James Reynolds

Art Brokerage: James Reynolds American Artist: b. 1926-2010. James Reynolds was born in 1926 in a Standard Oil Lease house in Taft, California. As a young child he showed little interest in art beyond drawing in grade school. James studied at the Kann Institute of Art in Beverly Hills for one year and four years at the School of Allied Arts in Glendale, California. After 14 years of working for most of the major studios in numerous roles, James finally received screen credit on the Rod Steiger film "The Illustrated Man." For 7 hours each day, he would apply the tattoos he designed with the help of makeup artists to Steiger's body. The process was even photographed by Life Magazine. James settled near Sedona, Arizona in 1968. Though he'd only just arrived, he'd already been selling his western paintings at a gallery in Scottsdale. He's said that a person does not become a cowboy, but one could learn about cowboys and experience their life. He started by building a barn and corral, then filled it with seven horses. His first trail drive was in Montana, where he helped drive a heard of cattle from Havre to Big Sandy. James' success and reputation would continue to grow in the following decades. He would be twice commissioned by Marlboro for paintings depicting the American Cowboy, and in 1992, he would be the first artist to win the prestigious Prix de West International Award, along with the Gold Medal for best oil and Buyer's Choice Award, all in a single year. In 1993, James relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona. In 1997, "Traildust - Cowboys, Cattle, and Country" was published. The book would use James' work as the backdrop for the author's tales of the cowboy and American west. In the following years, he would focus his work on landscapes. Shortly before his passing in 2010, he published "The Landscapes of James E. Reynolds." Listings wanted.