Charles A. Beil LL. D. (1894 – July 29, 1976) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

best known for his sculptures of cowboys and the plain Indians of the early West. He was a protégé and friend of artist

Charles Marion Russell Charles Marion Russell (March 19, 1864 – October 24, 1926), also known as C. M. Russell, Charlie Russell, and "Kid" Russell, was an American artist of the American Old West. He created more than 2,000 paintings of cowboys, Native Americans, an ...

. He was born in Germany and left at the age of 11. He worked for some time in South America before making his way to North America, where he discovered his love of the Wild West and the Frontier. It was Russell who encouraged him to start creating art, and inspired him to start working with pencil and clay. Beil moved to Banff,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

in the 1930s, where he began to take an interest in casting clay into bronze. His studio was established on Bear Street in Banff above a bakery, and it was there that Beil continued to further his reputation as a Western artist. In fact, his main form of work was to create trophies for the

Calgary Stampede The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition, and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year and featu ...

, which he did for over 20 years. In 1940, he married a Banff girl by the name Olive Luxton, the niece of famed Banff businessman

Norman Luxton Norman K. Luxton (November 2, 1876 – October 26, 1962) was a pioneer in the Canadian Rockies known as "Mr. Banff". With John Voss, he attempted to sail around the world in an old red cedar Indian dug-out canoe. On his return to Canada, he wo ...

, and they moved into a house on Cave Avenue in Banff. Together they had three children; Charles, Lois, and Carol. Charlie Beil was a recipient of many honours and awards over the years, including being made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

in 1973. He also received the Canada Medal, an Honorary Doctorate from the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

(1968), the Alberta Achievement Award in 1974. He was also made an Honorary Associate Director of the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede and an Honorary Member of the

Cowboy Artists of America The Cowboy Artists of America (CAA) is an exclusive organization of artists that was founded in 1965. It was founded in 1965 by four prominent western artists, Joe Beeler, Charlie Dye, John Hampton and George Phippen, who have all since died. Since ...

Art

Charlie Beil's main form of work was with

bronze casting Lost-wax casting (also called "investment casting", "precision casting", or ''cire perdue'' which has been adopted into English from the French, ) is the process by which a duplicate metal sculpture (often silver, gold, brass, or bronze) is ...

, but the artist was well-versed in

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

pen and ink A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity whic ...

, and

etchings Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

as well. He cast not only

bronze statues Bronze is the most popular metal for cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as well as bronze elements ...

, but also sculpted in

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

, did

woodcarving Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation ...

, and cast in cement. His art focused on the theme of Western life, such as packhorses, First Nations, and cowboys. Today, his work sits scattered in various museums and galleries across the globe. He has murals in the Stampede offices in Calgary, the Luxton Museum in Banff, and a statue even sits in the entrance of

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

. As well, the many trophies he created throughout his lifetime sit on the mantels of many North Americans to date.

References

Charlie Beil fonds
;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Beil, Charles 1894 births 1976 deaths Members of the Order of Canada 20th-century Canadian sculptors Canadian male sculptors 20th-century Canadian male artists