Dave LaMure, Jr.

Dave LaMure, Jr. has had a studio in the Magic Valley of Idaho where the Great Basin meets the southern cliffs of the Snake River for 32 years. His Uncle Tom inspired him with a bag of clay at the age of 12; from there, it was a clay workshop at the Roswell Museum in New Mexico where LaMure’s art passion began, overshadowing a degree in business management. His contemporary sculpted wildlife vessels caught Sophia Loren's eye, and she awarded him best of show, an honor that came with a kiss.

James Woods, director of the Herrett Museum and Center for Arts, says, “Dave has managed to successfully mix the warmth and softness of the technique with a contemporary concern for bold forms. LaMure's forms are huge, dynamic, and commanding.”

Balanced art forms have taken LaMure a lifetime to learn, and he has executed a spectrum from monumental public bronze sculptures to large oil canvases. A consistent theme in his work has been to inspire an appreciation of not only the physical beauty of a work of art but also the symbiosis between humans and the rest of the natural world. He has absorbed Inspiration from being a wilderness river guide and a continued avid outdoorsman in the Western wilds. LaMure explores his art narratives in the natural rhythms of life, death, and belonging,  knowing these experiences alter awareness. The mayor of Fountain Hills, Arizona, claims that LaMure’s Vigilance, a bronze sculpture of red-tailed hawks, is the most photographed public work in the city’s park.

Notable achievements and exhibitions include a monumental public art sculpture of a surveyor in front of City Hall in Twin Falls, Idaho. Nine Muses won the Susan and Robert Polack Prize at the National Sculpture Society‘s 87th Annual Awards Exhibition in 2020. LaMure most recently won the Artists Choice Award at the Briscoe Museum’s 2022 Night of Artists. In July 2022, his Native bronze was awarded First Place at Art & Soul of the Magic Valley, which carried a $12,000 prize. His most current project is a monumental cutthroat trout which will be installed in a sculpture garden in Colorado in the spring of 2023.

LaMure has also exhibited at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming; the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, Wyoming; the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon; and the Boise Art Museum in Boise, Idaho. LaMure’s work was featured on the HGTV Modern Masters series. A member of both the National Sculpture Society and the Society of Animal Artists, he shares their passion and mission to promote excellence in the portrayal of animals in art.

Dave LaMure, Jr. is represented by the Broadmoor Galleries, Colorado Springs, Colorado; Illume Gallery West, Philipsburg, Montana; Kneeland Gallery, Ketchum, Idaho; and Two Old Crows Fine Art Gallery, Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

View the Autry’s interview with Dave LaMure, Jr. here. Recorded live January/2023.