Nieto gets iconic; NMWA gets small; gavels to bang at JH Art Auction; painters whip ’em out ...

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

By Susan Burkitt

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-John Nieto’s new show at Mountain Trails Gallery, “American Icons,” shows him moving in an unexpected direction – into the realm of popular culture, with portraits of Jerry Garcia, Miles Davis and even the Statue of Liberty.

Using the same bold colors as in his paintings of Native American figures and Western wildlife, Nieto presents a gallery of people who influenced his life and times. He even includes a self-portrait.

“American Icons” has been hanging at the gallery since Sept. 1 and will remain until Sept. 30.

Nieto’s roots are in New Mexico and his ancestors are of Native American and Spanish descent. Nieto has said that it was his Native American grandmother who encouraged him to paint her people. Nieto studied art at Southern Methodist University, earning a B.A. in fine arts in 1959. He became interested in the bold outlines of the Fauvists, of which Henri Matisse is the best known, while studying in Paris. He uses that same style – brisk strokes of bold color and outlines – to this day.

Nieto’s work has hung in the Reagan White House and can now be found at the Reagan Presidential Library in California. His “Peace and Loyalty” was selected as the official poster of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

The Mountain Trails show is one of several Nieto has hung since he returned to painting after suffering a debilitating stroke in 2002. Nieto made what his wife Renay calls a “miraculous recovery” in 2005, returning to the works he began before his illness and resuming his creative output without regard to the disruption in the years between.
 “Meeting him is powerful, like meeting Picasso,” said gallery director Mark Tarrant.
The artist was warmly received at the museum last year during his first-ever visit to Jackson Hole, said Tarrant, and he wanted to come back.

The public will have several opportunities to meet the artist this weekend. Starting at 10 a.m. on Friday, Nieto will be at the National Museum of Wildlife Art, signing posters of two of his works that hang at the museum, “Taos Buffalo” and “Coyote.”
Mountain Trails Gallery will hold two receptions for the artist, the first 3-6 p.m. on Friday, the second 3-6 p.m. on Saturday. The gallery is located at 150 Center Street. Call 734-8150 for more information.

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Just when you think you can’t build up the energy to attend one more Fall Arts Festival event, along comes the National Musem of Wildife Art’s annual Miniatures and More Show and Sale.

As part of the museum’s 20th annual Western Visions events, which began back on Sept. 1, the Miniatures and More Show will include not only artwork but a book signing by featured artist Carl Brenders, whose “Pride of Place: The Art of Carl Brenders” was published this year.

Jennifer Lee, the event organizer, said some 175 works of art will be exhibited as part of the show, with artists such as Nancy Caudry, Bill Rice, John Potter and Brenders participating in the event. A new feature this year is the inclusion of sketches by Walter T. Smith, Thomas Quinn, Richard Murray and Brenders, among others. The sketches have been on display since the start of the month, Lee said. Silent bidding for the sketches will close at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Winners will be announced toward the end of the evening.

The party starts at 5:30 p.m. and includes food and beverages, at a cost of $100 per person. Also on display and for sale will be items from the Jewelry and Artisan Show and Sale as well as work from the Photography Show and Fine Art Furniture Show. Call Lee at the museum for other details, 733-5412.

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The inaugural Jackson Hole Art Auction will be held on Saturday at the Center for the Arts Saturday, with some of the proceeds benefiting the Center and the National Museum of Wildlife Art.

The event starts at 10:30 a.m. with a book signing and seminar by authors Gary L. Temple and William T. Ward, who will discuss their new book, “Elling William “Bill” Gollings: A Cowboy Artist.”

Just prior to the auction at 11:15 a.m., a new documentary, “Maynard Dixon: Art and Spirit,” produced and directed by veteran filmmaker Jayne McKay, will be previewed at the Center Theater with McKay on hand to discuss the film.

The film is narrated by Oscar-winning actress Diane Keaton, a collector of Dixon’s paintings, and includes interviews with Dixon’s family, friends and members of the Hopi and Navajo communities Dixon got to know on his solitary travels through the American West. Songwriter and actor Don Edwards provides the artist’s voice in the film.

In the film, Ansel Adams, a lifelong friend of the artist, speaks of his friend’s genius and their close friendship. McKay, who spent six years studying the lives of Dixon and photographer Dorothea Lange, uses Lange’s photographs to illustrate the landscape Dixon came to know and revere.

Two of Dixon’s paintings will be for sale at the auction, “Oncoming Storm” and “Flathead Brave.” All told, 228 artworks will be auctioned off, with Troy Black, president and CEO of Black and Associates, leading the bidders to a gavel-ending “SOLD!” Artworks from contemporary artists and masters in Western painting comprise the lots, with works ranging from Albert Bierstadt, Charles Russell and John Clymer to Bob Kuhn, Carl Brenders and Luke Frazier.

Also on the block are antique Native American moccasins, painted buffalo robes and bronze sculptures by Harry Jackson, to name a few.

The auction is sponsored by Trailside Galleries here in Jackson, along with the Gerald Peters Gallery of Santa Fe, New York and Dallas. Peters has a home here in Jackson and many clients, said auction executive director Heidi Theios.

“The auction provides private collectors with a venue for selling their art to other private collectors,” Theios said, noting that this type of auction – where art is grouped by subject or style from a variety of private collectors– is one in a new trend for selling artworks with previous owners.

Previews will be available 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m.-noon on Saturday at the Center for the Arts. The auction begins at 1:30 p.m.

Bidders may appear in person or through telephone and absentee bidding. Go to www.jacksonholeartauction.com for registration information and forms, or call Heidi Theios at (866) 549-9278.  Registration closes at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

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Also on Saturday, the 12th annual Jackson Hole Quick Draw Art Sale and Auction will give local and regional artists one hour to paint or sculpt an original artwork, which will then be auctioned off to the highest bidders. The auctioning of Luke Frazier’s “God’s Country” painting, the official image of the 2007 Fall Arts Festival, will cap off the morning’s artistic festivities.

Held at 10 a.m. in the Town Square, the Quick Draw will feature artists including Kathryn Turner, John Potter and Luke Frazier, and many others. Spectators are encouraged to come and watch the artists at work – you never know when the next Charles Russell or Carl Rungius could appear – and the prices at the Quick Draw are bound to be more within reach of most people than those of the Jackson Hole Art Auction, if the catalog is any indication. For more details, contact the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce at 733-3316.

Courtesy John Nieto
“Miles Davis”, acrylic, 60x48 inches, John Nieto 2007.

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Nieto gets iconic; NMWA gets small; gavels to bang at JH Art Auction; painters whip ’em out ... | Planet JH News Article: Arts Beat

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