Under the Pueblo Sky 2020

Mark Maggiori painted "Under the Pueblo Sky," at some point in his career, but who knows when exactly? What strikes me right away is how the artist has revelled in the detail of the horse, rider and landscape. The texture of the horse’s coat is so smooth that I wonder if the artist used glazing techniques, layering thin washes of paint to build up the highlights and shadows. Up close, you can almost feel the light reflecting off its coat. This is in contrast to the heavy, almost opaque brushwork in the sky. The artist has used the contrast between brushwork and subject matter to make the horse and rider feel like a tangible presence, set against an infinite, light-filled space. The way the rider is looking out into the distance makes me think of a painting by Frederic Remington. It's fascinating how artists keep revisiting similar ideas in different ways. Ultimately, it is up to us to find our own meaning in the work.