**Originally Listed At $500**

Charles Timothy Prutzer (American, b. 1954). Oil on canvas board. Signed on lower right, n.d. Both breathtakingly beautiful and quietly powerful, Charles Timothy Prutzer's painting of a Horned Lark captures the bird perching amidst golden fields in the high plains with a majestic snow-capped blue mountain range in the distance. Prutzer's approach combines striking compositions with an impressionistic emphasis on light and color. He creates plein-air compositions, preferring the intimacy of field work to painting from photographs. In his words, "Distant snapshots don't contain the spirit or honesty captured in plein air." Size of sight view: 30.5" L x 18.5" W (77.5 cm x 47 cm) Size of frame: 34.5" L x 22.5" W (87.6 cm x 57.2 cm)

Known for his paintings of birds and wildlife, Colorado native Charles Timothy Prutzer began his career as a protege to bird artist Donald Leo Mallick at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in 1966 when he was only 12 years old. In time, Prutzer became a muralist, creating more than 30 natural history murals for both U.S. and international venues. Prutzer was also named the artist-in-residence at the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve in Heidelberg, South Africa in 1979 where he regularly contributed to the Birds in Art exhibition at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum.

In 2011, Laura Zuckerman featured Prutzer as a rising star in the world of wildlife art, along with Brian Grimm, Luke Frazier, Jan Martin McGuire, and Amy Ringholz in her wonderful article entitled "The New Wild Bunch" (Western Art & Architecture Winter/Spring 2011). Zuckerman rightfully described these artists' works as being "at the crossroads where representational art meets the almost abstract." More specifically about Prutzer she wrote, "Honesty is the aim and integrity the method for Charles Timothy Prutzer, who applies himself so wholly to each wildlife painting that his production is intentionally low. Prutzer's drive for authenticity has launched journeys to Africa, India and Spain for firsthand views of the animals he depicts."

Prutzer's artwork has been published in Best of Wildlife Art, edited by Rachel Rudin Wolf, 1999; Wildlife Art, edited by Edward Aldrich, 1998; and Artists for Nature in Extremadura, edited by Nicholas Hammond, 1995. His paintings have been exhibited at Beijing Natural History Museum, The People's Republic of China; the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, Wisconsin; the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales in Madrid Spain and the Burrell Collection in Glasgow, Scotland.

Provenance: ex-private Bishop Family Trust collection, the Trust of the late Bill Bishop, a noted antiquarian with shops in Scottsdale, Arizona and Allenspark, Colorado, USA, acquired before 2010

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#173004

Signed by the artist on the lower right. Painting is in very good condition overall. There are a couple of minor stains to the linen border and a few scuffs and nicks to the frame. Wired for suspension and ready to display. Delightful!