Collecting the Strays

Charlie Dye was an American painter. He is best known for his depictions of cowboys chasing down or branding their cattle and fictional scenes from the American Old West replete with pioneers and Native Americans.

Born on October 30, 1906 in Canon City, CO, he spent much of his youth amidst horses and farm animals, as his father was a Texas Trail cowhand. Dye began making art after recovering in the hospital from an injury sustained from falling off a horse, and went on to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The artist died in 1972 in Sedona, AZ.

Today, Dye’s works are in the collections of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center in Oklahoma City and the National Center for American Western Art in Kerrville, TX, among others. *Artnet.com