Blossom Wins Prix de West Purchase Award
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum® 37th anniversary Prix de West® Invitational Art Exhibition and Sale played host to a record 110 artists during opening weekend June 11 and 12. The exhibit includes a record 346 Western paintings and sculptures by the finest contemporary Western artists in the nation.
Each year at Prix de West, top artists are awarded distinguished honors selected by the Prix de West committee, the artists and buyers. The top honor is the Prix de West Purchase Award winner. The Museum Board’s Prix de West Committee faces a difficult decision each year. From more than 340 works of art, this committee must select one work to purchase for the Museum’s permanent collection. The artist receives the purchase price and a cash award of $5,000. Christopher Blossom of Stratford, Connecticut, was honored for the first time with the prestigious Prix de West Purchase Award medallion.
Blossom’s painting titled Sunrise in the Golden Gate; Downeaster “Benjamin F. Packard” makes a significant addition to the Museum’s priceless acquisitions. He also will be recognized with a special tile in the Edward L. Gaylord Exhibition Wing hallway, and his winning work will take its rightful place in the William S. and Ann Atherton Art of the American West Gallery.
Sunrise in the Golden Gate; Downeaster “Benjamin F. Packard,” priced at $37,000 is a 24” x 38” oil on linen that catches the Benj. F. Packard sailing ship passing through the Golden Gate and into San Francisco Bay. Built in 1883, the Packard was a class of ship that represents the last of the large, wooden full-rigged ships.
Blossom follows a line of highly accomplished artists, including his grandfather, Earl, and father, David. He attended the Parsons School of Design in New York City and worked in the Industrial Design Studio of Robert Bourke, where he learned to accurately interpret blueprints. It is experience that plays into every painting of watercraft. He has been participating in Prix de West for 21 years and is a multiple award winner. Blossom is a three-time recipient (2001, 2007 and 2008) of the Robert Lougheed Memorial Award—an honor voted upon by participating artists.
Additional award winners will be announced at an Awards Banquet on Saturday evening, June 12. All works remain on display at the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma museum through September 6.