The Old and New West of Tobias Sauer

Things have changed a bit in the Old West over the last two centuries. While we don't ride horses as much as we did then, we still admire the life of the cowboy, the vast expanse of mountains and prairie, and the wildlife of the area.

This is the New West, a subject close to the heart and hands of oil painter Tobias Sauer. Sauer has spent a major portion of his life residing near the route taken by the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

"I paint scenes from the West because I love it," says the Coeur d'Alene artist, a transplant from Montana.

"I grew up in Charlie Russell country, and I grew up wanting to ranch. My heroes were cowboys. I loved rodeo, ranching, and outdoors, and since I couldn't live the life of a cowboy, I like to paint it."

Sauer's work is bold, expressive and filled with the movement and excitement of a Western day. And his scenes of cowboys and their livestock charges could take place last night or last century.

He has shown and sold his work in major western art shows throughout the nation, including the Cowboy Classics Western Art Show in Phoenix, Ariz.; the Western Heritage Art Show in Great Falls, Mont.; Heart of the West in both Coeur d'Alene and Bozeman, Mont.; and, fittingly, the Russell Exhibition and Sale in Great Falls, Mont.

Through Sept. 22, Sauer is exhibiting a selection of his western and wildlife paintings at Wenaha Gallery, 219 East Main, Dayton. The gallery is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday.