Woody Gwyn, American, b. 1944. New Mexico, Texas. Super real panoramic landscape.

Capitan is a tempera on board that is signed lower left. It is titled, dated (1988), and signed on the painted verso as well. 20 x 22 in., 21.25 x 23.25 in. frame

Featured on the cover of the book by Peter Sacks on Woody Gwyn published in 1994.

Gwyn was raised in Texas and attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. His work was exhibited at the Tel Aviv Museum, le Centre Nationale des Arts Plastiques, the MFA Houston, and the MFA Santa Fe. He moved to Galisteo, New Mexico where he painted the surrounding southwest landscape, which included the Canyon de Chelly. His landscape paintings are intended to remind one of these lands as they stand in contemporary times. Changes to the western landscape are referenced through the inclusion of interstate highways. The characteristic style of Gwyn includes dramatic viewing angles, startling color, aggressive cropping, and the contrast between the natural and manmade. Capitan is a mountain in the Sierra Nevada Mountains located in California. Here Gwyn incorporated just enough grasses along the road to contrast with the man made. The point of view shows the floor of the mountain, making it appear slightly aerial. This device references aerial photography and satellite surveillance that neutralizes perceived distance to the earth and it is utilized to re-humanize our sense of space. The intent behind GwynÕs body of art is to present the truths and beauty in the way that things currently are.