The Simple Pleasures of New Mexico
Gary Morton
Created : 1991
Purchased : 1991
Medium : Painting/Acrylic
Dimensions: 4″”x8″”
Located: 4th Floor,East Lobby
The Simple Pleasures of New Mexico (1992)
Acrylic on Canvas
Gary Morton (b. 1951)
Lincoln
Capitol Art Selection Committee Purchase
Capitol Art Collection
Capitol Art Foundation
This painting depicts the Charles R Ranch south of Las Vegas, New Mexico. The cowboy is ranch manager Jeff Nourse. In the painting are the Gallinas River and, in the distance, Hermit’s Peak of the Sangre de Cristo range. The cowboy has stopped his horse on the canyon rim to enjoy the simplest pleasure of all—just looking at his surroundings.
Morton was led to art through his experiences as a working cowboy on the Bell Ranch in northeastern New Mexico. Born and raised in Tucumcari, Morton graduated from high school in Gallup, where his aunt and uncle’s deep involvement in rodeo led to his own interest in horses and rodeos. After graduation, he headed to the Bell Ranch, one of the West’s largest traditionally run cattle ranches. With time on his hands one day in the winter of 1969, Morton made his first painting, working in the quiet bunkhouse on the Bell spread. Soon, he says, “all my friends had asked for a painting and the ranch manager bought the first bronze piece I cast.”
Morton paints and sculpts scenes from the life he loves partly in protest against the inaccurate portrayals of horsemanship and western life by many contemporary artists. The authenticity he achieves comes from his emotional link to his subject:
“I never took a course in anatomy. I learned where the muscles are on a horse because I ride them.”
Morton believes that good cowboy art should combine three things: artistic ability, passion for the subject, and first-hand knowledge of cowboy life.
“I like to paint what it feels like to be there,” he says. “I don’t paint anything I haven’t done or any place I haven’t been myself. It’s a very elusive thing to capture. I didn’t start out with the thought of art as my life; my instincts—or fate—just gradually led me in this direction. I have no regrets.”
