A Tribute To
Cowboys Of Color
Image Narratives, Pricing, Availability
Posters - 18x24 - $75 ea.
Giclees on Canvas - 18x24 - $425 ea.
Posters - Small Paintings 9x10 & under - $150 ea.
***Please Note: "Cowboys Of Color" Original Oils on Canvas pricing - Not scheduled for release "To Be Sold" until 2015***
“Bronco Rider” - Bev Jenai (2013)
Oil on canvas. Size 24X30
(Price shown above)
“The Dismount” - Bev Jenai (2013)
Oil on canvas. Size 18x24
(Price shown above)
NARRATIVE
During the late 1950s, the lack of cowboys among the pros, as well as an underlying racism, effectively kept most blacks from competing with whites. To combat that situation, black cowboys of the 1940s and 1950s formed the Southwestern Colored Cowboys Association, which serve as a farm league for cowboys who aspired to become professional. Many of those cowboys graduated to the professional level, and by the 1960s rodeo became integrated enough to enable blacks to succeed in the pro ranks.
Bronco Rider Giclee
Bronco Rider Poster
NARRATIVE
Cowboys would ride a string of horses depending on what task was at hand. For example, a mild horse would be used at night and a quick horse would be used for cattle roping and tending. Tall in the saddle, alone, facing danger, one man against nature's vast, treeless plains and humanity's outlaws—that appealed to people and made the cowboy a folk hero, a half-real, half-mythological symbol of the American West. The men who worked the cattle in the treeless expanses of the West, at least one-fourth of them blacks, became known as cowboys.
Dismount Giclee
Dismount Poster
“The Black Buffalo Soldiers from Arizona”
Bev Jenai (2013)
Oil on canvas. Size 30x30
(Price shown above)
NARRATIVE
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You won't find them in Hollywood's old Western movies, except maybe as slaves or comics. You won't find them in history books either. They are the black cowboys of the late 1800s. From the plantations of the South to the plains of Texas, black cowboys made their mark on the subduing of the vast western territories, keeping the peace with indigenous peoples, "putting out fires" as buffalo soldiers sent to hot spots, and later as cowboys in America's cattle industry and -- gaining fame and glory in the rodeos of our nation. |
Buffalo Soldier Giclee
Buffalo Soldier Poster
“Rodeo Days” - Bev Jenai (2013)
Oil on canvas. Size 18x24
(Price shown above)
NARRATIVE
Most known for his “bull-dogging” technique, Bill Pickett (born 1870) invented the rodeo sport of steer wrestling. One out of every three cowpokes riding the range and driving cows up the Chisholm Trail was black according to Jesse Guillory, the rodeo's general manager. Riding and roping….an everyday chore for the Cowboy. The sport of rodeo evolved. The Rodeo became a competition and showmanship of a Cowboys’ skill with a rope or his ability to ride a bucking animal. It’s been said that the Rodeo is the only sport derived from an industry, and probably the only one that ever will. Today, there are many Black Rodeo’s held all over the United States celebrating the true heritage and skills of these proud men & women.
Rodeo Days Giclee
Rodeo Days Poster
NARRATIVE
More often than not, if you wanted to have a hearty meal, you had to hunt. Spirited horsemen living dangerous lives – often facing lightning storms, drought and the forces that nature delivered.
Long Road Home Giclee
Long Road Home Poster
“The Long Road Home” - Bev Jenai (2013)
Oil on canvas. Size 20x24
(Price shown above)
“Hanging On!” Bev Jenai (2013)
Oil on canvas. Size 18x24
(Price shown above)
NARRATIVE
Bull riding origins can be traced back to the ‘Wild West.’ The first rodeo skills were acquired by men in the 1800s when cowboy ranching was common. Cowboys had to be able to rope livestock and ride half-tamed horses on the ranch. After the Civil War, the cowboys would drive cattle miles through vast open land to various marketing centers called stockyards. After the grueling task of this endeavor, the top cowboys from the different ranches would use their skills of riding horses and roping cattle in a competition against one another. The three classic events of modern rodeo are saddle-bronc riding, calf roping, and team roping, and they remain virtually unchanged from their frontier origins. The modern rodeo emerged from these early days of ranching.
Hanging On Giclee
Hanging On Poster
“A Cattle Rancher” - Bev Jenai (2013)
Oil on canvas. Size 18x24
(Price shown above)
“Cowboy Wear” - Bev Jenai (2013)
Oil on canvas. Size 9x12
(Price shown above)
NARRATIVE
The work of the cowhand or “Cattle Rancher” was essential to the new settlers arriving in Texas and other western parts, and building a life on the frontier. The cowboy learned his craft from the vaqueros of New Spain and Texas when it was the northern territory of Mexico, as well as from the stock raisers of the South. Such a life was hardly glamorous. Poorly fed, underpaid, overworked, deprived of sleep, and prone to boredom and loneliness, cowboys choked in the dust, were cold at night, and suffered broken bones in falls and spills from horses spooked by snakes or tripped by prairie dog holes. Work centered on the fall and spring roundups, when scattered cattle were collected and driven to a place for branding, sorting for market, castrating, and in later years, dipping in vats to prevent tick fever.
African American cowboys, however, also had to survive discrimination, bigotry, and prejudice. The lives of these cowhands tell a story of skill and grit, as they did what was necessary to gain the trust and respect of those who controlled their destiny. That meant being the best—at roping, bronc busting, taming mustangs, calling the brands, controlling the remuda, or topping off horses.
A Cattle Rancher Giclee
A Cattle Rancher Poster
NARRATIVE
Cowboys are commonly known to wear leather boots with spurs, hats, Western-style shirts and jeans. Brown leather is a very popular fabric among cowboys. Cowboys and other laborers wore what was called ready-to-wear. The cowboys' hats were high-crowned with wide, floppy rims, practical for protection from the sun's glare, useful as a cup to scoop up water or, folded over, as a pillow.
The bandana handkerchief tied around the neck could be lifted to cover mouth and nostrils from dust. Originally the collarless shirt and trousers were nondescript, of flannel or wool. A vest was often worn; it gave some protection from cold winds and also had a number of useful pockets. The boots with heels two inches high, the better to rest in the stirrups or dig into the ground while roping a calf. The stock saddle's design traced all the way back to the Moors of North Africa, having come to the American cowboy by way of the Spanish and Mexicans.
Cowboy Wear Poster
“80 John” - Bev Jenai (2013)
Oil on canvas. Size 5x7
(Price shown above)
NARRATIVE
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A Texas Cattleman, Daniel Webster Wallace or “80 John” as he was called, was born a slave but later joined the cattle drive of 1877. He aspired to be a business man and he knew getting an education was most important to fulfilling his dreams of owing his own ranch. At age 25, “80 John” returned to school in Navarro County, where he was admitted to the second grade, and in two winters learned to read and write. In his later-twenties Daniel out worked and performed better than other cattleman, earning his nickname “80 John”. With hard work and determination, he soon became the most respected black rancher owning his own cattle and 1280 acres of land. Upon his death, “80 John” left an estate worth more than $1 Million. |
80 John Poster
Paintings still to come:
#10 Cathay Williams - A female Buffalo soldier who impersonated a male soldier
#11 Fred Whitfield - All around Cowboy - World Champion in 1999 w/ earnings that year of $217,819
#12 A leather skinned painting - Native Americans performing their traditional role of branding cattle