Lee Lester
The works of Lee Lester, Colorado Master Artist, grace collections across North America, Europe, South Africa, and the Far East. His masterful creations in oils, pastels, watercolors, pewter, and bronze form the cornerstone of many prestigious private and public collections worldwide.
Raised amid the untouched prairies of southeastern Colorado, Lee spent his childhood immersed in the region's abundant wildlife, profound silence, and sweeping vistas. These experiences gave him the time and space to keenly observe the animals and plants that would later become the meticulously rendered subjects of his oils, watercolors, and bronze sculptures.
From an early age, Lester possessed an innate passion for portraying wildlife with striking accuracy and vivid life. He began his artistic journey as a boy, sketching the creatures around him on the Colorado plains. His talents were later refined and honed at the Rocky Mountain School of Art in Denver.
Over the years, Lee studied a wide range of classical and contemporary artists, absorbing elements from each, yet he credits much of his inspiration to Carl Rungius, widely regarded as one of America's greatest wildlife painters. Lester particularly acknowledges Rungius for shaping his strong sense of composition.
His artistic growth deepened through hands-on work at his own foundry in Oklahoma, where he mastered the lost-wax bronze casting process. Amid roaring furnaces, intense heat, and sparks, he learned to fuse wax models with molten metal in a near-magical transformation that draws art directly from fire.
Lester's exceptional eye for anatomy, proportion, motion, intricate detail, and authentic habitat infuses his work with remarkable vitality and presence. In pieces like his "Medicine Man" praying over buffalo skulls, viewers sense a deep spiritual bond to Native traditions and the vanishing herds of the past. Birds in flight appear to stir the air, while leaping fish seem to scatter real water droplets.
His unparalleled ability to seize the essence and truth of a fleeting moment brings subjects to life—whether rendered on canvas, paper, or in bronze—capturing perfectly authentic instants frozen in time.
Whether working in impressionistic, stylized, or hyper-realistic styles, Lester magnifies the inherent truth of his subjects. The trees in his landscapes march steadily and timelessly toward the horizon, while the weathered leather of his cowboys carries the sweat, hard rides, and wry humor of their rugged era.
Nearly four decades of relentless dedication—hundreds of exhibitions and solo shows nationwide, countless starry nights spent in rivers, forests, plains, Canadian mountains, and African savannas—have earned him numerous awards, widespread print recognition, and his well-deserved title as Colorado's Master Artist.
Preferred Media
Lee Lester moves effortlessly between sketchpad and bronze foundry, though he favors oils, pastels, watercolors, bronze, and pewter. He occasionally explores leather, braided hair, and natural fabrics like hemp.
Awards and Commissions
Awards and accolades have come steadily to Lee Lester, though he often jokes that he's usually too occupied planning hunting or fishing expeditions—across the Rockies, Canada, or Africa—to dwell on them. After all, there's wildlife to observe, fish to catch, hunts to pursue... and then the stories to paint or sculpt.
His portfolio includes a towering stack of newspaper clippings documenting dedications, unveilings, and historic events. One notable piece highlights him unveiling a bronze cowboy sculpture dedicated to the settlers of the Oklahoma Panhandle.
In 2001, Lester was honored as Master of the Western Bronze of the Year at an event in Taos, New Mexico, sponsored by HMS/Fields Galleries.
Among his diverse commissions stands a monumental mural created for Jack Chrysler of the Chrysler Corporation. Measuring twenty feet tall by fifteen feet wide, it took a full month to complete and remains prominently displayed along the main thoroughfare in Norwood, Colorado.
