Around 1974, Terpning began to tire of commercial work and decided to follow his interest in the American West and Plains Indians. Consequently, he began to transition into fine art by creating paintings and selling them in Western galleries. The first paintings sold for $2,000 to $2,500. After three years, he left Connecticut and the commercial art world and moved to Arizona to devote himself entirely to painting the American West. Within two years he was elected to both the National Academy of Western Art and the Cowboy Artists of America (CA). In the 22 years he was an active member of the CAA, Terpning earned 42 awards for his work.[1][9]
In 1985, Terpning was honored with a retrospective at the Gilcrease Museum with 38 original works on display.[4] His work has also been displayed in Beijing, China, and the Grand Palais in Paris.
Some of what has been written about Terpning and his work:
“That Terpning is a realist is plain enough, since his work is primarily representational, not formal. But it is not a realism of minute detail for its own sake, without regard to the context of light and of the subject’s character. Nor is it the sort of pop realism that places subjects in happenstance circumstances like tourists with a snapshot camera. Terpning’s realism takes for granted the representational nature of art and takes it from there.”
“Although his paintings actually read as bold declarations, Terpning’s choice of palette is typically restrained in order to ensure that narrative is the first impression imparted upon a viewer.”
The late Fred A. Myers, director of Gilcrease Museum said of Terpning, “[he] is simply the best and best-known artist doing Western subjects at this point… He is among a very small group of painters of the West in the late 20th century whose art will still be hanging in museums and appreciated a hundred years from now.”[6]:153