finally felt confident to paint it for this show. My concern initially was that this was a “Hollywood” concept, and not something that was commonplace enough to be an historically correct thing to paint. With help from some expert friends, I was pointed to a passage from the manuscripts of George Belden, where I read that “fire arrows” or “signal arrows” were indeed used, and that war parties would carry them as separate bundles. This is Belden’s description of how they were made and used: “They take off the head of the arrow and dip the shaft in gunpowder, mixed with glue. This they call making fire arrows. The gunpowder adheres to the wood, and coats it three or four inches from its end, to the depth of one-fourth of an inch. Chewed bark mixed with dry gunpowder is then fastened to the stick, and the arrow is ready for use. When it is to be fired, a warrior places it on the bow-string and draws his bow ready to let it fly; the point of the arrow is then lowered, another warrior lights the dry bark, and it is shot high in the air.” In the painting, I have placed these Sioux warriors in a rocky area of the Black Hills, where they have positioned themselves to be concealed, yet where they can fire the signal arrows to be seen by the others in their war party below. From a painting perspective, the challenge was capturing a full moon-lit night and the effect of 2 separate sources of fire and how that would impact those areas. I am hopeful that it has achieved the desired effect. -Martin Grelle-
11
The Run 44" x 58" Oil In this painting, my goal was to capture the action of the buffalo hunt, but also to show the beauty of the moment. The American west is full of beautiful places, and I gain inspiration from all of it. The setting for the painting is in the area to the southwest of the Wind River range in Wyoming, where mountains are still dominant in the background while giving way to an area of sage and grass covered rolling hills and valleys. Many of the first peoples traveled this area, and when the buffalo were still plentiful, they could be found here as well. There were particular ways for tribes to go about hunts, with rules being set forth before the hunt ever began, so that as many animals could be harvested as possible to meet the needs of the people. Horses were trained for months in preparation for hunting, and some never met the demands required for such an important event. Once the hunt began, it was up to each hunter to take as many animals as were needed as quickly as possible while trying to maintain the goals and the safety of everyone involved. Once they started into the herd, the goal was to get individual buffalo separated enough to be able to take them down without being immediately in jeopardy of the other stampeding animals. Both the bow and the lance were used, even after trade guns were available, as it was more expedient for the well-trained hunters to use a bow than to try to reload a gun while galloping in pursuit of these amazingly fast 2,000 lb. animals. The main figure in the painting has both his lance and a bow and quiver, so that he could use the lance until it could not be dislodged and then switch to his bow. He would drop his reins as he approached a selected buffalo and take the lance in both hands to make the kill. It was also common, according to my reading, for them to have a loop around their horses neck which was 15 to 20 ft in length, so they could grab it if dislodged from their mount and get back into action as quickly as possible. In many George Catlin paintings this loop is evident. The buffalo hunt was an incredible affair and was referred to as “the chase” or, as I have titled this painting, “The Run”. -Martin Grelle-
12
13
The Gifts of Summer 24" x 46" Oil
14
October Morning Gather 24" x 24" Acrylic
15
A Man of Stature 16" x 16" Acrylic
Wolves in Yellowstone Country 40" x 48" Oil ▶ The setting for this painting is known as Lewis Falls and is found in the southern part of Yellowstone National Park. Although very easily accessed from the main highway coming from the south into Yellowstone, it is still very natural and offers a beautiful setting for my work. It was a well-traveled area during the warm months, both by first peoples and by trappers. I have pictured a group of Crow scouts, or wolves, passing through the area as they search for any dangers and for any game that their main party of warriors might need. Wolves were often sent out by the party leaders, or pipe-carriers, to whom they would report back once they had completed their task. They were vital to the safety and well-being of their war or hunting party. As is shown in the painting, these scouts would often don the hide of a wolf or coyote as part of their role and could mimic these animals when dismounted and crawling through grasses, etc. to get closer to an enemy camp. -Martin Grelle-
16
Wolves in Yellowstone Country 40" x 48" Oil
17
Warrior’s Horse 24" x 14" Acrylic & Oil
The Umbrella Keeper 30" x 18" Oil 18
