Montana photographer's 'Pure Quill' book wins three awards

Press release

Barbara Van Cleve's newest book is honored with top commendations

"Pure Quill: Photographs by Barbara Van Cleve," written by Susan Hallsten McGarry and published in September 2016 by Fresco Books of Albuquerque, has won three literary awards.

It was announced in November 2016 that the 216-page book was the winner of two awards hosted by the New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards: Best Book (Adult Division) and Best Art Book.

"Sometimes a book of black-and-white photography can be overlooked when competing with full-color art books, but in Barbara's case, it could not be overlooked," said Kay Fowler of Fresco Books. "I am very pleased that our successful collaboration with Van Cleve and McGarry in Pure Quill is being recognized through these important awards."

In February 2017, the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum announced that "Pure Quill" won the Western Heritage Award for Outstand-ing

Photography Book.

"My parents would be so proud," said Montana photographer Van Cleve, adding that her father, Paul "Spike" Van Cleve, won WHAs for his book "40 Years' Gatherin's" and for a video documentary in the mid-1970s.

Barbara Van Cleve, who divides her time between a home in Big Timber and her Bar B Ranch, and McGarry, who lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, will be recognized at the April 22 awards ceremony at the Oklahoma City museum.

"Pure Quill" is a Western term originating in the 1800s meaning "authentic; real through and through." The book includes some 175 tritones of Van Cleve's prints made since 2004. The photographs document seven decades of living on the Lazy K Bar, a working Montana cattle and horse ranch in the Crazy Mountains near Livingston and Big Timber. It also reflects the horsewoman's other major series, including Ranch Boss showcasing women ranchers from the Rocky Mountain States, Rodeo as Dance, the Great Montana Centennial Cattle Drive, By the Light of the Moon night scenes, and the Spanish Mission Trail in Baja, Mexico.

Distributed through the University of New Mexico Press, "Pure Quill" includes a foreword by Tim Cahill, preface by B. Bryon Price, and afterword by Kymberly Pinder. It accompanies an exhibition of 65 photographs on view at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, Fort Worth, Texas, through May 7, after which it begins traveling through the Guest Curator traveling exhibit program.