Peter Hurd

(1904-1984)

Antelope Hunter 31 x 21in framed 39 x 28 1/2in

Footnotes

Provenance
Property from The Hercules Incorporated Collection.
Sale, Christie's, Los Angeles, California, Western and American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, November 20, 2002, lot 96.
Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Property of an Aspen, Colorado Collector.

Peter Hurd was born and raised in New Mexico. The Southern part of the state is a place of brilliant light and expansive landscapes. His artistic journey is intrinsically tied to this place and to one of the great families of American art - the Wyeths. The place, however, was critical in breaking Hurd away from N.C.'s influence and the formation of his signature style.

The West Point Military Academy in New York was Hurd's first major time away from New Mexico. He enrolled there in 1921. The drive to be an artist was strong and lead him to the doorstep of one of America's most prominent illustrators of the time in N.C. Wyeth. Hurd approached Wyeth seeking instruction and N.C. is said to have directed Hurd to attend the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Hurd was persistent and ultimately he studied under N.C. for many years including a number of them living in N.C.'s barn at Chadd's Ford. It was here that Peter met his future wife and N.C.'s daughter Henriette, a significant artist in her own right. They married in 1929 and had an extended honeymoon in New Mexico. They would go on to establish their home in the Southern part of the state in San Patricio.

1929 was also the year that Hurd began to work in egg tempera on gesso treated panels. Egg tempera is an ancient artistic technique which stretches back to the 4th century Byzantine icon painters. The egg yolk serves as the binder for the pigment. It dries quite fast so small amounts of color need to be repeatedly mixed and used immediately. Necessarily the compositions are composed of layer upon layer of pigment. The egg yolk is an emulsion that dries clear so the pigments present a pure color as conceived by the artist and have a matte quality. Hurd ground his own pigments and in some cases they even came from the soils of the scenes he portrayed. The very nature of this technique allowed Hurd to capture the landscape and the light but it was not easy to depict these effects. Hurd said of his struggles: "What is it that motivates me in the first place and brings on these frenzied races against time and light? If the effort is destined to have any success it must be triggered by an inner elation. An excited reaction to some color or light effect which by its inevitable evanescence is always productive of delight and despair. Despair that it is so quickly changing and so difficult to record."

While Peter Hurd was an artist he was also a rancher and had all the associated skills. He was an accomplished horseman and he could and did at times work directly with the ranch hands. This painting Antelope Hunter illustrates a moment of excitement in the hunt as the target is spotted, but is also something fairly quotidian for a New Mexican cowboy. Hurd shows the drama of a fast stop as the dust clouds around the horse's legs. The rider is mid-dismount with one boot out of the stirrup and his weight shifted to the side. The rifle is out of the holster and in his hand and his expression is focused. The antelope sprint away in the distance and mirror the colors of the white and brown hills beyond that serve as their backdrop. The egg tempera's qualities are on full display with delicate hatchings creating a gradient of tones in the sky and hills. The clouds are not visible and the viewer only knows of their presence by their cast shadows. The musculature of the horse also benefits from the nature of the egg tempera as there is a sculptural feeling created by the artist building the image with many successive layers. Central of course to the composition is the saturated blues and greens in the rider's shirt in striking contrast to the subdued earth colored landscape. The Antelope Hunter shows Hurd's mastery of a technique and his deep love of the place.