M. C. Poulsen

Poulsen was born in Akron, Ohio, and moved to Cody, Wyoming at age thirteen with his family to work a 15,000-acre cattle ranch.  After serving in the Marine Corps, he studied art at Arizona State University in Tempe, then dropped out to study with his neighbor and artist James Bama, who featured Western landscapes and scenes.

Early in his painting career, Poulsen did landscapes, still lifes, and figurative scenes, but then became so impressed and inspired by Western paintings he saw by Charles Russell that he now focuses on Western works. Poulsen exhibited a one-man show at the Capitol Rotunda in July of 1992 in Washington, D.C., and was the first Western artist to exhibit in Russia as a cultural exchange. He is scheduled to show at the Gilcrease Museum in Oklahoma among others.

Poulsen also has done commissions for private, state and federal organizations, including the Pentagon and The Johns Hopkins Hospital. He participates annually in shows and exhibitions across the country, including those held by the Autry National Center in Los Angeles; the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma; the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming; the C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Montana; the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis.

His work is featured in galleries in New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah, California and Arizona.

He and his wife live in Cody on property next to the dude ranch he worked as a teenager.