Howard Post was born in 1948 in Tucson, Arizona. He earned his Bachelor's and Masters degrees in Fine Arts at the University of Arizona, and taught there for two years.
Post was born and raised on a ranch near Tucson and gravitated early towards the cowboy life. He began to enter rodeo competitions as a youth and in time became an Arizona High School All-Around Rodeo Champion, a member of the University of Arizona rodeo team and eventually a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association competitor. He also earned both Bachelor's and Masters degrees in Fine Arts at the university and taught there for two years.
After working as a commercial artist for a period, in 1980, Post decided to paint the lifestyle he knew best - the Arizona ranch traditions and the Arizona landscape. He is known for his unique aerial perspectives and modern, impressionistic viewpoint. A distant ranch house, cowboys sitting on fence rails, or cattle clustered in a corral are all subjects brought to life by Post's keen imagination. His use of high perspectives renders people and animals in his works with exceptionally strong shapes and patterns. He may use up to six colors, painted over a dark background. Strong, orderly shadow patterns cast by the figures of cattle, cowboys, trees, or fences define his work.
Selected awards:
Coors Western Art Exhibit and Sale, Mary Belle Grant Award, 2013
Phoenix Art Museum, The West Select, Painting Gold Medal, 2012
Eiteljorg Musuem, Quest for the West, Victor Higgins Award of Distinction, 2010, 2012
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Prix de West, Great American Cowboy Award, 2010
Coors Western Art Exhibit and Sale, Best of Show, 2010
Publications:
Howard Post: Western Perspectives, hardcover, 200 pages, 150 color plates, (Rose Fredrick Productions, Inc., CO)
Selected collections:
Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
The Forbes Foundation, NY
Museum of History and Art, Salt Lake City, UT
National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, OK
Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
U.S. Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
Whitney Western Art Museum, Cody, WY