The Brinton Welcomes Top U.S. Portraitist & Western Pulp Fiction Artist, May 1 – July 4
Everett Raymond Kinstler's ‘Journeys West And Beyond’ in the S.K. Johnston Jr. Family Gallery
Big Horn, Wyo. (April 13, 2016) — This May The Brinton Museum will welcome the nation’s foremost portrait artist Everett Raymond Kinstler and his exhibition, Journeys West And Beyond. Kinstler has painted more than 1,500 portraits, including 60 U.S. cabinet officials, seven presidents, two first ladies and hundreds of entertainers and prominent business leaders over his seven-decade career.
He is widely recognized as the creator of the western pulp fiction genre, and is responsible for illustrating two of the most coveted comic book series of the 20th century: The Shadow and Zorro. Journeys West And Beyond will run May 1 through July 4 and includes more than 40 pieces of his original art, including oil portraits of author Tom Wolfe, Ronald Reagan, Sen. Alan K. Simpson, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Katharine Hepburn, and musician and close friend, Tony Bennett. Kinstler’s pulp fiction, comic book and dime novel illustrations, as well as several of Kinstler’s modern works will also be on display.
“If you see a portrait of a president from the last 50 years, there’s a good chance it was done by Ray,” said museum director Ken Schuster. “Journeys West And Beyond contains highlights from the last 60 years of Kinstler’s remarkable career, and it displays how important his vision of the American West has been in shaping his work and our collective national identity.”
Kinstler began his career at the age of 16 drawing comic books and illustrating for magazines. He became well known for his pulp illustrations and comic book work covering many different genres, including western, romance, crime, mystery and war. In the 1950s Kinstler turned his attention to oil portrait work, where his gift for building rapport with subjects propelled him to national acclaim. He is also unique in his approach in that he insists on a live sitting, where others might be satisfied working from photographs. The National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian owns more than 100 of Kinstler’s works and awarded him the Copley Medal, its highest honor.
Kinstler will open the exhibition with a live portrait demonstration from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. followed by an artist’s reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 1. Tickets for the event can be purchased by visiting TheBrintonMuseum.org or by calling 307.672.3173.
About The Brinton Museum
Founded in 1960, The Brinton Museum is a fine arts institution devoted to preserving the art and history of the West. Located on the historic Quarter Circle A Ranch in the foothills of the majestic Bighorn Mountains, it features 19th, 20th and 21st century American and Indian Art in a setting that is art unto itself. The new Forrest E. Mars, Jr. Building opened in June 2015, propelling The Brinton to its highest-ever annual visitation when the museum welcomed more than 20,000 guests from all 50 states and 30 different countries. Regular admission to The Brinton Museum is $10 for adults, $8 for students and seniors, and free for American Indians with tribal ID; active military, veterans and their families with military ID; and children 12 and under. The Brinton Museum offers individual, family and corporate memberships, featuring a number of benefits, including free reciprocal admission to hundreds of museums throughout the U.S. Museum hours are 9:30-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The Brinton Museum is located at 239 Brinton Rd., in Big Horn, WY.