The Beauty of Folk Art and Life on the Ranch

November 06, 2020

Check out this Gene Zesch piece and our fine art collection

Video Translation: Hey, this is Jennifer with City Farmhouse Antiques and I am here with this week's find of the week and I know you are saying what in the heck is that. Yes, these are twigs, and yes, these are branches, but this is a very well sought after piece. This is by an American artist. If you live on a ranch, have a ranch, have grown up on a ranch (look at that beer belly) this will be right up your alley. My entire family grew up on a ranch so I just think is a cool piece. Gene Zesch is an American sculptor and caricaturist...there I said it, that makes these pieces. He is now 88 years old. He was born in 1932 and grew up on a Texas ranch and even worked for a while on a ranch in Durango, Mexico so he knew all about ranch life. This is how it is. He grew up 4 miles from school and when he wasn't in school he was ranching. I know in our family I have heard stories of my grandfather who at 8 years old was bringing back cattle in a blizzard and got frostbite and that is how they lived even as kids so that is the neat caption about this piece titled "This Ranch Has Made Me What I am Today". Look at this poor old boy. Look at him. He is haggard, sunburnt, and just worn out. I don't know what that is here on his shirt. I can remember all the patches my grandma would put on my grandfathers overalls and on his pants and everything. Look at this fence. I don't know how many times this poor old guy has worked on this fence. Gene grew up taking care of horses and cattle. Here you can see where the fence is broken on the top and meant to be that way. Here you can see where there is even horse hair on the fence. Here is the old trough. Look how many times that poor old thing has been repaired. Then the fence over here, you can see how amazing the detail is on his pieces. This is folk art so it is very collectible and these pieces make great gifts for people that have everything. For those people you rack your brain trying to figure out what am I going to get this person and they have absolutely everything and you just don't know what else they would possibly want. These pieces are great for a collector or they make a great conversation piece for someone in a southwest or ranch style home. Where would you put this? Maybe you are a rancher. What is the toughest story you have heard in your family growing up about ranch life? Ranching is a true part of our American history and people living on the ranch work very hard for everything they have. I don't know if everyone understands where our food comes from. A lot of people with cattle and sheep it's a lot of work. The work that goes on behind the scenes where our food comes from is amazing and we just go to the grocery store and pick up a package of meat. So anyway cool, cool piece. This artist really became famous when people like president Lyndon Johnson started buying his pieces in the 1960's. His pieces are even in the Smithsonian. Again, if you can imagine, all these pieces are hand carved. He gets the looks, the hair, the wrinkles, everything...look how great that is. Be sure and check out all of our cool pieces of folk art and art glass that make great gifts and collector's items on our website at www.cityfarmhousentiques.com and be sure and give us a like on our Facebook page. Hey..comment in the box and tell us what is the best cowboy story you have heard of.