In this month’s issue, I wrote a piece about a new Ed Mell and Maynard Dixon exhibition in Tucson, Arizona. It is the first exhibition of Ed’s work since he died in 2024. I’m honored to have crossed paths with Ed as frequently as I did after joining Western Art Collector in 2013. He would drop by our offices, or we’d run into him around town or at shows. He was a beloved fixture around Phoenix and Scottsdale. Artists’ lives and legacies will live on through their art, but also through the stories that we all share about them, both in these pages and informally as we chat with friends, collectors and other artists. Their stories are vital and should be shared.
If you look closely, these stories are out there, waiting to be discovered. I was recently at an auction and struck up a conversation with a collector who mentioned, in passing and with little fanfare, that he had met Edgar Payne in California in the 1940s. How many people living today can say they met Payne? My guess is very, very few. I’m reminded of Kim Wiggins, who knew or met artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Peter Hurd, Alexandra Hogue, Thomas Hart Benton and others. And he has stories for all of them.
Two people who embody this very phenomenon are Bill and Merry Nebeker. Recently we were on the same flight to Phoenix when the flight was delayed. I started asking them about all the artists they’ve met, including Cowboy Artists of America members who have long since passed. “What were they like?” I asked them. They had stories for so many: John Clymer, Tom Ryan, Frank Polk, Bill Owen, Joe Beeler, Tom Lovell, Frank McCarthy, Harry Jackson and others. Before long there was a crowd of artists and collectors listening to Bill and Merry hold court right there in the terminal as they shared stories that have never been in any of the books or magazines. These were personal stories by the people who experienced them firsthand.
I’ve encouraged others, including Merry Nebeker, to write down or record their experiences with these artists. And I want to encourage our readers to do the same. Obviously, if you wanted to send any of these stories to me, I would gladly accept them. But more importantly, record them for you and your family, as well as the artists and their legacies. If it’s not written down or recorded, it can disappear into time. We know how to protect art, but it’s also important we protect and preserve art history as well.
Michael Clawson
Executive Editor
Powered by Froala Editor
