BILL ANTON

About this artist

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Bill Anton became a western painter, especially of the lifestyle of cowboys. He first traveled West at age seven. He attended Loyola University in Chicago and then transferred to Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, majoring in English. He settled in Arizona, and his wife, Peggy, supported him while he established his career as an artist.

He was inspired with western painting when he attended a Cowboy Artist of American Exhibition in the late 1970s at the Phoenix Art Museum. In 1982, he turned to art full time, and visiting ranches in Flagstaff and Prescott, he rode in roundups and learned to work with cattle. He also developed a love of plein-air painting and was much inspired by the work of Anders Zorn, Edgar Payne and Frank Tenney Johnson.

Source:

“Prix de West” 2003 catalogue

(Courtesy of AskArt)

 

Awards:

2018: Express Ranches Great American Cowboy Award, Prix de West Invitational, Nat’l Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, OK.

2017: Spirit of the West Award, Masters of the American West, Autry National Center, Los Angeles, CA.

2016: Frederic Remington Award, Prix de West Invitational, Nat’l Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, OK.

2015: Spirit of the West Award, Masters of the American West, Autry National Center, Los Angeles, CA.

2012: Museum Purchase Award, Masters of the American West, Autry National Center, Los Angeles, CA.

2011: Express Ranches Great American Cowboy Award, Prix de West Invitational, Nat’l Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, OK.

Gene Autry Memorial Award, Masters of the American West, Autry National Center, Los Angeles, CA.

Spirit of the West Award, Masters of the American West, Autry National Center, Los Angeles, CA.

Bohlin Buckle Award, Masters of the American West, Autry National Center, Los Angeles, CA.