Bugbee work showcased

Scores of members of the Saints’ Roost Museum sat in silence as they learned more about one of Clarendon’s most famous son’s during the annual Members Appreciation Dinner and Open House last Friday, June 3.

Michael Grauer, Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs/Art and Western Heritage of the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum presented the program on Harold Dow Bugbee and the lasting impact his art has had.

Grauer, who has recently signed a contract with Texas A&M University to write a biography of Bugbee, will presented a triptych of Bugbee’s oil paintings, “The Chuck Wagon,” “The Rope Corral,” and “Branding.”

The three paintings were done in the late 1920s and were shown together on several occasions by the artist. They were planned out and meant to be viewed as part of a story.

Bugbee later donated “The Chuck Wagon” to the Adair Hospital in Clarendon, and it still hangs in that building, which now houses the Saints’ Roost Museum. The other two paintings are held by the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum.

“As best as we can determine, this is the first time these three paintings have been shown together since 1938,” Grauer said.