Tucker Smith: A Celebration of Nature

(Softcover, 2020)

"Tucker Smith: Celebration of Nature", a retrospective exhibition organized by the National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States. Guest curated by B. Byron Price, Director of the Charles M. Russell Center for the Study of Art of the American West, University of Oklahoma. 

The exhibit, showcased in this volume, features paintings spanning the entirety of Smith's career, from his early years as a professional artist to his most recent work. 

The exhibit and catalog present the breadth of subject matter he has tackled, including western wildlife, camp and cowboy scenes, straight landscapes, a few foreign locales, and one railroad painting (another subject for which Smith is highly regarded).

Altogether, the pieces highlight an accomplished artist who has dedicated himself to sharing his passion for the great outdoors, one who is truly celebrating nature with every painting he creates. 

Tucker Smith spent his early youth on a small farm outside of St. Paul, Minnesota. When he was twelve years old, his family relocated to the western slope of the Wind River Range in Wyoming. 

Smith studied math at the University of Wyoming and minored in art. After completing his degree, he moved to Montana to work as a computer programmer and systems analyst for the state. He soon realized painting was his passion. 

Leaving his job in 1971, he began to paint full-time. Smith often travels into the backcountry to gather subject matter. The beauty of nature inspires ideas for paintings. He believes that in nature "one discovers there is color everywhere, including the apparent voids of light trailing off of wildlife or mountains."

Smith is a master at depicting wildlife and habitat in balanced and subtle compositions. 

This catalog reproduces all of the paintings in the exhibit and features an essay by guest curator B. Byron Price, one of the western art world's most highly respected scholars. 

Working sketches and photographs from the artist's personal collection provide a more complete picture of what is involved in the creation of each painting. Smith's own commentary accompanies each piece, and a chronology documenting his major life events, milestones, and awards provides a summation of a life dedicated to art.