David Stirling (1887-1971)
David Stirling was born in 1887 in Corydon, Iowa, to a pioneering family, and his father was a newspaper publisher. He died in Longmont, Colorado, after a short illness in 1971 and was buried there in a family plot. There were 8 children in the family, of which he was the youngest, being 7 years younger than the next youngest son, and he was the first of the family to graduate from high school. He went on to the Cummings Art School in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1906-07, and also attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago in 1908-09.
After traveling to the Northwest where his older brother had a logging business, he discovered that he wasn’t interested in that kind of work. He passed through Estes Park, Colorado on this trip in 1916. He married Kitty Wolf in Corydon, in 1918 they moved to Estes Park for the summer months, and this became a standard trek that lasted for many years. He alternated his time between Corydon in the winter, where he maintained a studio over the local bank, and Estes Park, where his studio was variously inside the Rocky Mountain National Park and on the main street. He painted the Rocky Mountain National Park and environs, as well as other parts of the country, but was most well-known for his colorful aspen paintings.
He worked exclusively in oils and painted on board. In the 1920s the Stirlings lived in Denver, and Dave worked for Meininger’s Art Materials store. While working there he could afford canvas and did produce a number of pieces on canvas during that time. In 1919 in the Rocky Mountain National Park, they built a studio called “Bugscuffle Ranch,” along with an adjacent home where they lived in the summers. This structure was replaced in 1930 with the gallery and studio that remained until a few years after Dave’s death. He became well known for his “cultural lectures on art,” which were given in the gallery on a daily basis and were attended by thousands of visitors. His line was, “Everyone goes away smarter than when they stumbled into the joint.” He was also fond of quoting Will Rogers; on his first exposure to abstract art, he said, “When you ain’t nothing else, you’re an artist–it’s one thing you can claim to be, and no one can prove you ain’t.”
Dave was an author as well and wrote several books of stories, myths, and lies about the mountain west. His pen name was Pye-Eyed Pete. Dave’s wife contracted cancer, and he remained her sole caregiver until her death. His daughter Hattie also had cancer and died, and his diabetic son died on the dance floor of the Riverside Ballroom in Estes Park. He is survived by 4 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild (to date.) His eldest grandson lives and works in Estes Park. Dave was famous as “The Youngest of the Old Masters,” a title given him in an article, which he was quick to adopt.
Dave received many awards and citations for his art and his community involvement. The Governor of Colorado presented him with a congratulatory sheepskin outlining his career on the occasion of his 50th anniversary as a resident artist of the Rocky Mountain National Park.
This information was provided by Greig Steiner of Estes Park, Colorado. Greig is the court-appointed appraiser for the estate of Dave Stirling, was an associate in Dave’s studio from 1962 until 1968, and a long-time friend of the family.
Information courtesy of Charlton Hall Auctions