the right of way - earle e. heikka

The Artist: Earle E. Heikka (1910-1941)

Earle E. Heikka was born to Finnish parents, William and Elizabeth Heikka on May 3, 1910 in Belt, Montana. The youngest of six surviving children, Earle would not have a chance to know his father very long. Willie Hiekka died in 1915, leaving his Finnish-speaking wife and his children in a precarious financial situation. Early in his life, Earle would live with his sister Esther and her husband Ben Eagan in the Montana towns of Laurel and

Lewistown. Earle probably fashioned his first model for his nephew and close friend, Billy Eagan. A bighorn sheep, created in the basement of the Eagan home, is Heikka's earliest surviving model. By the time he was 13, Earle was again living with his mother in Great Falls and having a difficult time in school.  Because of his frustration with a stuttering handicap, which led to difficulty in classes, Earle dropped out of school before entering the tenth grade. Living in Great Falls placed him in close proximity to Charles M. Russell, and it was here that fate took a fortuitous turn for Heikka.  Although he spent time around Russell’s studio, it is doubtful that he ever received any formal instruction from the artist; however, he did use his observations on Russell's work as both a specific and general reference when creating some of his own sculptures. He also received, over the course of his career, advice from the staff of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and from sculptors Gutzon Borglum, Lorado Taft, and Frederick Hibbard.

Heikka can be compared to country music singer Hank Williams in that his star burned brightly, but all too briefly. By 1928, Heikka was sculpting full time; some of his subjects were the cowboys at the Gary Cooper ranch. His talent was quickly recognized, and before long he was receiving many patron commissions, including one from movie star Gary Cooper. Earle submitted his first work of two-dimensional art for public exhibition, a watercolor of a wolf, in 1929. At age 21, he had his first successful show at a Los Angeles gallery. He married Virginia Middleton in 1933 and they spent their honeymoon in Chicago where his work was on view at the Century of Progress Exposition.

Unfortunately, Earle’s life began to spiral downward when in 1935 his close brother, Mike, died at the age of 28.  This had a profound effect on Earle, and many believed he never recovered from the blow.  It was at this point in his life that he began to have domestic troubles which were compounded by an increase in his drinking. Despite his professional

success, Heikka committed suicide on May 18, 1941 at the age of 31.

Experience is the Best School

Earle E. Heikka, like C.M. Russell, captured the romantic image of the old west, and his primary subjects were pack trains, stagecoaches, miners, cowboys and Indians. The subjects of his models were often directly related to his life

experiences, and the detail Heikka gave to his subjects was drawn from his firsthand knowledge as a ranch-hand, hunting guide, and painter of dioramas. These jobs allowed him to accurately portray descriptive details, including the common dress of his co-workers, the materials and techniques used in horse-packing, and the physical attributes of the animals he rode, packed and hunted. Heikka never anticipated that his models would be cast in metal. Many of his sculptures consist of different materials which he used to give them a more life-like appearance.  It is not unusual to find materials such as tin, leather, canvas, string, copper wire or lead.  The fact that he painted his models is another indication that they were the finished product he desired.

While working as a taxidermist for the Great Falls Sporting Goods Company, Heikka perfected his technique by learning how to build armatures and internal structures to ensure stability and strength for taxidermy mounts. Inside the

sculptures, one can find intricate systems of wire armature that support the clay surface. Wrapped around this armature you might find finer wire, papier-mâché, plaster of Paris or excelsior as part of the framework. It is here that his experience as a taxidermist played an important role in developing his internal structures. On the outside of a work, Heikka used water-based clay that he air-dried rather than baked.

In spite of his personal demons, Heikka was enthusiastic about his art, and once said that he “could live 200 years and never fail to find a new idea for a model.” During the course of his tragically short career, Heikka created over two hundred pieces of art that are now considered to be some of the best sculptures of life and work in the American west. In the tradition of C.M. Russell and Frederic Remington, Heikka observed a passing era and depicted the products of that world in both heroic and human terms. Heikka has left a legacy to all lovers of the west and western art: a collection of superbly-detailed models that preserve the scenes and emotions of Montana's early years.

The Work: The Right of Way

The Right of Way is an outstanding culmination of Heikka’s experience and talent. This sculpture depicts a hunter, possibly on a trail in the Highwood or Little Belt mountains, encountering a rather nasty surprise: a grizzly sow and her cub. The ferocity of the mother bear, the anxiety of the cub, the wild reactions of the spooked horses and the calm-yet-urgent action of the hunter are all very evident. What is even clearer is that Heikka knew about grizzly bears, mountain trails, pack horses and hunting. Everything in this model is portrayed with precise pragmatism and very fine detail. His experience as a taxidermist and as a hunting guide prepared him well for this sculpture, and all are shown with absolute realism. The hunter and horses seem to be straight out of a Jack O’Connor book, and one viewing this piece would have no difficulty whatsoever in reading the story which is told here.

Looking at the sculpture, it is obvious that Heikka’s original work has become quite fragile over the course of the years. This is due not only to the nature of the work, paint and clay, but also a result of knowing the details of what is inside the sculpture. What is most striking, however, is the depth of color that he was able to obtain painting on clay. One noted artist remarked that Heikka’s clay models have their own “patina,” presumably resulting from the layering of the colors. After his death, many of Heikka’s sculptures were cast in bronze, and some were painted; however, the effect is much shallower and lacking in realism compared to his clay models.

Heikka created at least two very similar sculptures with the same scene depicted here. Too Crowded and The Unexpected are, at first glance, identical to The Right of Way; however, upon examination, subtle differences can be seen, such as a trophy ram’s head on the pack horse and the hunter’s use of a pistol rather than a rifle. The basic posture of the horses, as well as the bears and hunters, are very much alike in all three sculptures, and it can  be a rather interesting pastime to spot the divergences.

For More Information:

Selected Internet Sources:  www.askart.com, www.cdagalleries.com

McGowan, Sharon, et. al., Fifty Years, Fifty Favorites: from the C.M. Russell Museum. Thomas Printing, Kalispell, Montana, 2003.

Paladin, Vivian, E.E. Heikka: Sculptor of the American West. Montana Art Investment Holding Company, Great Falls, Montana, 1990.

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