Gary Ernst Smith : "Evening Majesty" Lecture at Spirit of the West: Western Spirit Museum

The Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West and Bonner David Galleries has announced that it will honor renowned Western artist Gary Ernest Smith this November for his lifelong contribution to the art and spirit of the American West. The celebration will take place November 13, 2025, from 3 to 4:30 pm, and will coincide with the unveiling of Smith’s new exhibition and a special tribute at the museum’s statue of Maynard Dixon, which Smith created for the museum several years ago. Smith will also give a presentation about his art and career. 

Following the celebration and presentation at the museum, Smith will lead guests and collectors across the street to Bonner David Galleries for the opening of his brand-new body of work, titled Evening Majesty, which will run from 5 to 8pm.  Attendees will also have the opportunity to purchase signed books at the gallery event. 

“Gary Ernest Smith is not only a wonderful painter but a wonderful person as well,” says Christi Manuelito, owner of the gallery. “We are honored to play a part in recognizing his incredible achievements in the western art world through his ability to capture a unique and personal vision of the West on canvas.” 

Smith, known for his evocative portrayals of Western landscapes, rural life, and the modern American frontier, will debut a collection of 25 paintings in an expansive show that spans decades of his career at Bonner David Galleries. The exhibition will include a brand-new series, “Evening Majesty,” inspired by Smith’s transformative experience recovering from surgery and observing clouds drifting past the skylights of his hospital room.

“I spent three months in the hospital and all I could see were clouds passing overhead,” Smith said. “They became these amazingly wonderful, shifting forms — the meeting of earth and sky. These new paintings came out of that experience.”

The “Evening Majesty” series features large-scale works, approximately 36 x 40 inches, where vast skies dominate the compositions, punctuated by subtle traces of land — a reverse of Smith’s earlier landscape style. 

“They’re minimal,” Smith explained. “I’ve always moved toward reducing things to their essence, and these paintings are part of that evolution.”

Alongside the new work, the exhibition will feature figurative and landscape paintings dating as far back as the 1980s. These haunting, simplified portraits of figures in open fields reveal the artist’s early exploration of minimalism and abstraction within Western themes.

“When you’re in the fields, people appear without detail — almost faceless,” said Smith. “Over time, those figures became part of the land itself.”

Smith’s work has long been associated with New Regionalism, a term coined early in his career. While first-generation Western artists captured the taming of the frontier, Smith considers his work to reflect a “second generation” — those who documented the taming of the Western lands, which helped shaped its enduring spirit.

“This honor means a great deal to me,” Smith said. “It’s larger than I ever imagined — a chance to share new directions in my art while reflecting on where it all began.”