Jackson

Harry

Harry Jackson was born in Chicago in 1924.  As a child his only interests were horses and drawing.  At age 14 he ran away to Wyoming where he worked as a ranch hand and was encouraged by the painter Ed Grigware.  In 1942, Jackson joined the Marines and was wounded in Pacific service.  He later became a combat artist and entertainer.

After the war he studied in New York City with Tamayo and Hans Hoffman.  His one-man show in 1952 was of abstract expressionist paintings.  By 1956, he was exhibiting as a realist in Italy.  In 1957 on fellowships, he began on Western themes leading into Range Burial and Stampede bronzes that were in effect studies for murals.  In 1950, he made an album of traditional music, "Harry Jackson, the Cowboy, His Songs, Ballads, and Brag Talk."

Jackson's 1960 New York City show of Western bronzes and drawings was a success.  He built a studio and established a foundry on Italy.  Best known for his bronzes, he has received substantial attention from national magazines such as Life and Time.  In 1972 he wrote "Lost Wax Bronze Casting."

He works are held by major museums such as the Buffalo Bill Museum, Glenbow Foundation (Calgary), Montana Historical Society, Whitney Gallery of Western Art, Wyoming State Gallery, Woolrac Museum and the Fort Pitt Museum.

(1924 - 2011)