signed lower right
Jack King, born in Phoenix, Arizona, worked as a stable-hand during the Depression, during which time he first began to make sketches of horses. He attended college in California before joining the U.S. Navy in 1944 . After World War II, he built a home on a property near Redlands, California, which he later sold in order to attend the Art Center School of Design in Los Angeles, assisted in his admission through a GI Bill. King later studied privately with Orrin A. White and W. Smithson Broadhead.
Jack King worked full time for an engineering firm during most of his adult life, painting in his free time; he devoted himself fully to painting after his retirement in 1974. During the last 14 years of his life he travelled extensively throughout the Western United States, Alberta and British Columbia. Following in the tradition of the great American Western artists, Jack King is best known for his depictions of ranching and Native scenes, with the horse playing a central role in the way of life. He won several awards in the Western art circuit and was a regular contributor to the Calgary Stampede Western Showcase and Auction.
