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Oil
Commissioned by the Oklahoma Centennial Commission
Dimensions: 72 x 90
Dedicated 2002

The Artwork

Sunset at Roman Nose State Park is one of four paintings in Wilson Hurley's Visions of the Land: The Centennial Suite that represents the four quadrants of Oklahoma's diverse landscape. The paintings were an official Oklahoma Centennial Project dedicated in 2002. The commission was directed by the Oklahoma Arts Council. Philanthropist Roger M. Dolese made The Centennial Suite possible.

Let us all thank Chief Roman Nose and his heirs for this magnificent gift to Oklahoma. The sky is bright in the setting sun, the trees are in full leaf and the evening is calm. The white cap rock lying on the dark red earth slowly sinks into the peaceful twilight showing the essential, quiet, everlasting loveliness of Oklahoma. - Wilson Hurley

The Artist

Although he grew up in Washington D.C., artist Wilson Hurley considered Tulsa, Oklahoma, his home. Born in Tulsa in 1924, Hurley eventually moved to the Washington area as a young boy when his father became Secretary of War under the Hoover administration. Though he had a burgeoning interest in art as a child, Hurley’s artistic tendencies were often stifled by his father under the notion that art was not a respectable career. Fortunately Hurley’s mother felt differently. She encouraged her son in his talents by taking him to numerous museums where he saw the works of Inness, Bierstadt, Moran, and Church – all artists who would eventually become Hurley’s inspiration 30 years later when he began painting full-time. By the time he was a professional painter, Hurley had already earned a degree in military engineering from West Point, as well as a law degree from George Washington University. However, neither career had satisfied Hurley and he turned to his “Sunday hobby” – painting.

Hurley often chose to paint a particular subject because he found it beautiful and he wanted the viewer to understand how it delighted him saying, “A good painting stops the heart and makes the throat ache.” Today his works are included in numerous collections throughout the country including the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, the Gilcrease Museum, and the Whitney Gallery of Western Art.