The Skeleton Trail 2014

Mark Maggiori painted The Skeleton Trail using oils to depict the canyon vista and figures on horseback. I can imagine him there, wrestling with the hugeness of the canyon, trying to capture a sense of the epic, in all its monumental geologic significance. It's not easy to take a single scene and let it speak for an entire place. The artist uses earth tones to suggest the textures of rock and sand under the glaring sun. He's conjuring up the atmosphere, the aridity, and the stillness. The brushstrokes create a topography of their own. Look at the shadow the horse casts. I love that thick, black shape, boldly placed in the foreground. It’s like he is saying 'this is a painting'. The figures and horses remind me of Frederick Remington, who was known for his paintings of cowboys, soldiers, and Native Americans in the Old West. The dialogue between artists across generations is what keeps painting alive. The way Maggiori has captured the canyon is truly something.