Rick Newby

Born in 1941 in Billings, Montana, painter, sculptor, and rancher Theodore Waddell stands as one of the West's most celebrated contemporary artists. His late modern "landscapes with animals" couple abstract expressionist technique with creatures--Black Angus cattle, horses, and bison--that populate the high plains and mountain valleys of today's ranching West. Heavily illustrated with the artist's own work, as well as images from his personal archive, Theodore Waddell: My Montana traces Waddell's influences, ranging from the Cezannesque works of Montana rancher and teacher Isabelle Johnson to the abstract expressionism of Robert Motherwell, the expressionist figuration of Robert DeNiro Sr., and the classic western paintings of Karl Bodmer, Charles M. Russell, Frederic Remington, Thomas Moran, Joseph Henry Sharp, and Maynard Dixon. With access to Waddell's journals and letters and an extensive oral history recently completed, author Rick Newby offers unprecedented insight into Waddell's first years as an avowed artist and his period of struggle and disciplined creativity. Newby portrays Waddell's decades as a practicing rancher and the years of his success--when his sculptures and vast canvases have found homes in leading museums. Ultimately, Theodore Waddell's works are important, not simply because they bring together disparate traditions but because they stand as emotionally and sensuously resonant works of art that speak of landscapes and animals, life and death, austerity and abundance. They possess, in the words of Seattle Times critic Robin Updike, an "immense, poetic dignity." This volume also includes a gathering of essays celebrating the life and art of Theodore Waddell by the Montana curators, critics, scholars, poets, and fiction writers who have known him best. Contributors include the Honorable Pat Williams, Robyn Peterson, Bob Durden, Gordon McConnell, Mark Browning, Donna Forbes, Greg Keeler, Patrick Zentz, Scott McMillion, William Hjortsberg, Paul Zarzyski, and Brian Petersen.

Born in 1941 in Billings, Montana, painter, sculptor, and rancher Theodore Waddell stands as one of the West's most celebrated contemporary artists. His late modern "landscapes with animals" couple abstract expressionist technique with creatures--Black Angus cattle, horses, and bison--that populate the high plains and mountain valleys of today's ranching West. Heavily illustrated with the artist's own work, as well as images from his personal archive, Theodore Waddell: My Montana traces Waddell's influences, ranging from the Cezannesque works of Montana rancher and teacher Isabelle Johnson to the abstract expressionism of Robert Motherwell, the expressionist figuration of Robert DeNiro Sr., and the classic western paintings of Karl Bodmer, Charles M. Russell, Frederic Remington, Thomas Moran, Joseph Henry Sharp, and Maynard Dixon. With access to Waddell's journals and letters and an extensive oral history recently completed, author Rick Newby offers unprecedented insight into Waddell's first years as an avowed artist and his period of struggle and disciplined creativity. Newby portrays Waddell's decades as a practicing rancher and the years of his success--when his sculptures and vast canvases have found homes in leading museums. Ultimately, Theodore Waddell's works are important, not simply because they bring together disparate traditions but because they stand as emotionally and sensuously resonant works of art that speak of landscapes and animals, life and death, austerity and abundance. They possess, in the words of Seattle Times critic Robin Updike, an "immense, poetic dignity." This volume also includes a gathering of essays celebrating the life and art of Theodore Waddell by the Montana curators, critics, scholars, poets, and fiction writers who have known him best. Contributors include the Honorable Pat Williams, Robyn Peterson, Bob Durden, Gordon McConnell, Mark Browning, Donna Forbes, Greg Keeler, Patrick Zentz, Scott McMillion, William Hjortsberg, Paul Zarzyski, and Brian Petersen.

The Rocky Mountain region is where east meets west in America, where the western plains meet the Continental Divide. In this region, including Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming, a multitude of cultural phenomena have grown. Rockies architecture includes Depression-era Government Rustic designs and also the parkitecture movement evident in Yellowstone National Park. Coyote folk tales and cowboy poetry contribute to regional lore, while the region's religions have ranged from the shamanistic practices of the Utes, Nez Perce, and Coeur d'Alene to the flourishing of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Art of the American Sublime school as well as the fiction of Thomas McGuane immediately locate the Rockies, while fourteeners, ski town culture, and film festivals—from Sundance to Slamdance—make the region a favorite tourist destination. Rick Newby and contributors present a thorough and nuanced examination of the many cultural elements from throughout the wide reach of the Rocky Mountain region.The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Regional Cultures is the first rigorous reference collection on the many ways in which American identity has been defined by its regions and its people. Each of its eight regional volumes presents thoroughly researched narrative chapters on Architecture; Art; Ecology & Environment; Ethnicity; Fashion; Film & Theater; Folklore; Food; Language; Literature; Music; Religion; and Sports & Recreation. Each book also includes a volume-specific introduction, as well as a series foreword by noted regional scholar and former National Endowment for the Humanities Chairman William Ferris, who served as Consulting Editor for this encyclopedia.