66 SIDELINES JANUARY 2013
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
e
My Story
From Wall Street to the
Open Range
By Ritch Gaiti
Editor’s Note:
The Sidelines “My Story” is a frst person
account of life in the equestrian world. In this month’s “My Story,”
we welcome Ritch Gaiti, who was a prominent member of Wall
Street before trading in his briefcase for a paintbrush. Now a
nationally recognized western and horse artist, Ritch’s work has
been exhibited in galleries, corporate venues and museums,
including The International Museum of the Horse, The American
Quarter Horse Association Museum, The Gilcrease Museum and
The Great Plains Art Museum among others. He has been well
received by collectors and reviewers. Here is his story.
I was them, part of the machine. I had my successes, paid
my dues and successfully navigated the turbulent waters of
the corporation. I worked in big and small companies as a
high level manager, a peon and most things in between. I did
projects, meetings, assignments, marketing, reviews, reorgs,
brainstorming, all nighters, task forces, politics, et al. I was a
comer, a take-no-prisoners young gun and a rising star; I was
successful, recognized, promoted and anointed. I was the next in
line to be next in line. Then I resigned.
I had a list of accomplishments that I had been proud of and
a few bucks in my jeans (ok, my 401k). I had always felt that the
only real failure was not trying and there were many things that I
had not yet tried - among them, writing, flmmaking and painting.
While directing a technology division of Merrill Lynch, I had many
diversions including painting, fying, tennis, skiing and movies. So
I shifted - from my analytical left-brain to my creative right-brain;
from the buttoned-up structure of big company bureaucracy to the
free fowing world of art; from the canyons of Wall Street to the
open range. Both had rules and structure but the latter had my
rules and structure.
Paintings of another time, another place
I had always been in love with western America, an anomaly
for a kid from Brooklyn. Somehow, I had been enamored with the
expanse of the west, the Native American culture and, of course,
horses. Horses embody beauty, grace, strength, but, most of
all, freedom. They are a raw but gentle energy. I paint them in
their natural environs, a pasture, an open range, climbing a hill or
crossing water - whether playfully romping, trailing within the herd
or simply idling. There are no fences to constrain them, just the
natural obstacles of nature. When I paint Native Americans, I paint
the entire culture, their history and their stolen future. I paint their
spirit in search of a lost destiny.
Basically self-taught, initially I tried to be representational - that
is, take photos of horses, and, essentially, emulate them with
paint. The more I studied my subject; I realized that I was painting
the outside of my subjects. I needed to dig deeper, beneath the
surface - to release the emotion, the drive, most of all, the spirit.
A painting should tell a story - capturing that moment in time
enveloped between what was and what will be. I began to look
at my subjects differently. I asked: what are they thinking and
feeling? Where are they coming from? Where are they going?
What just happened and what is about to happen?
Time, Drama and Texture
I tend towards the warmer palette - the earth tones, yellows,
reds, ochres, browns and oranges. Yet, I feel just as comfortable
“Night Moves” - Oil 36 x 24. Deep in the herd, horses mill at
day’s end.
Artist Ritch Gaiti and his horse sculpture “Nurture” – 800 pounds
of rebar, steel mesh and concrete.
Continued on page 68