Paul Van Ginkel B. 1960
Crow Scout
Curly, a scout with George Custer during the Battle of Little Bighorn.
Estimate - $2,000 - $2,500
In 1983, in his 5th year at the Alberta College of Art, Paul Van Ginkel accepted a job at the Calgary Herald newspaper as an editorial illustrator. He later resigned in 1990 to pursue his dream of being a full time fine art painter.
Despite painting many different subjects, Van Ginkel specializes in western themes, and has created close to 2,300 pieces so far with his oil paintings placed in private and corporate collections around the world. The Calgary Stampede has been instrumental in shaping his career. His first year in the art auction was 1986 and this will be his 21st show in the Western Showcase (his first was in 1991). In 2006 he was the first “fine artist” chosen to paint the annual Calgary Stampede poster while last year the Stampede commissioned a painting to help celebrate 100 years of chuckwagon racing. “History in the Dust” was reproduced on a 28 x 16 foot mural on Stampede Park and is also available in print.
Van Ginkel has received many awards and distinctions, has had numerous newspaper and magazine cover feature articles including in the July/August 2023 issue of Art of the West magazine. He has also been featured in videos and documentaries such as Amazon Prime, Cowboy Country and a new 35 minute film that was just released. Van Ginkel’s definition of success in the arts is not being “rich and famous”, it’s being able to be a painter his entire life. He represents himself, is always open to custom (commission) paintings and has chosen to have only one U.S. based gallery in Colorado.
