Art Review - "Night Herd" by Frank Tenney Johnson

One more #MuseumTourTuesday post featuring art from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Today it's a painting by Frank Tenney Johnson.

Johnson was trained as an illustrator and became known for his moonlight technique. Even though most of his paintings appear to be night scenes, my guess is that he painted them from models lit by daylight, altering color temperature and saturation to make the scene appear to be a nocturne.

In this particular piece, what strikes me most is the relaxed pose of the rider, clearly in a moment of respite as he drapes both legs over one side of the horse. While he is most likely rolling a cigarette, he could just as easily be checking his phone if this were a modern day scene.

 

"Night Herd" • Frank Tenney Johnson • Oil on Canvas • 1936

Painting photo by Saunders Fine Arts.

 

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