Verne Tossey's art career began as a student at the Art Students' League in New York under Frank J. Riley, as an apprentice in a New York City commercial art studio, and then as an historical and Western Illustrator which laid the foundation of his realistic depiction of the rugged cowboys, young and old, the various Indian tribes, the horses and the western dress. His wife Mary, a Wyoming rancher's daughter, helped Verne to really see the West and understand its ways.

Verne's work is a window into the "real" America. He once told me "What I'm trying to say is my paintings dispense with much that has become superficial and shows that part of us which made America what it is today."

Verne was a charter member of the "Northwes...