Past Exhibition
The Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, created an exhibit that honored western artist Harry Jackson (1924 – 2011) on the occasion of his 90th birthday. During his remarkable career, Jackson was at the forefront of American artistic movements after World War II, but in 1956, Jackson did something altogether unheard of—he left New York and moved back to Wyoming.
“Harry Jackson was an art pioneer because he rejected abstract styles and returned to realism for his paintings and sculpture that focused on themes of the American West,” explains Mindy Besaw, Whitney Western Art Museum Curator at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. “He brought deserved attention to art that had been largely dismissed as mere illustration and left an impressive legacy for today’s western American art.”
Born in 1924 in Chicago, Jackson ran away from home at a young age to become a cowboy at the Pitchfork Ranch, near Meeteetse, Wyoming, a move that inspired so much of his artwork about the American West. He served in World War II as a Marine combat artist, studied art in New York after the war, and then returned once again to Wyoming, making Cody his home until his death in 2011.
Jackson trained as a painter and experimented with many different styles, including Abstract Expressionism. At first, Jackson’s sculptures were only studies for his paintings. After studying in Italy, however, he began devoting more time and attention to sculpture than to painting.
“Without a doubt, Harry Jackson, can be credited as the artist who, more than any other, resurrected a dying genre of figurative art based on western subjects in the 1950s and 1960s,” Besaw continues. “To categorize Jackson simply as a contemporary western American artist, however, is shortsighted…[his] western bronzes were only one aspect of his astonishing career. Jackson’s life experiences and varied artistic influences contributed to his overall success as an important twentieth-century American artist.”
The Art of Harry Jackson was on view through March 2015.
From the Exhibit
The Art of Harry Jackson
Harry Jackson was an influential and important American artist, who also lived in the small town of Cody, Wyoming. During his remarkable career, Jackson was at the forefront of American artistic movements after World War II. Critics recognized Jackson’s abstract paintings as some of the best in the country. But in 1956, Jackson did something altogether unheard of—he left New York and moved back to Wyoming.
Jackson was an art pioneer because he rejected abstract styles and returned to realism for his paintings and sculpture that focused on themes of the American West. He brought deserved attention to art that had been largely dismissed as mere illustration and left an impressive legacy for today’s western American art.
Jackson is probably best remembered for his western sculptures, but this was only one aspect of his astonishing career. Jackson trained as a painter and experimented with many different styles, including Abstract Expressionism. At first, Jackson’s sculptures were only studies for his paintings. After studying in Italy, however, he began devoting more time and attention to sculpture than to painting. The sculpture on view nearby represents the variety of works created throughout his career.
Happy 90th Birthday, Harry!
Cody, Wyoming, was happy to honor local artist Harry Jackson on the 90th anniversary of his birth. Jackson was born in 1924 in Chicago. At a young age, he ran away from home to become a cowboy at the Pitchfork Ranch, near Meeteetse, Wyoming. He served in World War II as a combat artist for the Marines. Following art training in New York, Jackson returned once again to Wyoming, making Cody his home until his death in 2011.
