A Long Day on the Range 2017

Mark Maggiori made this painting – A Long Day on the Range – and I imagine he worked alla prima, wet on wet, to get that feeling of immediate light. I can see him building up layers of thin, translucent washes of colour that evoke both the vastness and intimacy of the landscape. Look at the cowboy: perched on his weary steed, he seems to be caught between the setting sun and the looming snow-capped mountains. I sympathize with Maggiori here. He's trying to get it all down, to capture the texture of the horse’s coat, the way the light catches the peaks of the distant mountains. What must he have been thinking as he painted the cowboy, hand on chin, poised in thought? The subtle gradations of colour and light throughout the work speak to the artist’s deep understanding of atmosphere. Maggiori’s really in conversation with the Hudson River School, that group of landscape painters who were trying to capture the sublime beauty of the American wilderness. It's all part of this ongoing exchange of ideas across time.