Self-Made Man

Some kind of poetic justice hovers over the exhibit of cowboy artist and author Will James, nestled in the sanctuary of the Autry museum in Griffith Park. The museum’s namesake, after all, was a pioneer who brought Western lore to Hollywood.

But if Gene Autry was a wholesome song wrangler, James came to represent a wilier spirit of the West: He was a romantic roustabout who invented himself and had a successful brush with Hollywood (his books “Smoky” and “Lone Cowboy” were brought to the screen). He eventually drank himself to an early death in 1942, at the age of 50.

Born as Ernest Dufault in Canada, he took the name Will James and fabricated his own history. James was best known as the author of 25 books romanticizing the cowboy life, but his easy flair for drawing is impressive. The exhibit flaunts his ability to convey action, often with sinewy horses in contorted, agitated positions, and with idyllic scenes of wide open spaces.

Early on, James did prison time for rustling, and we see him in a mug shot as a troubled, slightly pugnacious soul. But there was a romantic beneath the gruff exterior. Behind bars, he honed his artistic skills, drawing cowboys and their cowgirls or “man’s best friend”--which was, of course, a horse. A 1919 drawing, “Alice Conradt-Will James,” shows him and his fiancee (and later, long-suffering ex-wife) nuzzling across their steeds. A Hollywood studio shot finds James as a lean cowpoke, with a big hat, lasso, chaps and a hand-rolled cigarette.

Aside from the gentle appeal of works displayed, the show serves as a portrait of an artist who believed and finally succumbed to his own self-made myth.

* “Will James, Cowboy Artist and Author,” through Jan. 4 at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m., daily except Mon.; (213) 667-2000.