Michael Stack

Michael Stack was born in 1947 in New York and raised in California. He was always interested in art and was urged to conform to the style of abstract painting that was popular at the time. Instead, he became a self-taught artist who persevered in following his own path and began his career in landscape painting in the early 1970s. Through years of study and work, he has been able to express his own unique vision in his painting. He admires the early American painters, especially the Hudson River School of artists.

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Stack is attracted to landscapes all over the West, but the rugged mountains, arid deserts, and endless grasslands of the Southwest hold a special connection for him. He is best known for his luminous skies, sunsets, and towering rain clouds.

His paintings portray long vistas and a vast array of color and space in the Western sky. His unique style of laying down many layers of paint enables him to re-create the range of color and distance in his canvas panoramas. His work captures scenes that are fast disappearing—bull-dozed and plowed under to make way for exploding growth in the West.

Stack’s work is widely collected, and he has been the recipient of many honors over the years. He was named a Master Artist at the Artists of America Show in Denver, Colorado. In 1997, he was honored as Artist of the Year by Friends of Western Art. His work has appeared on many magazine covers, and Art of the West chose Stack as one of 15 favorite cover artists appearing in that publication. His work has also been profiled in many catalogues and magazine features.

Stack has lived in Taos, New Mexico, and in Patagonia, Bisbee, and Sonoita, Arizona. He currently resides in Tucson, Arizona.

Michael Stack is represented by Altermann Galleries & Auctioneers, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and New York City; Legacy Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona; Settlers West Galleries Inc., Tucson, Arizona; and Whistle Pik Galleries, Fredericksburg, Texas.