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Biography

Bill Anton was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois in 1957. After seeing the American West for the first time at the age of seven, Anton vowed to someday return to the West for good. At the age of nineteen he moved to Arizona where he continues to reside today. Anton graduated from Northern Arizona University, majoring in English. Exposed to art at an early age, Anton drew constantly from the time he was old enough to hold a pencil. 1982 was a pivotal year for Anton when he rode in roundups and worked with cattle on ranches in Flagstaff and Prescott, and simultaneously turned to creating art full time. Spending time outdoors, Anton developed a natural love of plein-air painting and became inspired by the work of Anders Zorn, Edgar Payne, and Frank Tenney Johnson. To further his outdoor painting skills he studied under artists Michael Lynch and Ned Jacob.Anton is well-known for his poetic landscapes of the West, often incorporating the cowboy life as part of his broader theme. He describes the intent of his work, "I do not see myself as a biographer of the cowboy. I know some artists feel they are recording history on the ranches as life there is today, but the focus of my work has always been mood and passion. If I'm recording anything, I'm recording how I feel about the West."

Selected Collections

Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma; The Old West Museum, Cheyenne, Wyoming; Sears, Roebuck & Co. Corporate Art Collection; Dupont Corporate Art Collection; State Farm Insurance; Bank of America; Hewlett Packard; and Trust Company of the West

Selected Exhibitions

Prix de West, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, OK; Masters of the American West, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles, CA; National Center for American Western Art, Kerrville, TX; Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum, Cheyenne, WY; National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY

Selected Achievements

2016
Frederic Remington Award, Prix de West Invitational at National Cowboy and Western Heritage center, Oklahoma City, OK

2015
Spirit of the West Award, Masters of the American West at Autry National Center, Los Angeles, CA

2012
Museum Purchase Award, Masters of the American West at Autry National Center, Los Angeles, CA

2011
Express Ranches Great American Cowboy Award at Prix de West Invitational, National Cowboy and Western Heritage center, Oklahoma City, OK

2011
Gene Autry Memorial Award at Award Masters of the American West, Autry National Center, Los Angeles, CA

2009, 2010 and 2011
Spirit of the West Award at Masters of the American West at the Autry National Center in Los Angeles in

2009
Robert Lougheed Memorial Award and the Express Ranches Great American Cowboy Award at Prix de West at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Center on OK City

Press and Publications

Bill Anton Featured in Southwest Art Magazine February/March 2023 Issue

One winter’s afternoon, Bill Anton and two friends-a father and son, both ranchers-headed into the Granite Mountain Wilderness, behind the house where Anton and his wife, Peggy, live on five acres in Prescott, AZ.

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American Legacy Fine Arts presents Bill Anton in Southwest art Magazine, March/ April 2019.

Bill Anton Featured in Southwest Art Magazine March/April Issue 2019

WHEN BILL ANTON last had a one-man show, he was juggling the demands of his rising status as a western fine artist and his role as the father of two …

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American Legacy Fine Arts presents Bill Anton in Cowboys & Indians Magazine, February/March 2019 Issue.

Bill Anton Featured in Cowboys & Indians Magazine, February/March 2019 Issue

NEARLY TWO DECADES AFTER HIS LAST ONE-MAN SHOW, ONE OF THE GREAT WESTERN ARTISTS OF THE day is finally doing another. And he’s been holed up in his studio doing …

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American Legacy Fine Arts presents Bill Anton in Art of the West Magazine, Summer 2018 issue.

Bill Anton Featured in Art of the West Magazine, Summer 2018

Bill Anton traces his fascination with the West back to a trip he took, when he was just 7, with his family to Glacier National Park and the West coast.

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American Legacy Fine Arts presents bill Anton in Western Art & Architecture Magazine September /October 2017 Issue
Bill Anton - Western Art Collector, November 2015