Article: Western Art Makes an Impression

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By Jesse Mullins, Jr. - Aug 2002 American Cowboy Magazine

horse and rider oil painting by Charles Schridde available as limited edition canvas prints They don't call it impressionism so much anymore, but the technique survives in a multitude of Western art styles, each unique and yet each faithful in its own way to an ideal.

Arising out of France in the late 19th century, impressionism was pioneered by the likes of Monet, Renoir, and Degas. Though the movement was quickly rivaled by other important new schools of painting, such as Cubist, Abstract, Fauvist and other styles, Impressionism would show itself to have the staying power and popular appeal that others lacked, carrying it down to the present day.

(Left) Blazing Saddles by Charles Schridde (oil, 66x48). Schridde's daring use of color and his bold strokes evoke the vitality of rodeo.

The movement swept through Europe and soon came to America, capturing the imaginations of some of the young country's best artistic talents. Eventually it would work its way to the American West. Impressionism has been good to the West, and the West has been good to it in return. Some of the earliest masters of Western art were well attuned to the movement, having seen specimens of the then-evolving style as it was taking hold in the East.

Any who have seen certain canvases of Charles Russell would likely attest to the impressionistic qualities of the brushwork he employed. Remington, too, was not without his impressionistic tendencies.

"Remington studied with some of the impressionistic painters, including [Child] Hassam," said Charles Schridde, a top contemporary Western artist and author/publisher of a book of his own works entitled Western Impressionism. "His [Remingtons] later paintings were very impressionistic. One thing about impressionists is that they don't use much black in their paintings. The darkest color for them is something called Prussian blue, a very dark blue. Remington does a beautiful job with it, using it in his blue shadows and [contrasting it] with the yellow sunlight."

Michael Duty, executive director of the Cowboy Artists of America Museum, noted that impressionism got its start as artists sought to understand the differing ways in which the eye interacts with light. "I don't know that there are any [Western artists] now who would call themselves impressionists," said Duty. "What you see now more and more is really a combination of styles."

He added that good painters today have synthesized different styles. Whereas "impressionism" was originally a term of the first half of the 20th century, he says, its now a catchall term for people who aren't photorealists. Artists are either "loose" or "tight," he said, referring to the change in perspective as a "progression."

Schridde, who lives in Palm Springs, Calif., used to be a photographer and he says with a laugh that he doesn't want to try to make his paintings look like photos-he's already had a career of making realistic images.

The art shown on the accompanying pages-while not intended to "label" any artist as impressionistic-reveals a range of styles, from very loose to relatively tight detail. But impressionism is more than the degree of detail. It also involves color theory and other visual principles and these specimens show considerable range in those areas as well.

Howard Terpning, whose work has for more than a decade fetched some of the highest prices around for images by an active Western artist, is known for his portraits that employ fine detail in the subject and foreground, set against backdrops that are often executed with lavish and highly impressionistic brushwork.

Roy Andersen is another who has merged a realist and an impressionist style into something that makes the most of each.

A more traditional impressionist approach can be seen in the landscapes of Clyde Aspevig, whose work captures fine atmospheric effects and the many nuances of Western light.

Schridde, whose work spans a broad range of themes and styles, paints mostly rodeo, ranch, and historical scenes, but almost always with vigorous brushwork in evidence. With his rodeo scenes, he manages to employ impressionistic techniques for an entirely different effect - the illusion of action and movement. "I'm trying to create an instantaneous impression," he said. 'Just the idea of a split second in time."

With the more nature-oriented scenes, Schridde still keeps the imagery lively, with splashes and swatches of bold color.

"Painting is like handwriting," Schridde said. "And that's the interesting thing about impressionism - you can learn to tell the artists by their brush strokes."

Many of the best artists use a blend of techniques, both loose and tight, to direct the viewer's eye around the painting in the way in which the artist wants it to be viewed. It is understood by some that a person's eye moves first to an area of fine detail, and then proceeds to take in the rest of the image. By capitalizing on that tendency, artists are able to lead the eye around an image-sometimes with such mastery that they can tell a story by taking their viewers first here, then here, then here.

It's just another of the many ways this style has been merged with others to make art. Impressionism - however it might be called, and however it might be employed - is still alive and well in the West.

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