In a painting of a woman lassoing a pink Cadillac, artist pokes at western stereotypes

Artist Anne Coe pokes fun at western stereotypes. Whitney Western Art Museum Curator Susan Barnett describes her painting At the End of Her Rope.

“The artist shows the cowgirl as a heroic figure, expertly and humorously lassoing a pink Cadillac in the background,” she said.

The scene painted in 1992 takes place in a mountainous area on a dirt road lined with sagebrush.

“Although the landscape uses a representational palette, the car offers a splash of pop pink. In this humorous take on many western tropes, the artist shows the contemporary West while nodding her hat to traditional Western art,” she said.

The painting is part of an upcoming exhibition at the Whitney Western Art Museum opening in May that looks at how western art and pop art intersect.

Pop! Goes the West is supported in part by a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources.