A Long Day on the Range 2017

Mark Maggiori paints with oil paint, and he paints a world that feels both real and imagined, like a memory of a dream. Look at the way he builds up the surfaces of the mountains in the background with these short, choppy strokes, each one carefully placed to catch the light just so. It's like he's not just painting a landscape, but constructing it, piece by piece, with a kind of loving attention to detail. Notice the interplay between the cool blues and purples of the shadows and the warm oranges and yellows of the highlights. There's a real sense of atmosphere here, a feeling of the vastness and majesty of the American West. And then there's the cowboy himself, sitting on his horse, lost in thought, his face obscured by his hat. He's a figure of quiet contemplation, a reminder of the solitude and introspection that can come from spending long days on the range. In a way, this painting is about the relationship between man and nature, about the way the landscape shapes us, and the way we, in turn, shape it. It reminds me a little of Frederick Remington, but with a more contemporary feel. It leaves you with questions rather than answers.