Walter Piehl Jr. — Retrospective: 1962–2018

On view throughout the Main Level of The Rourke, 5 September – 12 October 2025

The Rourke Art Gallery + Museum is proud to be working in collaboration with the Minnesota State University Moorhead’s Art Annex Gallery for this retrospective. Each gallery will be exhibiting half of the Walter Piehl Jr. Retrospective show.

This retrospective showcases the scope of Walter’s career from his early exploration as a student at Concordia College, Moorhead, MN, and the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, to the development of his signature style and method—as he would say it—of ‘putting on paint.’ The exhibition gives the viewers the opportunity to visually experience the evolution of an artist’s style, looking at 56 years of creative energy.

Widely recognized as one of North Dakota’s senior painters and as an early pioneer of the contemporary cowboy art movement, Piehl is an aficionado of history and art with a lifelong passion for Western Americana. This stems from his upbringing in Marion, ND, in a ranching family that rode horses, raised stock and participated in rodeos.

His passion for rodeo, horses, cowboys, and cowgirls permeates nearly every artwork. This exhibition is organized to highlight Piehl’s many suites, the hallmark of his work, with interpretive panels for his different series: Sweethearts of the Rodeo, American Minotaur, Les Fauvres, Roping Fools, etc.