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Lot Essay
The present work will be included in the forthcoming Complete Catalogue Raisonné of G. Harvey's Works.
T. Boone Pickens regarded Boomtown Drifters as G. Harvey's best work. The painting held pride-of-place for years in the lobby of Mesa Petroleum, and later at BP Capital, reflecting the roughnecking spirit of the Old West into the halls of what became the nation's largest independent producer of domestic oil and gas.
A kind of mirror to Pickens' own epic career, the sentimental yet powerful image chronicles the life of oil workers in the boomtown era of the early twentieth century when the explosive oil industry brought wealth, population and labor to small Texas communities. As embodied by Boomtown Drifters, the artist said, “When I am researching a subject, whether it’s reading or studying old photographs, the ideas flood over me. I envision different scenes and moods. The principles of light and atmosphere help me to express my feelings about the story. A painting has to be more than just a graphic representation if it is to involve the viewer.” (“History on Canvas: Conversation with the Archivist,” Prologue: The Journal of the National Archives, vol. 23, Summer 1991, p. 184)
Profoundly atmospheric and immersive, the painting transports the viewer back in time to a place of horse drawn wagons, saloons and candlelit windows. Its linear perspective offers an expansive view of the town as workers on horseback cross the picture plane, perhaps after a long day’s work in the muddy conditions.
T. Boone Pickens regarded Boomtown Drifters as G. Harvey's best work. The painting held pride-of-place for years in the lobby of Mesa Petroleum, and later at BP Capital, reflecting the roughnecking spirit of the Old West into the halls of what became the nation's largest independent producer of domestic oil and gas.
A kind of mirror to Pickens' own epic career, the sentimental yet powerful image chronicles the life of oil workers in the boomtown era of the early twentieth century when the explosive oil industry brought wealth, population and labor to small Texas communities. As embodied by Boomtown Drifters, the artist said, “When I am researching a subject, whether it’s reading or studying old photographs, the ideas flood over me. I envision different scenes and moods. The principles of light and atmosphere help me to express my feelings about the story. A painting has to be more than just a graphic representation if it is to involve the viewer.” (“History on Canvas: Conversation with the Archivist,” Prologue: The Journal of the National Archives, vol. 23, Summer 1991, p. 184)
Profoundly atmospheric and immersive, the painting transports the viewer back in time to a place of horse drawn wagons, saloons and candlelit windows. Its linear perspective offers an expansive view of the town as workers on horseback cross the picture plane, perhaps after a long day’s work in the muddy conditions.