2007 Honored Artist

Clyde Aspevig

Of his painting, world-renowned landscape artist Clyde Aspevig says, “I chose to paint realistic landscapes because I was drawn to recreating nature in a way that appealed to my own ideas, senses and intellect. I am firmly convinced that a literal naturalistic painting can still satisfy the passions of an intellectual mind. Inventing your own concept of realism is the first and most important stop in achieving that goal.” Aspevig’s personal and artistic horizons have unfolded expansively since his childhood on a Montana farm near the Canadian border. That period of geographical and cultural isolation was, in retrospect, a blessing for the artist. “Because I grew up in a vacuum I Montana, I wasn’t taught the clichés.” He sees such naiveté as allowing him to be more open to everything around him, which is especially evident in his latest works. Aspevig’s subjects range from the wild mountains and prairies of Montana, Death Valley, and the Adirondacks, to the rocky North Atlantic coast, Scandinavian fjords and the well-tended hillside estates of Tuscany. His work is found in the permanent collections of the National Arts Club in New York, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, the Colorado Historical Museum in Denver, the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, and many other museums around the country. Aspevig’s recent awards include the Autry National Center’s 2006 Trustees Purchase Award, the 2006 Autry National Center’s John J. Geraghty Award, and the 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award, Masters of the American West Fine Art Exhibition and Sale, Autry Museum of Western Heritage.

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