Ace Powell painting returns to Montana

A large landscape painting of Glacier National Park that resided in Ohio for half a century could soon be hanging in Lake McDonald Lodge, thanks to the efforts of Freedom Bank in Columbia Falls, the Glacier National Park Conservancy and local art trader Kevin Moore.

Cowboy artist Ace Powell was commissioned to create the 4-by-8 foot painting by a young Cincinnati couple on their lone trip to the Park in 1962. Moore said they saw Powell wearing a cowboy hat and painting at an easel near the lodge.

Powell, a renowned artist who painted Western scenes with cowboys and Indians in the tradition of Charlie Russell, died in 1978 at the age of 66. The couple wanted the painting of Lake McDonald to cover a large bay window at their home.

“They would rather look at Glacier National Park every day,” Moore said.

The painting was passed on to their daughter when the couple died. The daughter contacted Powell’s surviving partner, Bernie Kushner, at the Ace Powell Gallery in Kalispell last year, and Moore’s organization, which organizes the annual Glacier Gala art event and fundraiser, purchased the painting.

Moore then sold the mural to Freedom Bank, where it has been hanging in the lobby since last month. Plans are in the works to donate the piece to the Glacier National Park Conservancy and in about a year hang it in Lake McDonald Lodge.

A hundred 16-by 32-inch giclée oil-on-canvas reproductions of the painting are being sold for $395 as a fundraiser for the Glacier National Park Conservancy and to compensate Freedom Bank for the cost of purchasing the original and paying for the reproductions.

Each giclée comes with a certificate of authenticity from the Ace Powell Gallery. About half already have been sold, many to businesses in Kalispell, Moore said.

For more information, call Freedom Bank at 892-1776, Moore at 250-4997 or the Glacier National Park Conservancy at 892-3250.