Howard Terpning - 70 Years of Art

For Immediate Release Press Contact: Tom Shinall, TMP Director of Marketing [email protected] 770-387-1300HOWARD TERPNING: 70 YEARS OF ART December 15, 2016 – March 26, 2017CARTERSVILLE, GEORGIA – By nearly any measure – awards, sales records, critical acclaim orcollector demand – Howard Terpning is the most accomplished living Western artist of today. While therehave been several major exhibitions of his work over the years, there has never been a true retrospectiveexhibition. Opening December 15, 2016, the Booth Western Art Museum will correct this oversight withHoward Terpning: 70 Years of Art. Focusing on four major segments of his artistic output, the artgathered together for the first time will introduce audiences to the steppingstones of his early career thatled to his masterful paintings that today sell for upwards of $2 million at auction. The exhibition will be onexhibit in the Booth’s Special Exhibition Gallery through March 26, 2017.“As we near winter, we will open the most important exhibition we have ever mounted for a living artist,”says Seth Hopkins, Booth Western Art Museum Executive Director. “Opening December 15 will be thedefinitive retrospective of the artist Howard Terpning. The show will survey Terpning's early illustrations,movie poster work, and art created for the Marine Corps while in Vietnam as a civilian combat artist. Theexhibit also features nearly 40 major paintings from his mature career, evidence of why he became theacknowledged master among living Western artists.”As an aspiring illustrator, Terpning spent time working in the studio of the legendary Haddon Sundblom,whose most famous creation is the modern image of Santa Claus for the Coca-Cola Company. SoonTerpning would establish himself as an important commercial artist, first in Chicago and then in New York.A number of early examples of his illustrations for magazines and commercial clients in the 1960s will befeatured. From the late 50s to early 1970s Terpning created movie imagery for nearly 90 films, includingtruly iconic images for Gone With The Wind and The Sound of Music. More than a dozen vintage movieposters featuring Terpning artwork will be on display.The artist has said his experiences in Vietnam, observing the disadvantaged peoples of Southeast Asiainfluenced his view on the way Native Americans were treated throughout American history. Terpningwent to Vietnam as a civilian combat artist for the United States Marine Corps. He produced severaldrawings and paintings of his experiences that are now part of the collection of the National Museum ofthe Marine Corps and will be generously placed on loan to this exhibition. MORE

Page two, Howard TerpningThe highlight of the exhibition will be nearly 40 major paintings from throughout Terpning's mature career.While these are sure to be a hit with visitors, the earlier works that he produced on his journey to his loftystatus today are worth our attention.With the opening of the Terpning exhibition falling so close to the holidays, we will not have a formalopening. Instead, we're incorporating the celebration of Terpning's work with our annual February GalaWeekend, when we will also be honoring Robert McGinnis. These two artists are perhaps the greatestliving producers of iconic movie poster imagery. The focus of this year's Gala will be “the evolution of twogreat artists,” acknowledging the journey both McGinnis and Terpning took from illustrators to widelyacknowledged Western fine artists. Gala weekend is set for February 24-25, 2017.For more details on Howard Terpning: 70 Years of Art and the corresponding schedule of events, visitwww.boothmuseum.org or call 770-387-1300.About Booth Western Art MuseumBooth Western Art Museum, an Affiliate to the Smithsonian Institution, is a 120,000 square foot museumlocated in Cartersville, Georgia, where guests are invited to See America’s Story through contemporaryWestern artwork, a Presidential Gallery, Civil War art gallery, and Sagebrush Ranch, an interactivechildren’s gallery. Open since August 2003, Booth Museum is the only museum of its kind in theSoutheast and was named the 2016 Escape to the Southeast Travel Attraction of the Year from theSoutheast Tourism Society. To learn more about Booth Western Art Museum, visitwww.boothmuseum.org. ###