Lon Megargee (American, 1883-1960) Heading West Oil on Masonite 14-3/4 x 58-1/2 inches (37.5 x 148.6 cm) Signed lower right: Lon Megargee PROVENANCE: Private collection, Colorado. Lon Megargee was born in Philadelphia and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. Despite his east coast roots, Megargee was a cowboy at heart. At age thirteen he made his first trip to Arizona and by age sixteen he was ready to try his hand as a rancher. After a major drought ended his ranching ambitions, he pursued his career as a painter and became the first acclaimed cowboy artist of Arizona . With great fortune, Megargee sold his first oil painting to the Santa Fe Railroad, who would be his most important client for the remainder of his career. In 1913, a year after statehood, the State Capitol Building in Phoenix commissioned Megargee to paint fifteen monumental murals that would launch his career and make him a notable figure in the western art world. After spending several years in Los Angeles working as an art director at Paramount Studios, Megargee turned to illustration working for Western magazines in the 20’s. Heading West exhibits Megargee’s romanticized ideals of the American West. A trapper in discussion with cowboys takes center stage set against the mesas with the postal express racing in from one direction and pioneers making their way in from the opposite direction. This composition highlights Megargee’s abilities in design, color and line; the very elements which made him an ideal painter of murals and illustration and a beloved artist in the West. HID03101062020 © 2020 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved See More