Friday, May 3, 2013

Get Along Lil' Doggies


Another Good Year

Gabriel Diego Delgado

Mark Keathley has done some amazing work painting and illustrating Native Americans, the Old West, and Texas wildlife. Keathley’s evocative sensibilities are hammered home with lively landscapes and nostalgic pictorial epiphanies of Western Cowboy and Native American cultural identity.  Keathley’s painterly essence is found in his quasi-hyper realism.  Capturing water ripples, muscle contours, textures and various other details, Keathley proves that Contemporary Western Art is making significant contributions to the Art World. 

After being awarded the “Patron’s Choice Award” at the Briscoe Western Art Museum’s Night of the Artist exhibition, his Native Sun masterpiece painting depicting austere Native American Nobility not only sold for the recommended $15,000 price tag, but had the ultimate art patron and museum-goer recognition with such a bestowment.
At J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art, Keathley does not disappoint with a spectacular landscape of Classic Cowboy Charisma.

In Another Good Year, Mark Keathley captures a defining moment as the sun draws to a close and the magnificent beasts stroll along the desert-scape, back dropped by the majestic hues of the painterly plateau ranges. Reminiscent of the Native Sun with a certain signature Contemporary Western Art integrity, Keathley delivers a painting that nails the undying love and nostalgia for the Cowboy epoch.

Measuring a hefty 30 x 40”, this symbolic scene of Texas pride radiates an impressive grandeur of romanticized rustic living- A must have for any serious Contemporary Western Art Collector.

The foreground gives life to painterly perfections, dry brush and vegetation so real that they scrape our legs as we walk out to meet these herdsmen. The earthy hues of the prickly pear, gyp, chino grama, and others showcase a muted color palette that is toned-down purposefully to make the illuminated mountain ranges glow with a surreal serenity.

The horizon line, a necessity in the landscape genre, is a valuable asset in this particular painting. Keathley never really shows the point where the sky touches the plains. He hides it with a clever intention of drawing attention to the meandering herd of Longhorn cattle. The bovine enter into the picture plane from the right, an outer edge of a large cattle drive. The dust from thousands of cattle hooves mix into the lingering light of overcast desert heavens. Four beasts meet our gaze as we assess their temperament. Corralled by a master, the red-shirted cowboy dictates their movements and steers them to the left; meeting up with the guiding eye of the distinguished silvery gaucho.

The vertical elements of the Saguaro Cactus draw our eye up and into the foothills and point toward the squared-off peaks of the distant ranges. The mauve, peach, blush and pink soils compliment the cattle hide markings and color pigmentations. Unclouded areas of teal firmament highlight the over expansive Texas sky, peeking out like transcendent eyes; observing a symbolic scene of nostalgic simplicity. 
 ©Gabriel Diego Delgado



Another Good Year
Mark Keathley
Oil on Canvas
30 x 40"
$8500

To purchase call @10-828-8214
JR Mooney Galleries of Fine Art

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.