Wyoming Spring 2020

Mark Maggiori made Wyoming Spring, probably fairly recently, and you can see how the smooth application of oil paint gives the whole scene a kind of glow. Look how the light seems to come from everywhere and nowhere, softening the edges of those distant mountains and making the horse and rider stand out against the muted background. Maggiori is playing with this romantic, slightly unreal, kind of Western imagery. The scene feels hyper-real, in a way. Notice the way the brushwork almost disappears. The colors are blended to create smooth gradations of tone, especially on the horse. It is a classic cowboy image, but if you look back to painters like Frederic Remington or Charles Marion Russell, who were also obsessed with the West, you can see how this painting feels both familiar and completely new. Art’s a conversation, right?