I was recently in Las Cruces, New Mexico, for a small family trip. My wife and I are suckers for bookstores in new cities, and right away we found one that seemed to stretch for a whole city block. I judge a bookstore by
the quality of its art section, and this one was superb—shoutout to COAS Books, which had books I never knew existed. One of my purchases that day was Contemporary Western Artists by Peggy and Harold Samuels. The book is essentially an encyclopedia of living Western artists from 1982, the year the book was published. Nearly 1,000 artists are represented: each has a small biography, a headshot, one artwork image and, my favorite part, an example of their signature.
Skimming through, there are many artists in the book who are still active today: Dan Mieduch, Doug Hyde, Bill Nebeker, Curt Walters, Fred Fellows, Joni Falk and Martin Grelle. Others have long since passed: Allan Houser, Olaf Wieghorst, John Clymer, Bob Kuhn and many others. What’s remarkable are the names that I didn’t recognize. Artists like Howard Forsberg, a Wisconsin painter who moved to New Mexico and never looked back. He was a tremen-dous painter, but his work has largely been forgotten. Another is Betty Sabo, a talented landscape painter. Or Stephen Hubbell, Jay H. Matterness, Sallie Ritter, Chris Vanderlans and so many more.
No one has attempted a book like that before 1982, or even since then, so I appreciate what the Samuels were able to accomplish. Here at Western Art Collector, in the 21st century, we are striving for that same goal: we want to tell stories about art and shine a light on artists. In every issue, you will find stories on artists who have long since passed, others who are working and active now, and many more who are rising through the ranks, some headed for fame in the near or distant future. These stories are important to us, and I know they are important to art collectors. Each story is unique, and each one is a vital thread to the tapestry that is Western art.
Thank you for reading Western Art Collector in 2025. We have lots more stories to tell next year, and I’m excited to share them with you soon. —
Michael Clawson
Executive Editor
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