Bernard Preston Thomas "King of the Range" Abstract Expressionist Western Landscape 1951

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Wonderful western painting of two wild fighting stallions by listed artist Bernard Preston Thomas (American, 1918-1992), dated 1951. Signed and … Read more Wonderful western painting of two wild fighting stallions by listed artist Bernard Preston Thomas (American, 1918-1992), dated 1951. Signed and dated lower left corner and on verso. Image size: 28"H x 36"W. Presented in rustic painted frame size: 34"H x 41"W x 3"D.

Originally from Sheridan, Wyoming, he loved football and art, giving up the sport to concentrate on a career in art. Thomas graduated from Woodbury College in Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Science degree, earning the Leo Youngsworth Award for outstanding senior art student at Woodbury.
He became a camouflage technician at the outbreak of WWII and caught the attention of General Patton in 1945 through sketches he had drawn while a member of the general's third army. One of his sketches was used in the Stars and Stripes. Thomas was awarded an Army scholarship, choosing the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris for further study. Upon his return to the U.S., he devoted himself to painting western scenes and native Americans.
Also a painter of murals, one of his most famous ones is the "America the Beautiful" room at the Melton Autorama in Hypoluxo, Florida. He also painted the "Golden Falcon" mural in the Golden Falcon Hotel in Fort Lauderdale. See less