W. Herbert “Buck” Dunton: Twilight of the West

Many artists have loved the West and found inspiration for a uniquely “American” art in its landscapes, people, and wildlife. Among the first Anglo-American artists to settle in New Mexico after it achieved statehood, “Buck” Dunton gave up a prosperous career in illustration and settled permanently in Taos in 1915, to devote himself to his art. He brought with him an acute eye for the details of the life of the cowboy and the hunter. He also brought a deep love of the freedom of life in the wild; and most of all a tremendous urgency about preserving it in his art, even as it seemed to vanish in front of his eyes.

This exhibition of more than 50 works of art on loan from the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, traces the emergence of the artist from his background as a youthful explorer and illustrator, to his mature vision, capturing figures of the West, not in nostalgic re-creation, but as they appeared in their own final, valedictory years.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.

Whether or not you go, The Legendary Artists of Taos traces the founding of New Mexico's Famous Art Colony and Its Pioneer Artists. 64 pages of color and 100 black & white illlustrations. Includes bibliography and index.

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