saalm - W. Herbert Dunton - wildflower competitions

W.Herbert Dunton
1878-1936

Dunton is probably one of the best known artists in The Davis collection, due in part to the popularity of Western painting and in part to the excellence of the artists work. Like Berninghaus, Dunton was a founding member of the Taos Society of Artists. He worked for many years as an illustrator and continued the genre of Remmington and Russell. He spent time as a cow-puncher and, in order to assure the accuracy in his art, drew in the field. Dunton brings the art of the cowboy artist into the twentieth century through is illustrative style and composition. Dunton is one of the most painterly artists in the collection, and Old Texas and The Horse Wrangler emphasize the artists mastery of the brush, although he never abandons the illustrators outline. -RC

'The Horse Wrangler'
Oil on canvas, 25" x 20'
1928 Texas Wildflower Competitive Exhibition
Honorable Mention

W. Herbert Dunton, 'The Horse Wrangler' 1928 [6K]

The Horse Wrangler shows the vast panorama of West Texas as does Berninghaus's works. However, unlike Berninghaus, the artist has ennobled the cowhand by his prominent placement in the entire foreground of the piece. His gaze over his shoulder draws the viewer's attention to the activities in the background of the painting, while the turbulence of the cloudy sky drapes the work with a majestic backdrop. -RC

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'Old Texas'
Oil on canvas, 28" x 39"
1929 Texas Wildflower Competitive Exhibition
Awarded Fifth Prize, Group 2: Ranch Life

W.Herbert Dunton - 'Old Texas', 1929 [10K]

Old Texas again shows the artist's ability to draw the viewer into the painting by creating a strong single point perspective through which the flowing river, the agitated longhorn cattle and the horse and cowboy must maneuver. In this instance, Dunton has draped the background with low rolling hills below a dark and ominous sky. -RC

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Revised: April, 2007