Top artists dive into museum collections to discuss paintings that have impacted their art and careers.

By Rochelle Belsito

When I go to an art museum there are always specific paintings and sculptures that I could stand in front of for hours. I get lost in them, dissecting the narrative and closely viewing the brushstrokes and forms. They are works that have an otherworldly quality to them. Even though I am not an artist, I appreciate the craftsmanship, the detail and the ability to transport the viewer to somewhere else if only for an instant.

Artists also have these visceral reactions to works of art they come across, but I like to think that it’s on another level. They are seeing something that I am not through the colors, the shapes and how the composition came together. It is what inspires and challenges them to continually make strides in their own art.

Art can move us all, and museums are a connective thread in that journey by being a place to discover. For this feature, we asked five artists to name a work of art in a museum that has been transformative to them. The results are varied and nuanced, providing insight into that artist’s thought process and career.

Church at Ranchos de Taos

by Ernest L. Blumenschein (1847-1960)
American Museum of Western Art – The Anschutz Collection

Logan Maxwell Hagege
loganmaxwellhagege.com

“When I look at art that I love, I often have a difficult time pinpointing exactly what it is about the painting that affects me. I am generally attracted to a bold composition, as well as a strong light and dark pattern. I think those two elements alone can affect the way a viewer perceives a piece of art. I always get a feeling in my gut when I am looking at a great work of art. CHURCH AT RANCHOS DE TAOS definitely gives me that feeling in my gut. It says a lot, with relatively simplified details. The viewer can’t make out any faces or know exactly who it is that they are looking at. The painting really consists of large, bold, masses of color placed in the right places, giving the viewer the sense of detail. Blumenschein has allowed the viewer to participate and fill in the missing details.

“This artwork has been an influence in my work mainly giving me inspiration to tackle multifigure compositions in the outdoors. Attempting a scene like this is no short order, so I feel that I can work on this sort of idea for many years…I think the scale of CHURCH AT RANCHOS DE TAOS is very important. Painting monumental pieces of this complexity is a rarity these days, but artists from Blumenschein’s day were expected to put these large compositions together. I have been inspired by the artists of this era to paint large compositions and push myself, the way I believe they did.”

Jim and His Daughter

by Walter Ufer (1876-1936)
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

Donna Howell-Sickles
donnahowellsickles.com

“While I cannot credit one or even two paintings as major early influences on my work, there is a painting in the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum that I visit every time I’m in the museum: JIM AND HIS DAUGHTER, by Walter Ufer from 1923. I find it to be an amazing painting.

“The composition with the dark shadows and the diagonal positioning of the figures is so strong and follows no rules but his; yet it leads the viewers eye to cover every inch of the painting. The color saturation radiates the desert heat. The body language and the slight father [and] daughter resemblance, even down to the way their hands are resting makes the viewer wish they understood the story better. This painting makes me look at my work and try to bring more audience engagement using all these subtle.”

Silent Watchers

by Arthur Wardle (1864-1949)
National Museum of Wildlife Art

Brent Cotton
cottonfinearts.com

“This painting of a male and female lion bathed in moonlight absolutely stopped me in my tracks when I rounded the corner at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Wyoming. I was immediately sucked into the mood and drama of the scene, and it still gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. No other wildlife painting has had that effect on me. In a museum filled with stunning Carl Rungius masterworks and other notable wildlife artists past and present, this work stood out to me. As I drew closer to study the piece, I was overwhelmed by the story it was portraying, the lions surveying the landscape, and the small twinkle of a campfire in the distance.  The viewer can’t help but be moved by this powerful piece.

“This painting really made me understand the power of mood in a painting and I have often thought of it while attempting to create works that are emotion filled and mood evoking.”

Corn Dancer

by Nicolai Fechin (1881-1955)
American Museum of Western Art – The Anschutz Collection

Martin Grelle

“There have been many works of art in various museums that have been inspiring to me, but I will share one of them: the large oil by Nicolai Fechin, CORN DANCER. I was able to see it in person many years ago at what was then the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, now the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. The painting had a huge impact on me as a young artist, especially having the opportunity to see in person.

“There is such a great difference between standing in front of a piece of art instead of viewing it in a publication or, as we do these days, online. Fechin’s mingling of colors, brushwork, emotion of characters and the impressionistic handling of the subject were superb. It took me a few minutes to realize the additional figures that were in the background behind and around the main figure. Just an amazing work of art, and even though my style doesn’t approach his entirely, I have used what I saw in his work for many years in various aspects of my own work. The original is now in the American Museum of Western Art in Colorado, as part of their Anschutz Collection of works.”

Portrait of Dr. Samuel D. Gross (The Gross Clinic)

by Thomas Eakins (1844-1916)
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Dean Mitchell
deanmitchellstudio.com

“THE GROSS CLINIC by the American painter Thomas Eakins inspired me the first time I saw it in my late 20s at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. My early childhood experience with my great-grandmother Cicely passing when I was about 5 or 6 years old left a profound impact on my perception of the frailness of life. This Eakins painting reminded me of the human condition and medicine’s long road ahead of conquering some of the impacts of aging and diseases. It is an honest, unflinching look at the harsh realities of that era of surgical procedures…

“It gave me the strength instead to move forward in my efforts to create works that dealt with uncomfortable issues of our times like poverty, cancer and Alzheimer’s. I’ve created a body of work that is not popular, and most have sat in my studio for years, and museums and collectors own a few. Artists must be free to express works that challenge us because we need to be reminded that we are only flesh and blood. I decided long ago that being popular isn’t the goal, but finding a truth that speaks to life is art’s true power and beauty, no matter how tragic the moment…

“Learning about Eakins also led me to the African American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner, a student of his. These artists gave me hope to become a painter in traditional realism. Later, I discovered that Tanner and I were [both] born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was born June 21, 1859, and I was born January 20, 1957.”

This story appeared in the December 2024/January 2025 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Subscribe today to read every issue in its entirety.