George Phippen, Joe Beeler, John Hampton & Charlie Dye founded the Cowboy Artists of America in Sedona in 1965 to encourage the creation and collection of western art in the tradition of Charles Russell and Fredric Remington. Phippen died before the new group was able to hold its first exhibition in 1966 at the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. But his influence on today's Western American Realism painters, and on sculptors and the lost wax process of bronze casting that stems from the tiny renaissance he began in Prescott in the 1950s, lives on. As the final exhibit in its 20th anniversary season, the Phippen Museum is pleased to present a George Phippen Retrospective from September 11 - December 30, 2004. The exhibit - containing paintings, sculptures, drawings, memorabilia and the reconstruction of part of his log cabin studio - is co-curated by George Phippen's son Darrell and Helena Howell of the Phippen Museum Staff. The Phippen family and many collectors of Phippen's best works are the core lenders of this exhibition.
"The chronological display of Dad's work is enlightening because it shows how he started and where he finished," said Darrell Phippen, George's youngest son. "It's been encouraging to me because it shows me that you don't have to be perfect when you start something. Dad had the talent and the passion, and he developed his technique and style over the years."
The Museum estimates that Phippen did some 3,000 works in his brief career. Succumbing to cancer in 1966, he career lasted only 20 years. "He died when I was 11 so I really didn't get to know him," Darrell Phippen said. "I've gotten to know him through his paintings. He was pretty unique. No one else at that time was making a living doing cowboy art, and the family suffered quite a bit in the early years for his passion. But he and my mom had made that commitment early on, and they made it work."
Phippen had a passion for the cowboy of the American West, and he particularly loved the action of the cowboy and his animals. "A lot of Western artists today don't challenge themselves to portray men and animals in action, but Dad had a real feel for what a horse could do and what it looked like. He had a great understanding of anatomy that improved as you follow his career."
Phippen's paintings and sculptures typically convey a keen sense of humor and an insight into the everyday life of working cowboys. He excelled at the looser, more painterly style of Western art in the 50s and 60s, and is known for his mastery of campfires, burning cigarettes and night skies. Tony Altermann, of Altermann Gallery in Santa Fe, has handled most of the estate sales containing George Phippen's work over the past 50 years. He said, "The illusion of George Phippen is what he might have accomplished. Phippen was already an accomplished painter and sculptor when he died at 50. Imagine what the art world would have known had he lived out his life."
Phippen did 15 covers for Western Horseman Magazine in the 50s and 60s and 60 paintings for Brown & Bigelow. He signed a contract with Brown & Bigelow to do one painting a month for $1,000 a painting. They used many, but not all, of those paintings on their famous calendars. Both Western Horseman Magazine and Brown & Bigelow are lending work for this retrospective. Work is also coming from Ed Honnen's collection at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, the Pueblo Sangre de Cristo Fine Arts Center and numerous private collections. This is the first time so much of Phippen's previously unseen works will be on display to the public since his death.
Darrell Phippen is understandably proud of his father. "He was a humble man with a sense of humor. People liked him. Not just for his talent, but as a man. That's how you get to the place where ranchers and cowboys wanted to recognize him with a museum. He embodied the Western cowboy spirit. And this is the family's opportunity to present George Phippen to a new generation."
"Conversations About George" will take place on several Saturdays throughout the exhibit, featuring artists, collectors, friends and family of George Phippen.
"Conversations About George" Schedule
Pictured above:A young George Phippen paints in his studio.
Pictured above: "Spring Cow Works" by George Phippen, 1954
Pictured above: "Elk Country" by George Phippen, 1955
Pictured above: "A Brush With Apaches" by George Phippen, 1953
Above photos courtesy of the Diamond M Fine Art Collection, Museum of Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas.
Pictured above: "First Nibble" by George Phippen, 1954
Above photo courtesy of Laurie Triplette, Charlotte, NC from the collection of Mrs. Iris M. Wyman.