LeConte Stewart: Masterworks - Finally Available

“Nostalgia is part of my respect for what LeConte Stewart does. But the hard-mouthed integrity of the life-view is more important.  There is something in his best paintings that does not depend on nostalgia but upon recognition of a less parochial kind.” Wallace Stegner

“One of Utah’s most accomplished and beloved artists.” —Utah Museum of Fine Arts

Utah artist LeConte Stewart (1891–1990) created images of Utah and the West at once epic and intimate. His farms, deserts, and urban landscapes capture a region and an era. Influenced by John Carlson, Maynard Dixon, and Edward Hopper, Stewart is a valued and important voice in this period of American art. This long-awaited volume includes more than 300 paintings, many never before seen or brought together in one work.

Includes essays by Mary Muir, Donna Poulton, Robert Davis, James Poulton, and Vern Swanson. It also features an introduction by noted American art scholar, curator, and collector William Gerdts.

Mary Muir is one of the foremost authorities on LeConte Stewart and his work, and the author of LeConte Stewart: The Education of the Artist and the Artist- Educator.

Donna Poulton, Ph.D., is a curator of the art of Utah and the West at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.

Robert Davis is curator of art for the LDS Church History Museum in Salt Lake City.

James Poulton, Ph.D., is a psychologist in private practice in Salt Lake City.

Vern Swanson is director of the Springfield Museum of Art in Utah.

To purchase a copy of LeConte Stewart: Masterworks through My-West.com for $70 plus $5 shipping. (List price of the book is $75.) Just click on the PayPal button below.

The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels

by Donna Poulton

The Pioneer Woman is my favorite blogger. I admit that I check her blog every day and I care about Charlie, Kitty Kitty, the Pesky Brother-in-law and of course the illusive Marlboro Man, but most of all I enjoy Ree’s stream of consciousness ramblings about the ranch and her life. She is a gal’s gal, the sister I never had, the best friend who lives 345 miles from me. How can you not like a woman who admits to a huge crowd that she’s wearing two Spanks products and can’t breathe or asks if she can borrow someone’s anti-static cling spray? And she admits to cooking with mountains of butter with no apology. 

The Pioneer Woman was in town to promote her book The Pioneer Woman: High Heels to Tractor Wheels, an autobiography filled with hilarious mishaps as this city girl falls for a handsome cowboy and moves to the country. The event felt like a high school reunion, not a book signing—the common denominator was charismatic Ree Drummond.  She was funny, disarmingly candid, charming and brave enough to belt out an Ethel Merman imitation of the song “There’s no Business Like Show Business.”

This event was sponsored by the King's English Bookshop:

Photo courtesy of Jenny Lyons.