Cyrus Walker - 20th/21st Century

Cyrus Walker was born in Vermont during the month of January. He started to learn about art and the unique perspective it can provide. He studied under his Uncle who was an Art Director at a respectable advertising firm in Boston, MA. Through the close observation of his Uncle’s work, Cyrus learned first hand how images can be used to speak without uttering a word. It was also through the study of advertising that Cyrus learned about the interesting way commercial illustrators stylize their work.

Cyrus studied graphic design and marketing at Montana State University where he learned about the principals of design. While in school, Cyrus opened a small design company where he had the privilege of working with brands from all around the United States. He has always made a point to incorporate as many analog tools as appropriate while completing jobs in the field of advertising. By studying the work from designers dating back to the 1930’s, Cyrus carved out his own style of illustration and design. His enthusiasm for design is apparent in his fine art.

The shift from design to fine art was a natural one. Many of the principals of design and fine art are the same. It is just the medium that changes. Cyrus currently lives in Montana, and that is probably the reason why he has been focusing on western painting. The western genre is very interesting because it parallels the overall history of art, but it has it’s own time line determined by location. The study of western art is rewarding because of its unique ties to early American history. Cyrus is continuing the narrow time line of American Western paintings.

Cyrus’ work reflects and manipulates the mass produced dime novels and comic books that historically influenced the themes of the West. The Western art genre is a careful balance of mythology and preservation.

Early Western painters paved the way for the phenomenon known as the, “Imagined West”. The Wild West narrative deeply permeated popular society. There was enough collective opinion to generate widespread stories. Whether factual or tall tales about the happenings of the land beyond the Mississippi, this form of mass persuasion and the shared recollections of the West are what peaked Cyrus’ curiosity.