Western Art News

Ed Mell reproductions used as public art for the ARRIVE Hotel in Phoenix.

Big and Small

Artwork by Ed Mell appears on an album cover and along a prominent road in Phoenix.

It was a busy summer for Ed Mell. In a one-two punch of announcements, the Phoenix painter revealed his artwork was being used as public art for a new hotel in his hometown and then, just days later, announced his artwork would serve as the cover for Hijos del Sol, a new album by Hermanos Gutiérrez.

Mell started his career as an illustrator in New York, before returning to Arizona to become a fine artist, so these kinds of projects are not uncommon for the modernist landscape painter. Most recently, in 2017, Mell was the set designer for Arizona Opera’s production of Riders of the Purple Sage.

“These sorts of things are always fun,” Mell says. “It helps that I get to work with some great people, like [architect] John Kitchell, who was the one [who] talked to me a couple years ago about the hotel project he was working on. His projects are always stellar and I’m happy to work with him.”

Hijos del Sol by Hermanos Gutiérrez. Ed Mell’s piece Sonoran Kings is featured on the cover.

The Phoenix artwork, at the ARRIVE Hotel, include large 7-by-7-foot-square reproductions of Mell’s landscape paintings that line the property wall along Camelback Road, one of Phoenix’s most iconic streets. The works range from older pieces to more recent paintings.

The Hijos del Sol album cover features the work Sonoran Kings, a recent painting done by the artist in 2019. Sonoran Kings also appeared on the May 2019 cover of Western Art Collector.

Exceptional Talent

A Cowboy Artists of America exhibition is now open at the Phippen Museum in Prescott, Arizona.

Kenneth Riley (1919-2015), The Escort, oil, 22 x 36”

Howard Terpning, Look of Many Years, charcoal, 18 x 24”

Now open at the Phippen Museum in Prescott, Arizona, is an exhibit on the Cowboy Artists of America, the influential 55-year-old art group known for its deep history within the Western art world. The museum’s namesake, George Phippen, was a founding member and the first president of the CAA. The exhibition, which runs through January 17, will feature works from many of the members, including Phippen, Ray Swanson, Kenneth Riley and Arizona painter Howard Terpning, who is currently an emeritus member of the group. Not only does the museum have the Phippen connection, but the idea for the CAA came about on June 23, 1965, at Oak Creek Tavern in nearby Sedona, Arizona. It was there that founding members Phippen, Joe Beeler, Charlie Dye and John Hampton formulated the plan for the group. For more information about the exhibit, visit www.phippenartmuseum.org.

A Legendary Trio

The Tucson Museum of Art presents an exhibition on three generations within the Wyeth Family.

N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945), Untitled landscape, 1923, oil on canvas. Bank of America Collection.

Opening January 21 at the Tucson Museum of Art is The Wyeths: Three Generations | Works from the Bank of America Collection, which will focus on the work of N.C. Wyeth, his son Andrew, and his grandson Jamie. “This collection not only shows the skills of these artists as individuals but further exemplifies them as one of America’s foremost artistic families,” says Christine Brindza, Glasser Curator of Art of the American West and the lead curator for the exhibition. “Visitors to the exhibition will discover the remarkable range of subjects, styles and technical abilities of this family as well as their unique visions of American life.” The exhibition will continue through May 9. For more information visit www.tucsonmuseumofart.org.