The Great Plains
JOHN GANNAM
The Great Plains
Main Attributes:
Artist:John Gannam Title:The Great Plains Work:Painting Medium:Gouache and Watercolor Substrate:Board Date:c. 1950 Signed: Estate Stamp/Rep. Size:8.50" x 14.00" Pricing:Price Upon Request Details:This work is a gouache and watercolor on board by the master watercolorist - John Gannam - one of America’s most talented artists working almost exclusively in watercolor - during its rise to a high-art form in the middle of the 20th century. Gannam’s confident, yet precise brushstrokes belie the hand of the master. His work has an almost impressionist quality to it - one that would be masterful (and truly is) in any medium, but he fact that “they were done in watercolor” - a brutally unforgiving medium “with its attendant traps and difficulties” make them even more amazing. The quality of his work in watercolor has been compared to “Sargent” – no doubt for his tremendous proficiency in the medium.
He was widely admired and respected by his peers and was a top American illustrator for decades. Gannam was an associate of the National Academy of Design, a member of the American Artists' Professional League, the American Watercolor Society, the Society of Illustrators and others.
This work was likely used as an Illustration for publication (currently undetermined), as are most of the Gannam's we have available. This work is in fine condition - having been stored away in a drawer in Gannam’s personal collection, thereafter, passed down to his estate - since its creation in c. 1950.
While I unfortunately never met the artist John Gannam, I knew his late son, John Gannam Jr., who over two decades ago, generously allowed me to acquire some brilliant examples of father’s work. I have been a fan ever since. Blake Benton
Provenance:
The Artist
The Artists Estate
BENTON GALLERY, acquired from above; 2019