Cowboys & Images: Watercolors

Collected here are 100+ watercolors of mostly cowboys and western themes by painter William Matthews. First inspired by readings at the Elko, Nevada, Cowboy Poetry Gathering in 1985, Matthews became fascinated by the lives of working cowboys, their manner, attitudes, and spirit. Unlike the more dramatic renderings of Charlie Russell and Frederic Remington, Matthews' cowboys are often quietly at work or caught in moments of contemplation, often astride their horses. His images focus attention on the body language of cowboys, their clothes and hats, and rarely on faces. A number of paintings are beautiful landscapes, rivers, ranch buildings, a rodeo grounds against a sunset-colored outcropping of rock. The book includes a remembrance of cowboys from his family's ranch by writer William Kittredge and an accounting of the buckaroos of the Great Basin. Another essay by Dyan Zaslowsky tells of the career of William Matthews, born in 1949 and growing up in San Francisco. This is a handsomely designed oversize book, and an excellent addition to any bookshelf of Western art and literature.

The book is the next best thing to actually visiting a working ranch and smelling leather, sweat or burning hair -- or visiting Willie's gallery on a fine December evening for a showing of new works.

Willie Matthews does wonderful work depicting the lives of cowboys today. Much of my family have been in the cattle ranch business for generations. Being a cowboy is hard work and generally low pay. They work so hard day in and day out, with little vacation time. It's people like Matthews who appreciate this profession and record it for the world to see. My brother also happens to be one of the cowboys in this book. This is a great book of selected paintings of a dying trade