Wilson Hurley (American, 1924-2008),
Palaces of Air & Stone, 2005,
Oil on canvas on panel, 47 ½ x 47 ½ in.,
The Madden Collection at the University of Denver, 2016.1.38
Wilson Hurley was an American painter known for his vast landscape scenes made during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Hurley was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and raised in Virginia and New Mexico. In his first memory from before grade school, he had found some pastels and attempted to make the paper show light. He showed natural talent, and during his teen years his mother, Ruth Wilson Hurley, arranged for him to spend time with artists such as Theodore Van Solen, Josef Bakos, and John Young-Hunter. His father, Patrick J. Hurley, was Secretary of War during the Hoover administration, and encouraged more manly activities such as riding bucking horses.
Directly after graduating high school in 1942, Hurley entered the United States Military Academy, West Point, to study engineering and take flight training. He became a second lieutenant and flew a rescue unit in the Philippines until 1949. During this time, he said, “I fell in love with the world,” and he flew all of the time. Once he left the military, Hurley attended George Washington Law School. He went on to become a practicing lawyer, mainly in New Mexico, for over a decade. Hurley hated every minute of it and became an avid Sunday painter during this time, keeping up the art skills he had naturally. To try and find happiness, he started a bank and flew in the New Mexico National Guard, but it wasn’t enough.
At the age of 41, Wilson Hurley dropped his careers to become a full time painter. As a result, his family disinherited him and he went through a divorce. He became a self-taught artist. Hurley did not try to compete with contemporary artists, but instead went to museums to see what “the big boys did.” George Inness, Winslow Homer, John Constable, JMW Turner, Charles-François Daubigny, and Impressionists in general all influenced his work. He enjoyed painting en plein air and true colors which he absorbed outdoors and then brought into the studio.
In 1971 Wilson Hurley had his first one man exhibition. He maintained throughout his life that “every sale is a struggle.” The following year, Hurley became a member of the National Academy of Western Art, and in 1974 he and his wife, Rosalyn Roembke, founded Wilson Hurley Inc. She kept records for the company and freely critiqued his paintings. Since then, his large view on landscapes and depth of the sky and clouds have earned Hurley recognition in the art world. Many have compared him to 19th century artists like Bierstadt, Church, and Moran, however he’s considered to be in dialog with a more modern landscape tradition.
Part of the reason that his landscapes have so much land and sky is his history with flying airplanes. From up in the air, he experienced billowing thunderheads and wide expanses of land that went on to fill his paintings. These views contributed to his style, and in 1991 The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum commissioned the artist to complete 5 triptychs that would represent Hurley’s view of the west. There enormity benefited the artist, for he said “the bigger it gets, the more enthusiastic I get. My paintings benefit from larger size up to about 8 feet.”
Wilson Hurley continued to work in New Mexico until he passed away after his struggle with ALS in 2008.
Written by Kierra Aiello
Sources
“Videos of Wilson Hurley.” Wilson Hurley, 1924-2008. Accessed April 8, 2017. http://www.wilson-hurley.com/video.html
“Envisioning the West: Wilson Hurley.” National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Accessed April 11, 2017. https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/explore/envisioning-west-wilson-hurley/
“Wilson Hurley.” askArt. Accessed April 11, 2017. http://www.askart.com/artist_bio/Wilson_Hurley/4977/Wilson_Hurley.aspx
Campbell, Virginia. “Wilson Hurley | On a Large Scale.” Southwest Art. June 15, 2004. http://www.southwestart.com/articles-interviews/featured-artists/on_a_large_scale
Weaver, Bobby D. “Hurley, Wilson (1924-2008).” Oklahoma Historical Society. Accessed April 8, 2017. http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=HU009
“Obituary – Hurley.” Albuquerque Journal. August 31, 2008.
http://obits.abqjournal.com/obits/search?query=Wilson+Hurley