G. Harvey (American, 1933-2017). Powder Snow Morning, 1996. Oil on canvas. 24 x 36 inches (61.0 x 91.4 cm). Signed lower...

Description

G. Harvey (American, 1933-2017)
Powder Snow Morning, 1996
Oil on canvas
24 x 36 inches (61.0 x 91.4 cm)
Signed lower right: G. Harvey
Titled and inscribed on the stretcher: #CRGI / Powder Snow Morning
Signed, dated, titled, and inscribed on the reverse: #CRGI / Powder Snow Morning / G. Harvey / 1996

PROVENANCE:
Trailside Galleries Americana Fine Art Galleries, Scottsdale, Arizona (and elsewhere);
Private collection, Osterville, Massachusetts.

Gerald Harvey Jones, better known as G. Harvey, grew up in the Texas Hill Country listening to his father and grandfather tell stories about ranch life and frontier days in Texas, all the while driving cattle across the Red River. His grandfather was a cowboy during the trail-driving era when legends grew up along the dusty trails north of Texas. Family stories of wild cattle and tough men were absorbed and became the genesis of G. Harvey's art. A graduate of fine arts at North Texas State University, Harvey taught full-time and painted nights and weekends for several years. It was through painting that he found his greatest satisfaction, and his native central Texas Hill Country provided the inspiration for most of his earliest work.

In some parts of the rural West, cowhands still do the same chores and meet the same challenges they performed a hundred years ago. From the turn of one century to the next, basic life has changed little. Herding cattle, worrying about drought and water, mending fences, and dealing with extreme heat and cold still need to be done by the cowhand, who himself has not changed. For him, being a "cowboy" is more than a dream. It is a reality he faces every day and night with inner strength as his greatest asset. Among the Western painters of today, there is none more capable of encapsulating this narrative than G. Harvey. In paintings such as Powder Snow Morning, he encourages the viewer to see his subject's physical elements and sense an overarching mood.


Harvey's work was displayed at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma, from 1992-1997. It was during this prosperous period, in 1996, that the artist executed the present tour-de-force. Powder Snow Morning tells the romantic story of the life of the cowboy surviving and thriving within the ever-changing terrain.

The atmospheric chill burdens the cowboys as they head out for a long workday, something Harvey understood firsthand. Three men and their packhorses return home after a long day's work. The cold landscape is still and quiet, yet Harvey cleverly captures movement and life through the icy breath of the men and horses. The stark contrast of the radiant warm interior light illuminates the cool tones of the snowy outdoors, creating a perfect divergence between a hard day's work and the comforts and warmth of home. The men tend to their horses before retreating indoors for some rest. Powder Snow Morning is an iconic, powerful representation of the partnership between horse and man, a bond that cannot be broken, and a day's work in the traditional American West.


More information about Harvey, G. (Gerald Harvey Jones). See also: G. (Gerald Harvey Jones) Harvey Artist.



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