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Powell: The Ace of Diamonds and Cowboy in the Rough
July 10 - October 13, 2007
Powell: The Ace
of Diamonds and Cowboy in the Rough is a celebration
of the legendary Montana artist, Ace Powell. The exhibition at the Hockaday
Museum of Art runs July 10 - October
13, 2007 .
Ace Powell spent most of his life in Montana. He was raised in Apgar and spent summers working as a wrangler in Glacier National Park. There he watched Charlie Russell paint at Bull Head Lodge on Lake McDonald. Powell modeled Russell's styles in his own art career, painting and sculpting traditional images: cowboys, Indians, rugged western landscapes, horses and range animals. He was prolific, creating an estimated 12,000 - 15,000 paintings and sculptures during his lifetime. (right: Ace Powell (1912-1978), Indian in Snow)
Remembering the "Ace"
Kalispell artist Mark Ogle worked and studied under Ace Powell, beginning in the late sixties and until Ace's death in 1978. He grew up with Ace's son Dave Powell: "We went to art shows together, two kids trying to figure it out." Mark worked in the foundry Eddie Powell started back in 1968. "That was my introduction to the art world." There were no other foundries here then and Ace wanted a place to cast his bronzes, so he gave Eddie all of his work. Those were the days of the old investment casting method, before shell casting was introduced. "Incredible work"
Ogle said they didn't ever make much money in the early days, but they loved the work for its own sake. When Mark turned professional in 1977, the western art market was in decline. He rode out the lean years, painting and refining his technique. By the time the market turned upward in the late '80s, Ogle was well established in his studio gallery at the KM. "Western art rose to a crescendo during the '90s. It was a great time to be an artist in this area."
"My working studio-gallery idea came straight from Ace Powell. His studio was open all the time, collectors and dealers came through constantly. Everyone in the business told Ace he'd starve, but I thought of it as a grass roots approach to the local art market."
According to Ogle, the 1970's and 1980's were Golden Years for professional artists in the Flathead Valley, and Ace Powell had everything to do with that. "Ace's dream was to make Kalispell an art colony and it was he who brought in all of the area's early artists like Joe Abbrescia, Fred Fellows and Bud Helbig."
"Looking back on Ace's art advocacy in the Valley is like opening a time capsule of all the artists who came to Kalispell during the '70s and '80s. I would bet you there was not one artist in the '70s who wasn't helped by Ace Powell. He was a great guy, a great artist, truly a philosophical man."
Biography of Ace Powell from the Hockaday Museum of Art website
Books on Ace Powell
J.W. Moynahan has written several books on Powell. Following are quotes on two of them courtesy of Jan Koski's website soiled-doves.com.
(above: Ace Powell (1912-1978), Scouting Buffalo)
(above: Ace Powell (1912-1978), Scouting Buffalo)
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