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Orren Mixer (1920-2008)

Currency:USD Category:Art Start Price:100.00 USD Estimated At:15,000.00 - 20,000.00 USD
Orren Mixer (1920-2008)
Cutter Bill - P-53, 703
18" x 14"
Oil on Masonite
Signed lower right
Framed to 34 1/2" x 29" in period frame

Cutter Bill (1955–1982) was a Quarter Horse palomino stallion who won multiple championships in the 1960s, and went on to become arguably the most famous cutting horse of all time. He was an influential sire, and the namesake of the famous Cutter Bill's Western World, the "Neiman Marcus of the cowboy crowd."

Cauble bought Cutter Bill at Underwood's dispersal sale in 1956 for $2500.
Cauble broke Cutter Bill himself, and for the first couple of years used him as a teaser stallion for Cauble's more famous stallions like Wimpy P-1, Silver King, and Hard Twist. As a three year old, Cutter Bill was started on cutting and proved a natural at it. Cutter Bill was the National Cutting Horse Association (or NCHA), World Champion in 1962 and the NCHA Reserve World Champion in 1963. With the AQHA he earned the 1962 High Point Cutting Horse award along with AQHA Champion and Performance Register of Merit awards. He was also an AQHA Superior Cutting Horse and was inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame in 2003.

Orren Mixer (1920-2008)
A painter and graphic artist, Mixer is best known for his life-like depictions of livestock, but especially horses. He is thought by many to be the premiere painter of western horses of our day, and his images of different breeds were shown on covers of Western Horseman, Quarter Horse Journal, Cattleman, and Oklahoma Today. Born in Oklahoma City, he was educated in the public school system and with the help of his high school art teacher, gained a scholarship to the Kansas City Art Institute, where he studied from 1938 to 1940. He subsequently worked in the graphic arts field in New York City, Oklahoma City, and Fort Worth, Texas. Mixer moved to San Diego to work in an aircraft manufacturing, returning to Fort Worth in 1943, where he joined the U.S. Navy. He was stationed in Chicago, working as a visual aids graphic artist, painting Western scenes in his spare time. Married in 1941, he was discharged from the service in 1946, when he and his wife moved to Oklahoma, building a house and studio near Arcadia/Edmond. Mixer was inducted in the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1993. Most of his work was commissioned by private horse breeders and has been passed down through families just as with the horses' bloodlines. It's rare that Mixer pieces come to market.