Out of Nowhere by Bruce Greene. James Kelly
This got a lot of talk online. People liked it but several mentioned it was a whitetail in mule deer country from the look of it. Some tried to say it was a Coues deer in the southwest, or in Idaho, but I am not buying it. I agree that it is incongruous and I think the artist flubbed it. The western art market attracts a lot of artists that have no experience with the west. They know what sells however so we are flooded with cowboys and Indians on canvas now. I am sort of surprised the western art market is still strong. It is mostly a fantasy market. Most of the people buying it are urban with no connection to cows for sure.
FWIW, I’ve been seeing white tail in recent years in mule deer country. They’re an invasive species in my region.
As for the popularity with urbanites, that doesn’t surprise me. The unrelenting drive of our capitalist society has created living conditions we absolutely detest. Some react by putting up images of a more natural/agrarian life on their walls, imagining in what and who they’d rather be. Others buy small lots in what was a rural area and wreck them, imagining that they’re homesteaders.
And we wonder why we have such a high addiction and insanity rate. We really weren’t evolved to live the way that our corporate masters would have it.
While typically not red, we have many bluffs like the ones in the background in Nebraska. Bluffs where there very well could be a cornfield on the flats above just out of the picture. Many Whitetails abound. Then again, it could be a clueless artist.
I have no issues with spooking a whitetail or a muley while out rounding up cattle. I do have issues with a cowboy who is stupid enough to ride a horse at a full gallop while trying to lasso a calf in that type of terrain! Imagine the pile up, the hospital bills! To be totally honest they should be on 4 wheelers.
As a current cattleman, I’ve seen dirt bikes and then various atv’s come and go. We still use horses, as do most ranchers in my region.