HOT SPRINGS – The Pioneer Museum has received nine new paintings by artist Charles W. Hargens Jr. The museum has also received five new paintings by artist Beulah Donnell. A celebration is called for!
In addition to Hargens Jr. and Donnell, the museum will honor the art of Robert Gossell at the Grand Reopening of the Pioneer Museum’s 4th floor on Sunday, July 13, from 1 to 3 pm. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at 1:30 pm.
Museum Director Dawn Johnsonencouragesthepublic to come for the celebration and stay to wander through the museum. Refreshments will be provided. There is an elevator in the building that serves all floors.
The roof of the Historic 1893 Schoolhouse museum was replaced earlier this month, making it once again safe to display art in the gallery. New electric roof vents were installed to help cool the upper floors of the building.
Johnson explained the museum, through the years, has collected artwork by Hargens Jr., Donnell, and Gossell, along with other local artists. The 4th floor of the museum was converted from an unused space to a beautiful art gallery in 2023.
Charles W. Hargens Jr., was born in Hot Springs in 1893. His father was a country doctor and a rancher on the Cheyenne River. C.W. (as he was called) Hargens Sr. wrote an excellent book, “Black Hills Doc,” which is available for purchase at the museum.
Hargens Jr. pointed out in a 1984 interview with the Solebury Township PA Historical Society that, in his youth, he had seen the things he later painted – covered wagons, Indians, and cowboys. He recreated scenes from the Black Hills.
Hargens Jr. lived to be 103 years old, passing away in 1997. He resided in Pennsylvania since attending art school, although he regularly returned to Hot Springs to paint and take pictures.
During his lifetime, he illustrated over 3000 covers for magazines like the Saturday Evening Post, Country Gentleman, and Farm Journal.
He painted illustrations for over 300 Western novels. Johnson told that Hargens Jr. met Zane Grey during a fishing trip to the Gulf of Mexico. Grey asked what Hargens Jr. did, and he said he was an artist. Hargens Jr. asked Grey what he did, and he said he was an author. That started a long collaboration between the two.
Holland Gamet Hargens, his brother, who remained in Hot Springs and managed the ranch, was the model for many of his Stetson advertisements, normally wearing a red shirt.
KennethHargens(Holland’sgrandson) and other family members will be present at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Kenneth and his cousin, Gar Hargens, are dedicated to the preservation of the paintings and have donated other memorabilia to the museum.
Hargens Jr. bequeathed the contents of his studio to the Dakota Discovery Museum in Mitchell, SD. The nine recently-received paintings are on loan from that museum. Cal Larive, a member of the Pioneer Museum Board, said he is grateful for the Hargens family working with him to display the art at the museum throughout the summer.
The museum also displays art from Beulah Donnell. Former Governor Janklow, when he proclaimed June 22-24, 2001, as Beulah Donnell Days, described her as, “a lady who has devoted her adult life to the arts and to helping others know the joy such expression brings.”
Donnell had a fascinating life. She was in the Marines, studied at Chadron State College and Black Hills Teacher’s College, and received a diploma from the Chicago School of Interior Design. She started the Main Street Arts and Crafts Festival. She was the Deputy County Superintendent of Schools.
She married Art Donnell at Ardmore. They owned and operated an arts and crafts supply store in Hot Springs for many years and raised six children.
Donnell worked in all mediums – oil, acrylic, and watercolor. She also worked with clay and ceramics. She painted a variety of subjects – landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and abstract art.
She was the president of Save Our Sandstones and created artwork of the sandstone buildings for fundraising. Some of the buildings are no longer standing. The museum treasures her painting of their sandstone building when it was a grade school.
The museum has an excellent collection of paintings by Robert Gossell, donated by the Blaine Halls family in 2024.
Gossell was born north of Edgemont and went to grade school in Provo. He never graduated from high school – his heart was in drawing, not schoolwork. He took a correspondence course and received an art certificate in 1958.
Gossell’s art is sold to collectors all around the world. A newspaper clipping from 1965 report him holding a one-man show at the Fall River Art Association, where he sold 60 paintings. He also belonged to the Southern Hills Artists started by Beulah Donnell. His paintings are mostly of wildlife, especially birds.
In 1954 Gossell took Roger Tory Peterson, author of the National Audubon Society bird identification field guides, through the Black Hills. There they saw the American Dipper, a rare bird that makes its home at Roughlock Falls in Spearfish Canyon.
He has illustrated for The Evans (where he made his home for many years) and the Mammoth Site. He won top honors with a painting of a Wind Cave buffalo.
There have been many great artists from Fall River County. The museum continues to collect, preserve, and provide a space for local art so people from all over the world can see them during a visit to Hot Springs.