Gregory Wilhelmi, "Drama in West Texas"
Original Oil on Canvas, Framed, 29 x 53
Art Type | Paintings |
---|---|
Originality | Original |
Framing | Framed |
Artist | Wilhelmi, Gregory |
From a young age, Gregory Wilhelmi was certain that his calling in life was to be an artist. After earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Denver, Wilhelmi found himself as an editorial illustrator and political cartoonist. Still, pursing his passion for fine art called out to him so he packed his bags and headed to Mexico where he painted watercolor paintings inspired by the beauty of the landscape and culture. These paintings became the base for his first one-man exhibition exhibited, back in Denver. Since that first exhibition, Wilhelmi`s artistic career developed into owning an art studio and agency in the vibrant Denver art scene to teaching life drawing and color theory for the Colorado Institute of Art. In 1992, Wilhelmi moved his family back to Roundup, Montana where he grew up. He accredits the rural, rugged landscape of the American West as the inspiration to his body of work, but not in the ideal sense that has been perpetuated by artists in the past. Instead, Wilhelmi reinvigorates the West with an unsentimental and unforgiving objective look at life, often finding beauty in the loss of a once vibrant town or the silence in the shadows of the Rocky Mountains. His work has been collected in museums across the country, including the Missoula Art Museum and the Yellowstone Art Museum, as well as numerous corporate collections, including the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, the United Bank of Denver and the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.