Historian with a Brush

By David Wright

Historian with a Brush is a hardcover, commemorative gift edition celebrating the life and art of David Wright, and published by Grandin Hood Publishers of Franklin. The large format book presents the artist’s biography, and an extensive portfolio of his work.  

The book’s visually illustrated history text, authored by Western Writers Hall of Fame writer James A. Crutchfield, will give the reader an exciting journey through the life of the artist, culminating as one the nation’s foremost painters of American exploration, Indian nations and early American history.  

Combined with personal and archival photographs from Wright’s collection, Crutchfield’s text will follow the artist from his early Kentucky roots, through his art education in Nashville and Europe, and combat endeavors of Vietnam. The colorful saga continues with tales of activities with longhunters and mountain men; as advisor to movie productions, and a lifelong passion for American history that is the subject of his art.

The greater balance of the book’s pages will be devoted to full-page presentations of Wright’s paintings, arranged within portfolios, with each portfolio identified by the subject genre. Commentary from celebrity patrons and notables in the historic literary and art world introduce the galleries. Brief historical background text and anecdotes accompany each of the paintings.

A limited quantity of 300 books are offered as special “Artist’s Signature Edition” copies. Each will be signed and numbered by the artist and presented in custom, “Grained Buffalino” slipcases, with gold foil stamping, and will include an enclosed 10”x14” signed print of an iconic David Wright painting. The signed and numbered “Artist Signature Edition” copies will be issued, in the sequence of orders received.

Endorsements

It is not the grand sweeping stories of America's history he paints. He prefers to find the poignant moments of reflection, individual interactions among colliding cultures or the calm before the storm.  As David says, 'It is not in the historical details that you find great art, but in using those details to reveal the human spirit.'

– Seth Hopkins, Executive Director, Booth Western Art Museum 

From the hamlet of Rosine, Kentucky, came two artistic visionaries, Bill Monroe and David Wright, who altered the cultural landscape. Monroe crafted a musical genre, Bluegrass. Wright cracked history's door to create a personal, disciplined interpretation of the heroic men and women whose life-songs wrote the American Iliad. Wright's transcendent art comes as much from the soul and saddle as it does his unending study of our frontier past.

– Ted Franklin Belue, Western History Author

It is a rare gift to encounter an artist whose work doesn't simply depict a scene, but evokes the very essence of the time and place it represents. David Wright, with his commanding narratives and vivid landscapes, has given us more than just images of the past; he's created a bridge to history itself. 

– Tim Newton, Publisher Emeritus, Western Art and Architecture

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Book orders are accepted at gspnash@gmail.com.