Press Release

TUCSON, ARIZONA (August 8, 2017) – The work of Arizona artist Howard Post, known for his artistic representations of the American West, will begin a three-museum tour this October with an opening in Tucson next year.

Conceived and curated by Christine C. Brindza, Glasser Curator of Art of the American West at the Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block, the exhibition, The West Observed: The Art of Howard Post, will make its first stop in Cartersville, Georgia, at the Booth Western Art Museum from October 26 through February 4. The exhibition will make its way to the Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block from March 3 through June 24, 2018, and then to the Desert Caballero Western Museum in Wickenburg, Arizona, from July 20 through November 25, 2018.

Post is a third-generation Arizonan, who utilizes traditional Western themes in his paintings based on his upbringing in ranching and the rodeo. He concentrates on images of cowboys, corrals, horses, livestock, and wide pastures using his own signature impressionistic style and array of colors.

“When looking at the paintings and pastels of Howard Post, there is an unassuming friendliness and tranquility present that makes his work stand out from other artists,” Brindza said. “His colors, compositions, and unique viewpoints feature Western life, oftentimes with an abstract quality, based on the artist’s experiences.”

As a young man, Post’s family reared rodeo stock outside of Tucson, and in 1965, he won the Arizona High School All-Around Championship in rodeo. While pursuing a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the University of Arizona, Post joined the school’s rodeo team and soon after was on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association circuit.

In the late 1970s, he received a master’s degree in fine art. During that time, he taught art courses, and served as an art director. He also worked in commercial arts before realizing his dream to be an independent artist.  Post broke free from freelance illustration work and focused on creating his own work in the early 1980s.

For more than three decades, Post has left an unforgettable mark on the art of the American West. His work has been compared to Regionalist painter Grant Wood, Western artist Maynard Dixon, Modern artist Wayne Thiebaud, and others. But his distinctive imagery stands apart. Post utilizes his own color schemes and recognizes shapes and patterns in nature as well as human-made structures.

“This exhibition brings together selections of his works from his early career through new work of today, from horses and pastures to corrals and rodeo scenes,” Brindza said. “Howard does not include gunfights and bar brawls and other highly dynamic images. Instead, he focuses on the quiet, real moments of the American West. I believe visitors will enjoy seeing this exhibition and become immersed in the world of this incredible artist.”

The exhibition will include approximately 40 paintings and sculptures of assorted sizes from Post’s personal collection, the Tucson Museum of Art’s permanent collection, and private loans. A companion publication containing a short essay and select images will be available for sale. Educational materials such as information panels, signage, an exhibition visitor guide, and a short video of Post in his studio will be played in the galleries.

For information on the tour, contact Christine C. Brindza at the Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block, (520) 616-2685 or at cbrindza@localhost. (Additional images from the exhibition available upon request.)