National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, OK June 5-July 12
As art lovers, painters and sculptors gather at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum on June 12 and 13 for the Art Sale Weekend of the 54th Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition & Sale, it marks one of the most anticipated two-day periods on the annual art calendar. This year’s almost 300 works from 91 artists—88 of whom have exhibited in past shows (including eight 40 times or more and one, Walt Gonske, marking his 50th year)—represent some of the finest Western art being created today.
Those pieces, already on public view for a week before the opening, become available for purchase through a fixed-price drawing before the awards celebration dinner at the museum on Saturday, June 13. That event is preceded all day by presentations from exhibitors Kim Wiggins, Curt Walters, David A. Leffel and Sherrie McGraw, and 2025 Prix de West Purchase Award winner James Morgan, whose talk is immediately followed by the announcement of this year’s Purchase Award selection.
As these events and the artist lineup suggest, what sets Prix de West apart, says Susan Patterson, the museum’s curator of special events, can be summed up in one word: quality. She adds, “Our expectations are high, and the artists always step up to meet them.”
Soaringly inspiring evidence can be seen wherever visitors might gaze. Consider, for example, the masterly painting OUT WEST by Utah-based G. Russell Case. “It evokes the vastness and power of the Western landscape,” Patterson observes, “and you could believe the scene was 100 years ago or today.”
Such timeless beauty also emanates in a different way from WINTER RESILIENCE by San Francisco Bay Area artist Huihan Liu, who was last year’s winner of the Frederic Remington Painting Award. “We on the Prix de West committee always ask if a work evokes atmosphere, feeling and mood,” says Patterson. “Those feelings are very much associated with this work.”
Regular attendees will find abundant and varied creations to delight in and savor. For example, CONNECTING TO THE GREAT SPIRIT, a bold oil of a sun-bleached steer skull mounted on an adobe wall, marks the recent transition from bronze sculpture into painting by Paul Moore, a member of the (Creek) Muskogee Nation and currently a professor and artist-in-residence at the University of Oklahoma.
By contrast, Taos, New Mexico-based artist Sherrie McGraw’s still life SUMMER PEACHES subtly captures the fertile abundance of the west; Coloradan Joshua Tobey’s bronze BEAR NAKED portrays an ursine subject on its back in joyful abandon; and Howard Post’s THE NEW REMUDA presents the essence of the Arizona painter’s vibrantly hued modernist style. Yet another noteworthy work is the new Prix de West collectible bolo tie slide—this year, THE LOON’S NECKLACE by Seattle-based wildlife artist Tony Angell, available through the Persimmon Hill store inside the museum.
“Every year,” sums up Patterson, “all these artists push themselves to do something unexpected for Prix de West.” Credit for such efforts goes not only to the participants but also to the committee working dedicatedly behind the scenes. Come Sunday morning of the Art Sale Weekend, they come together to discuss the event and start planning next year’s show. —Norman Kolpas
contact information(405) 478-2250pdw.nationalcowboymuseum.org
This story appeared in the June/July 2026 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Subscribe today to read every issue in its entirety.
The post Show Preview | Prix de West appeared first on Southwest Art Magazine.