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Charles Beil
1894 - 1976
Writing of Beil in Artswest magazine (1982), Carolyn West notes that Western sculptor and painter Charles “Charlie” Beil was “one of the first and most important sculptors in the history of the Canadian West. Also a cowboy, living in Banff, he cast bronzes with a certainty and accuracy that reflected the style of [his mentor, renowned Old American West sculptor Charles] Russell.” West noted that Beil sought to depict cowboy life from the everyday to the glorious, without dwelling upon the despair of a dying culture that marked Russell’s oeuvre. Instead, Beil’s work was “a continuing celebration of the spirit of the West that lived in him and continued to live around him.”
Born in the Black Forest area of Germany in the late 19th Century, Beil left his homeland when he was twelve years old and resettled in Banff in 1930. While he painted in watercolour and oil, and drew in pen and ink, Beil also created engravings of cowboys and bronze sculptures using the “lost wax” casting process. The largely self-taught artist was highly influenced by Charles Russell’s work; following Russell’s death (1926), Beil supported his master’s widow for three years.
Although Beil mounted no exhibitions during his life, he created trophies for the Calgary Stampede for more than twenty years, and in 1973 was appointed a member of the Order of Canada. Following Beil’s death, his work greeted audiences in several posthumous solo exhibitions, including Charlie Beil: Western Sculptor 1894 – 1976 at the Royal Alberta Museum (1982), and Charlie Beil: A Western Sculptor at the Medicine Hat Museum and Art Gallery. Beil’s murals survive him at the Palliser Hotel in Calgary and at the Calgary Stampede Exhibition Office; his crafted castings on building faces and bronzes for private homes and office buildings continue to burnish his legacy.
Born in the Black Forest area of Germany in the late 19th Century, Beil left his homeland when he was twelve years old and resettled in Banff in 1930. While he painted in watercolour and oil, and drew in pen and ink, Beil also created engravings of cowboys and bronze sculptures using the “lost wax” casting process. The largely self-taught artist was highly influenced by Charles Russell’s work; following Russell’s death (1926), Beil supported his master’s widow for three years.
Although Beil mounted no exhibitions during his life, he created trophies for the Calgary Stampede for more than twenty years, and in 1973 was appointed a member of the Order of Canada. Following Beil’s death, his work greeted audiences in several posthumous solo exhibitions, including Charlie Beil: Western Sculptor 1894 – 1976 at the Royal Alberta Museum (1982), and Charlie Beil: A Western Sculptor at the Medicine Hat Museum and Art Gallery. Beil’s murals survive him at the Palliser Hotel in Calgary and at the Calgary Stampede Exhibition Office; his crafted castings on building faces and bronzes for private homes and office buildings continue to burnish his legacy.