Conrad "Connie" Schwiering – 1916–1986

by Sarah Judson January 15, 2009

Coming of age in Wyoming in the depression, Connie Schwiering made it the hard way. He got a start in painting from Robert Graham in Denver, was mentored briefly by Bert Phillips in Taos, then studied at the Art Students League in New York with Charles Chapman, a friend and contemporary of Frederick Remington. After the war, he and his wife settled in Jackson Hole where they lived for the next 11 years in a cramped travel trailer with a tacked on lean-to for Connie to paint in, before building a modest house and studio. He was well known and liked

among local ranchers, painting in and around Jackson Hole as he slowly gained a following. Connie painted plein air extensively and on a substantial scale as shown in the accompanying photos. The genre of Western painting is underappreciated for its extensive contribution to the plein-air painting tradition in the United States. Conrad Schwiering is a stand-out from the lean years in the mid-20th Century.

– Carl Judson

Sarah Judson

Author

Also in Judsons Plein Air Journal

Take Your Art Outside: The Allure of Plein Air Painting

by Staff Account June 26, 2024

Have you ever felt the urge to ditch the studio and unleash your creativity in the fresh air? Plein air painting, ("in the open air"), might be the ticket.

View full article →