Bison have played a significant role in North American history and culture. As a result, they have been a popular subject for landscape paintings, especially during the 19th century. German American artist Albert Bierstadt, Montana-based Charles M. Russel, and Swiss painter Karl Bodmer were avid portrayers in sculpture and paintings of the bison. American artist Carl Rungius and Canadian-born Clarence Tillenius strongly inspired and motivated Dwayne Harty’s study and portrayal of the Bison. As the exhibition demonstrates, Harty captures the beauty and majesty of the bison in their natural habitat, beautifully rendering them on an imposing landscape that conveys a sense of adventure, frontier spirit, historical significance, and North American cultural identity. His European canvases impress with forested and pastural scenes evoking the habitat of the continental bison. Harty has studied the bison for numerous years, traveling to reserves, private ranches, and national parks in North America and Poland. By absorbing, Harty conveys a true impression of the bison by immersing himself in their wilderness habitat, movement and behaviour.

 

Dwayne Harty was born in Shaunavon Saskatchewan. In his early twenties he went to the Art Student league in New York. He also studied at the University of Saskatchewan and the Alberta College of Art and Design. As a professional artist since the early 1980s, Harty’s paintings are in many corporate, public, and private collections. In 2015 his work was featured in a retrospective exhibition at The Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum in Oradell, New Jersey. Harty's diorama and mural work were featured in the PBS-TV thirty-minute documentary, Dwayne Harty: Journeys of an Artist. He is a member of the Explorers Club, NYC, and the Salmagundi Club, NYC. He has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including shows at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. Harty's work has also been featured in publications such as Art in America, Artforum, and The New York Times. Harty is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Governor General's Award for Visual and Media Arts in 2006.

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