IN CELEBRATION OF WESTERN ART!

Stephan Lyman

The Inspiration of the West

Much of our modern American culture is rooted deeply in the West—it’s history, its people, and its wildernesses. The West has inspired painters, sculptors, story tellers and other artists alike. And they, in turn have greatly influenced our lives. Today we wear blue jeans and cowboy hats, dance the Texas two-step, and live in ranch-style homes. Within the dreams of today’s most popular Western artists reside forces which will shape our tomorrow. B & R Art has specialized in the art of the West for many years. In this issue we feature the works of three artists: Howard Terpning, Arnold Friberg, and Stephan Lyman. Their styles and subject matter differ greatly, but each in his own way communicates some aspect of the West to stir our emotions and our imagination, and maybe show us a way to live a little better.

ARNOLD FRIBERG

“I have painted my share of Apaches chasing the Butterfield stagecoach, for violent action was a part of Western history,” states master artist Arnold Friberg. “But as the years roll away, I find I would rather picture the peace, the distance, the mysterious beauty of the West. I have never lost my boyhood sense of wonder about the deep northern forest and the mystical Sonoran desert. It is my real and most transcendent place of worship; my deepest reverence is felt as I witness the evidence of the hand of the Creator in all things.” With painstaking research and attention to detail Friberg brings western history to life, and allows us to bear witness to both the hand of the Creator and the hand of man. His extraordinary ability to capture not only the drama of history, but also the vibrancy and inner strength of human characteristics that has earned him the respect and recognition as one of the great master painters of modern times.

HOWARD TERPNING

For 200 years the American Indian has both challenged us and fascinated us. He has aroused our fears, our hatreds, our sympathies and our respect. Howard Terpning is arguably the finest painter of these proud people. But he’s more than a painter—he’s a historian and a story teller. His images are powerful, sweeping and profoundly beautiful, whether he is presenting an insightful portrait of a Cheyenne medicine man, or capturing a ceremonial moment of the Paiute tribe, full of dust and thunder. “The American Indian fascinates me,” says Terpning. “Their culture and artifacts, their horses, the way they looked…there’s always another story about them waiting to be told. And I feel privileged to be one of their storytellers.”

STEPHAN LYMAN

Stephan Lyman always thought of himself as a wilderness and wildlife painter, but through his explorations and paintings of the wild country of the American west, we get to share the magnitude and grandeur that must have drawn many of the first adventurers beyond the frontier. With an artist’s eye Stephan Lyman saw the west of the Yosemite Valley and the High Sierra without the encroaching buildings, the roads and the trails, and with an artist’s skill Lyman shows us the mountains and valleys as his spiritual mentor John Muir (early naturalist instrumental in preserving the West’s wilderness areas) must have seen them: “Pale rose and purple sky changing softly to daffodil yellow and white,” Muir wrote of a sunrise in the Sierra. “Sunbeams pouring through the passes between the peaks and over the Yosemite domes, making their edges burn.” Lyman’s art allows us all to explore, discover, study and enjoy the all- encompassing and unspoiled beauty of the West as it must have appeared to the early explorers and Native Americans.

Dave Joseph, Founder
B & R Gallery

Arnold Friberg