When Arizona painter Ed Mell died in 2024, the art world, especially the regional community in the Southwest, immediately mourned his passing. But something else also happened that is rare among artists: Mell’s legacy was immediately solidified within Western art history.
Rain Flash, oil, 14 x 9¼ in.
“Some artists, after they’re gone, their work will go into and out style until there is a big book or a major exhibition,” Beau Alexander, owner of Maxwell Alexander Gallery says. “But with Ed, he was an icon right away. That’s who he was and that’s what he meant to people.”
Alexander started working with Mell at the very beginning of the gallery in 2012, and he worked with him right up until he passed, including on one of his final works, a 60-by-80-inch commission. “Logan [Maxwell Hagege] and I were in Phoenix, right before we knew he was sick. We went straight from the airport right to his studio. We expected to say hi, maybe in and out in 20 or 30 minutes,” Alexander remembers. “Five hours later we left. He treated us to lunch and spent time with us in the studio. He was a gracious person, and a remarkable artist.”
Forms of a Storm, oil, 12 x 16 in.
This September, the gallery will present as many as six paintings by Mell that have never been on the market before. The works were in his studio at the time of his death, and have not been shown publicly or offered to collectors. “They come right from the studio. We’ve had them for over a year and been holding on to them because we weren’t sure what we wanted to do,” Alexander says, adding that he’s been working with Mell’s estate. “For whatever reason, Ed held onto these pieces.”
The paintings reveal several sides of Mell’s work: Forms of a Storm and Drifting Desert Sunset show him capturing those grand Arizona landscapes he was known to paint; Rain Flash and Cloud Patternsshow his forms abstracting and twisting into complex compositions; and there will also be a floral work showing a bloom on a cactus.
Cloud Patterns, oil, 14 x 14 in.
“Each of these works show how Ed had a unique vision that always set him apart as an important artist. There was really something special about his work and how he could touch people through his paintings,” Alexander says. “This made Ed very popular. I don’t know a single collector who only owns one of his works. They either own two or three, or 10 or more.”
The works will be on display this September at the gallery in Pasadena, California. —
Maxwell Alexander Gallery 1300 N. Lake Avenue » Pasadena, CA 91104 » (213) 275-1060 » www.maxwellalexandergallery.com
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