Elliott, Josh

Josh Elliott

A third-generation artist, Josh Elliott was born in Great Falls, Montana. His grandfather studied with Grant Wood and dabbled in a variety of artistic pursuits, and his father, Steve Elliott, is an accomplished wildlife and landscape painter. Elliott and his two brothers grew up in a home where art was valued and supported. That support continues today, as his mother actively collects his work.

After some years at university, where he filled his schedule with art classes, Elliott left school to learn to paint from his father, who taught and encouraged him. He learned the importance of painting from life and discovered his passion for painting outdoors. After a year of study, Josh married his wife, Allison, and the two moved to Oregon to start their life together, where he painted outdoors on a near daily basis. He believes the muted tones of western Oregon sharpened his skills of observation.

Over time, outdoor painting became subordinate to more planned and composed studio paintings. Elliott says, “Painting outdoors is a reaction to what is in front of me, where studio painting is more of a reflection of who I am in response to nature; however, without the fundamentals of painting outdoors I would have trouble painting a convincing scene.” In the studio, he has more freedom to experiment and focus on what makes a good painting. He believes that if he has an emotional response to a scene, the resulting painting will find an audience, “It is important to me to share a connection with the viewer, where we are both celebrating the beauty around us.” The art we resonate with shows us a potent vision of the artist’s world, and Elliott aims to have the same impact on his viewers.

Elliott cites many artistic influences and paints a variety of subjects within the landscape genre. He is motivated more by ideas than a particular location, “I look for artistic elements like shapes and patterns, value relationships or color combinations. I want there to be reason to start a painting; do I want to make it epic, or poetic, or maybe iconic? My hope is that it is always artistic.”

Elliott’s work resides in several museum collections, including the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, Georgia; the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis; the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City; and the Whitney Western Art Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming.

Selected exhibitions include 21st Century Regionalists: Art of the New West and Three Point Perspective: Dean, Elliott & Hagege at the Booth Western Art Museum; The Next West: Innovating Tradition at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, Arizona; American Masters at the Salmagundi Club in New York City; The West Select at the Phoenix Art Museum; Prix de West at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City; and Quest for the West at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis.

Among his many awards, Elliott has received the Harrison Eiteljorg Purchase Award, the Victor Higgins Award of Distinction, the Artists’ Choice Award, and the Palette Award at Quest for the West; the Edith Hamlin Award at the Maynard Dixon Country Invitational; and the 2D Award at the Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. His work has been featured in the magazines American Artist, Art of the West, Southwest Art, and Western Art Collector and in the book Painters of Grand Teton National Park.

His work is represented by Claggett Rey Gallery in Vail, Colorado; Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery in Tucson, Arizona; Maxwell Alexander Gallery in Los Angeles, California; and Simpson Gallagher Gallery in Cody, Wyoming. 

Josh and Allison Elliot, along with their two daughters, live in Helena, Montana.