Ace Powell

Powell was born in Tularosa, New Mexico, on April 3, 1912.[2] In 1913, at age one, his family moved to Montana where he spent his formative years in Apgar. His father worked as a wrangler and guide in Glacier National Park. Powell attended high school in Browning, on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. While in his early 20s, Powell took a job as a wrangler on the Bar X5 ranch near Babb, Montana, and handled horses for the Glacier Park concessionaire.[2] As a young man Powell, whose parents were friends of Charles M. Russell, made the acquaintance of Russell whose summer home, Bull Head Lodge, was located in Apgar. He took a few private lessons from the great master, but for the most part Powell was a self-taught artist through trial and error.[2]

During his career, Powell produced between 12,000 and 15,000 works of art. His preferred medium was oil painting, however he also worked extensively with watercolors. He also executed a number of works in bronze, terracotta, and wood. With regard to painting, Powell said: "I see a scene in my mind and I put it down on canvas. I want it to look like it came from the land. If at all possible, I try to get a crisp feeling into my paintings. Sometimes I get something into a canvas that is just right, then I work around it".[6]

In 1962 a Cincinnati, Ohio, couple took their one and only vacation to Glacier Park. They noticed a man in a cowboy hat painting at his easel near the Lake McDonald Lodge. Impressed by the artist’s work, they commissioned Powell on the spot to produce a large 4x8 foot mural painting featuring Lake McDonald. Long after the buyers were deceased, a deal was consummated in 2013 by a partnership consisting of Freedom Bank in Columbia Falls, Glacier Park National Fund, and Kalispell art dealer Kevin Moore to buy the painting at an undisclosed price from the unnamed couple’s daughter who wished to remain anonymous and still lived in Cincinnati. The painting had been purchased for the purpose of covering a bay window at the couple’s Cincinnati home. “They would rather look at Glacier National Park every day” than the view outside their window, Moore said. After being on display for a time in the Freedom Bank lobby, the painting was eventually donated to the Glacier National Park Fund and was relocated to Lake McDonald Lodge. As a fundraiser, 100 giclée oil-on-canvas reproductions were later sold by the Ace Powell Gallery at a price of $395 each, with a number being sold to Kalispell businesses.[7]

In a 1978 article written by Dr. Van Kirke Nelson for Art West Magazine, Nelson cites Powell as saying, "I have been more fortunate than most, helped and have been helped, painted some great paintings and some terrible paintings. There were times when I thought the price I was charging was close to larceny—so I have never regretted someone else making a dollar on my paintings as I'll get it back from them next time. I've shaken hands with the devil, perhaps more than most, but the good Lord has seen fit to keep me around for a bit longer".[8]

Powell died on January 25, 1978, in Kalispell, Montana.[1][9] Upon his death, many dealers holding unsold Powell canvases immediately doubled their prices.[9] He is best remembered as one of finest painters of American western art in the 20th century. Some of his works are on display at the Hockaday Museum in Kalispell, Montana.

Note: This list is incomplete.

• The Ace Powell Award, named in Powell's honor as the award's first recipient, is given by the Western Art Association of Ellensburg to an artist who has made a significant contribution toward historical western art heritage or who has encouraged or supported western artists in an outstanding manner.[1]

Powell signed nearly all of his works with this mark showing an ace of diamonds playing card and "Powell".[5]