Gold Country

Two cowboys pause on horseback while an enormous full moon rises through a sky washed in gold, orange, and deep brown. Their silhouettes stand dark against the glowing light, and below them a hillside bristles with prickly pear cactus. Nothing dramatic happens here. This is simply the close of a long working day, a quiet breath taken as the sun slips away and the light turns everything warm and still.

The painter behind this scene is Mark Maggiori, a French artist who found his true calling in the American West. His path to Western art was an unusual one, since he once sang in a French rock band before trading the stage for the canvas. Maggiori built his reputation on glowing skies and light that seems to pour right out of the picture, earning comparisons to old masters like Frederic Remington while bringing something fresh and modern to the tradition.

Calm rather than chaos is what sets Maggiori's work apart. Instead of gunfights and stampedes, he paints the West as a place of wide open spaces and breathtaking skies. The title "Gold Country" fits perfectly, since the fading sunlight bathes the riders and the land in warm color, giving the moment a feeling that hovers somewhere between real life and a dream.