Recently Acquired

Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art: Dale Nichols

An important and once-missing work from painter Dale Nichols is now in the collection of the Bone Creek Museum Agrarian Art in David City, Nebraska.

Sanley Farm was painted in 1933 and after being exhibited for a short time in New York, the work disappeared into the art world. It would pop up again 80 years later and would catch the eye of Dan Sanley, who had been looking for the piece for many years. Sanley’s family had lived next door to the farm where the painting originated.

After the piece’s rediscovery, the Sanley family was able to bid on the work with the help of numerous members of the David City community. It was promptly donated to the museum after it was purchased. Dale Nichols (1904-1995), Sanley Farm, 1933, oil on canvas, 20 x 24”. Acquisition of Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art made possible by the Dick and Sally Sanley Family.

Nichols, who was related to the Sanley family, was famous for his barns in winter paintings. Sanley Farm is thought to be one of the first examples of the scenes and is one of the only examples that shows an actual place.

The Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art is the only museum in North America devoted exclusively to fine art that pertains to lands, fields and their tenure. “The scope of the agrarian art collection thematically focuses on all classifications of lands, including grasslands, wetlands, federally protected lands, agricultural lands, and even urban green spaces,” the museum notes. “The growing collection includes many historic works by artists such as Dale Nichols, John Steuart Curry, Thomas Hart Benton, Robert Gwathmey, Peter Helck, and Robert Wesley Amick. The collection also features important contemporary agrarian artists from around the country such as Robert Bateman, Marilyn Bower, Mark L. Moseman, Charles Banks Wilson, Jane Scott, Tim Klunder, Sara Merkel-Jacobs, Jim Hamil, V….Vaughan and John Roush.”

For more information about the museum, visit www.bonecreek.org. —

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Calling all Western Art museums! Have a recently acquired painting or sculpture? Email the details to mclawson@westernartcollector.com.