Thom Ross
Thom Ross
“My love of history, my enjoyment in story-telling, and my passion for painting … supplies as much in artistic enjoyment as it does in the contemplation of history and the people and events which so shaped it.” - Thom Ross
Thom Ross was born in San Francisco, California in 1952 and raised in Sausalito. He earned a degree in fine arts from California State University, Chico, in 1974. Best known for his striking depictions of the American West, Ross describes himself as "a storyteller who paints." Packed with vibrant colors, bold brushstrokes and kinetic imagery, Ross' paintings restore a liveliness and complexity to often oversimplified, stale depictions of frontier America.
For over forty years, he has delved into the overlooked corners and footnotes of history for inspiration: “The American West is a canvas, a place where history and myth collide... Using bright colors, abstracted forms and a contemporary style of painting my desire is to pull these historical figures from a dim, often misunderstood past into the present moment."
In addition to his paintings, Ross has produced numerous installations featuring life-sized cutout figures depicting historical events. In 1984, he created "the Catch", a diorama for the Baseball Hall of Fame illustrating a legendary catch with the same nickname, by Willie Mays in the 1954 World Series. Ross' 2005 work, "Custer's Last Stand", was a recreation of over one hundred life-sized warriors riding life-sized horses in the Battle of Little Bighorn at the original site at Medicine Tail Coulee in Montana. In 2008, he installed a life-size replica of the 1902 photograph depicting Buffalo Bill Cody and his Wild West Show on Ocean Beach in San Francisco.
Ross has illustrated at least 20 books including a history of baseball. He is the author and illustrator of the book, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Words and Pictures. In 2002, Ross illustrated the 100th anniversary edition of The Virginian by Owen Wister.
Ross was named “Best Original Period Western Painter” by True West magazine in 2012. Currently based in Santa Fe, NM Ross’s paintings are in private and public collections throughout the United States.