Robert Summers

Artist Biography

An oil painter of the contemporary West, Robert Summers was born in Glen Rose, Texas, where he still lives. "I paint the people and things I know,' he observes, "I find it hard to paint anything unless it relates to my own experience. Occasionally I'll read some historical story and try to recreate that moment, but I have to be careful to make the costumes and weapons correct. Cattle ranching may be a vanishing way of life, but the basic principles are still much the same as they were a hundred years ago.'

In 1964, a cousin paid Summers' living expenses for a year so he could paint full time. "Things got pretty tight,” he recalls, "and if we hadn't lived in a small town, it would have been impossible.” However, two years later, he was exhibiting successfully. In 1969, he sold twelve paintings at a solo show in Odessa, Texas, and in 1973 his art, prints and posters were reproduced by the Franklin Mint. Summers was the official Texas Bicentennial Artist in 1976, and in 1979.

Now, Summers has created numerous public art projects, including the world's largest bronze for the Pioneer Plaza at the Dallas Convention Center in Dallas, Texas. The piece, a cattle drive, includes seventy longhorn steers herded by three riders on horseback. Completed in the mid 1990's, it took him two and a half years.

Robert Summers Art, Prints and Posters Collection