Awards & Accolades Affiliations • Cowboy Artists of America, 1995-Present • Cowboy Artists of America, President, 2014 & 2018, Chairman of CAA 50th Anniversary Events, 2015 • Co-Volume Editor, The Sons of Charlie Russell, CAA book released in 2015 • American Indian & Cowboy Artists (AICA), 1977-1983 Selected Exhibitions • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Prix de West, Oklahoma City, OK, 1995-2021 • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Cowboy Artist of America Exhibition, Oklahoma City, OK, 2011-2018 • Briscoe Western Art Museum, Night of Artists, San Antonio, Texas, 2017-2021 • Gilcrease Museum, Rendezvous Artists’ Retrospective and Art Sale, Tulsa, OK, 2013 • Phoenix Art Museum, Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition & Sale, Phoenix, AZ, 1996-2010 • Autry National Center, Masters of the American West, Los Angeles, CA, 2000-2005, 2007, 2009 • Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians & Western Art, Quest for the West Exhibition, Indianapolis, IN, 2006, 2015 • Evening of Art, McKinney, TX, 1988-1989 • Texas Ranger Hall of Fame Show, Waco, TX, 1985 • American Indian & Cowboy Artists (AICA), San Dimas, CA, 1977-1983 • Phippen Museum, George Phippen Memorial Outside Show, Prescott, AZ, 1977 Books & Publications • The Sons of Charlie Russell, B. Byron Price, CAA Joe Beeler Foundation, 2015 • Erivan & Helga Haub Family Collection of Western Art, Mollring Enterprises, 2005 • Cowboy Artists of America, Michael Duty, 2002 • Leading the West, One Hundred Contemporary Painters & Sculptors, Donald J. Hagerty, 1997 • Contemporary Western Artists, Harold & Peggy Samuels, 1982 Selected Collections • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma • Booth Western Art Museum, Cartersville, Georgia • Erivan & Helga Haub Family • The Eddie Basha Collection, Chandler, Arizona • Briscoe Western Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas • Scottsdale’s Museum of the West, Scottsdale, Arizona • The James Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida Recent Articles • Cover of Western Art Collector - October 2021 • Southwest Art - October 2021 • Art of the West - September/October 2018 • Western Art & Architecture - October/November 2017 • Cowboys & Indians - October 2017 19
Awards
• National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Prix de West, Buyer’s Choice Award, Oklahoma City, OK, 2020 • Briscoe Western Art Museum, Night of Artists, Best in Show – Painting, San Antonio, TX, 2020 • Booth Museum, Artist of Excellence Award, Cartersville, GA, 2020 • Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition, Silver Award, Mixed Media, Ft. Worth, TX, 2019 • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition, Buyer’s Choice Award, Oklahoma City, OK, 2018 • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition, Gold Award, Drawing, Oklahoma City, OK, 2018 • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition, Silver Award, Oil, Oklahoma City, OK, 2017 • San Dimas Festival of Arts, San Dimas, California, Spirit of the West Award, 2016 • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition, Silver Award, Water Solubles, Oklahoma City, OK, 2014 • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition, Buyer’s Choice, Oklahoma City, OK, 2014 • Gilcrease Museum - Rendezvous Retrospective, 2013 • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition, Silver Award, Water Solubles, Oklahoma City, OK, 2012 • Briscoe Western Art Museum, Legacy Award, San Antonio, TX, 2012 • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition, Buyers Choice, Oklahoma City, OK, 2012 • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition, Buyers Choice, Oklahoma City, OK, 2011 • Phoenix Art Museum, Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition & Sale, Ray Swanson Memorial Award, “Newlyweds”, Phoenix, AZ, 2008 • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Prix de West, Nona Jean Hulsey Buyer’s Choice, “Dust in the Distance”, Oklahoma City, OK, 2006 • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Prix de west, Purchase Award, “Two Coups”, Oklahoma City, OK, 2005 • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Prix de West, Nona Jean Hulsey Buyer’s Choice, “Signs Along the Snake”, Oklahoma City, OK, 2004 • Greeley Stampede Western Invitational Art Exhibit & Sale, Artist’s Choice Award, Greeley, CO, 2003 • Greeley Stampede Western Invitational Art Exhibit & Sale, Buyer’s Choice Award, Greeley, CO, 2003 • Phoenix Art Museum, Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition & Sale, People’s Choice Award, “Monarchs of the North”, Phoenix, AZ, 2002 • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Prix de West, Purchase Award, “Teller of Tales,” Oklahoma City, OK, 2002 • Evening of Art, Best of Show, McKinney, TX, 1989 • Evening of Art, Best Work in Opaque Painting, McKinney, TX, 1988 • Texas Ranger Hall of Fame Show, Silver Award for Oils, Waco, TX, 1985 • Texas Ranger Hall of Fame Show, Artist Award, Waco, TX, 1985 • American Indian & Cowboy Artists (AICA), 3rd Annual Exhibition, Gold Medal for Drawing, San Dimas, CA, 1979 • American Indian & Cowboy Artists (AICA), 3rd Annual Exhibition, Best of Show, Lloyd Mitchell Memorial Award, San Dimas, CA, 1979 • American Indian & Cowboy Artists (AICA), Bronze Medal for Drawing, 1st Annual Exhibition, San Dimas, CA, 1977 • Phippen Museum, Silver Award for Water Color, George Phippen Memorial Outside Show, Prescott, AZ, 1977
Scottsdale • Santa Fe 7178 Main Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 • 480-945-1113 www.legacygallery.com