Riley, Kenneth, 1919-

Kenneth Riley, is known as one of the top contemporary oil painters of the historical American West. Riley was born in Waverly, Missouri in 1919 and was raised in Kansas. He went to the Kansas City Art Institute in 1938 when his high school art teacher agreed to pay for the first semester. He then moved to New York City to join the Art Students League and attend the Grand Central School of Art. Like most well known artists he started his career by selling his illustrations, and many were published in National Geographic, Saturday Evening Post, Readers Digest, and Life Magazine.

In the late 1960's, after working as an illustrator for many years on the East Coast, he moved out west and was commissioned by the United States Park Service to create several paintings of the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. During that time, he decided to devote his work solely to western subjects. While living in the west he was offered a job at Brigham Young University in Utah and began teaching art. He is a member of the National Academy of Western Art, and was elected to the Cowboy Artists of America, an elite group of painters and sculptors committed to western art in the tradition of Charles Russell and Frederic Remington. In 1973, Kenneth Riley and his wife moved to Tucson, Arizona where they reside today.

This particular painting by Kenneth Riley titled, "Tales of the Medicine Bags" will be in the upcoming Jackson Hole Art Auction on September 19, 2009.