Theodore Waddell
March 10-May 2014
Exhibition Opening • March 14th 2014 • 5:00-8:00 pm
Artist Chat • Saturday March 15th • 10:00 am
Idaho and Montana Rancher Theodore Waddell is an internationally recognized artist that has spent more than 50 years painting and sculpting his beloved western landscape of horses, cattle, sheep, and mountainous vistas - the icons of his life.
Waddell’s first exposure to painting was watching his father complete ‘Paint by Number’ paintings using small brushes and very small containers of paint. This is the exact opposite of Theodore’s paintings. Waddell uses paint by the gallon, and modified brushes and trowels normally used for asphalt roofing. A gallery owner once joked that he should sell his paintings by the pound. Waddell’s love of the medium is evident even in his works on paper.
In 1962 Waddell spent a year in New York, after being accepted for a Max Beckman Scholarship to the Brooklyn Museum of Art. He was inspired by the artwork of the great Abstract Expressionists and their influences can still be seen in his artwork today. The marriage of Abstraction, Impressionism and Realism blend in a magical combination in Waddell’s hands challenging the common perception that all western American art is created in a realistic style.
Museums across the country have been mounting solo exhibitions honoring Waddell’s illustrious career. Recent museum exhibitions and acquisitions include: Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado; Amarillo Museum of Art, Amarillo, Texas; Booth Western Art Museum, Cartersville, Georgia; National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Holter Museum of Art, Helena, Montana; Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon; Boise Art Museum, Boise, Idaho; Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, Montana
In addition to private and corporate collections, Waddell’s paintings are included in the collections of many U.S. State Department buildings and US Embassies in Europe and Asia, to be viewed by dignitaries and visitors from all over the world.