S.M. Chavez Archives - Coors Western Art

S.M. Chavez (Sean Michael Chavez) was born in the high desert of New Mexico.

Working in oil, the pivotal subject within his compositions has been the Vaquero. The work is a marriage of old and new, nodding to historic masters such as the Taos Society of Artists as well as to the future of contemporary western art. A soothing sense of color and exceptional design aesthetic places his work well within the spectrum of the best that contemporary western painting has to offer.

S.M. Chavez is currently represented by Santa Fe’s Acosta Strong Fine Art on Canyon Road where his three solo shows (2020, 2021 and 2022) each sold out.

Included within notable corporate and private collections, his next frontier will be within the collections of national art museums.

His work continues to be featured in exhibitions at the Coors Western Art Show, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Albuquerque Museum of Art and The Couse-Sharp Historic Site in Taos, New Mexico.

National and regional publications regularly featuring his work include: Western Art Collector, Southwest Art, Wild West Magazine, New Mexico Magazine, Santa Fe Magazine, The Santa Fean, Western Art & Architecture and Fine Art Connoisseur.

“It is ironic that the history of the Vaquero is a hidden one. Without the Vaquero, the west and the cowboy as we know it doesn’t exist and neither does western art. It is my honor to be painting this subject with the same sense of duty and connection to place that the original cowboy must have felt. The work must be done. It’s a passion. I’m happy to be doing it.”

S.M. Chavez

Among the Giants

Crossroads (To The West)

Of Dust & Spirit

Echos on the Mesa

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