William Dunton Biography

William Herbert ‘Buck’ Dunton (1878–1936) was an American painter and illustrator best known for his images of cowboys, wildlife and the landscapes of the American West. A founding member of the Taos Society of Artists, he drew on his own experiences outdoors to portray the people and animals of the region.

Dunton was born near Augusta, Maine, on 28 August 1878. As a boy he explored the woods with his grandfather and developed interests in hunting, drawing and natural history. A trip to Montana in 1896 began a long association with the West. Over the following years he travelled widely, sometimes working as a ranch hand or cowboy while gathering material for drawings.

He studied at the Cowles Art School in Boston and later at the Art Students League in New York. By the early twentieth century he was a successful commercial illustrator, contributing to magazines including Harper’s, Collier’s and Scribner’s. His detailed knowledge of horses, equipment and outdoor life made him particularly suited to illustrating Western stories, including books by Zane Grey.

In 1912 fellow artist Ernest L. Blumenschein encouraged Dunton to visit Taos, New Mexico. Captivated by its mountains and open landscape, he returned and settled there permanently in 1914. The following year he joined Blumenschein, Bert Geer Phillips, Joseph Henry Sharp, Eanger Irving Couse and Oscar E. Berninghaus in founding the Taos Society of Artists.

While several of his colleagues concentrated on local communities and their customs, Dunton frequently painted hunters, mounted cowboys, deer and other wildlife. His energetic compositions and strong colours expressed his fascination with the wilderness and with what he saw as a disappearing frontier. His pictures also reflected a romantic view of Western life, a perspective that can be considered alongside the region’s actual history.

During the Great Depression, commissions became scarce and his health deteriorated. Dunton turned increasingly to drawing and lithography and undertook work for a federal art programme. He died in Taos on 18 March 1936.

Discover his fellow painters through the Taos Society of Artists and the linked biographies above.