Robert Morgan

In The Thick of It

Oil on canvas

18” x 26” image size

Robert Morgan

Available

Robert F. “Bob” Morgan (1929 – 2015)

was born on a ranch in the Helena Valley. Bob was the great grandson of Montana pioneer Moses Doggett, who came from Kentucky to Virginia City in 1863 in search of gold. After the discovery of gold at Last Chance Gulch, Moses moved his family to what became Helena. The love of art was instilled in Bob when he was only five years old. He learned to read by studying a book that his parents had given him “Good Medicine, Memories of the Real West," by Charles M. Russell. The book was full of illustrations of cowboys, Indians, and wildlife. Russell was the man who would most influence in Bob’s life. He was the inspiration and the idol that Bob wanted to emulate. Bob said that his commercial art teacher Fred Robinson taught him to be disciplined, to plan and to try new ideas. Bob designed three posters for “Freddy” for a contest for a local veteran’s group and won first, second, and third places along with a $25 War Bond. He graduated from Helena High in 1947. His fifty-year association with the Montana Historical Society (MHS) began in 1951 with labeling, he became an exhibits designer, curator and Director, resigning in 1972. He served on the MHS Board of Trustees for decades.

One of Bob’s high profile projects during his tenure at MHS was the refurbishing and assembling of three railroad cars for exhibiting artwork, historical artifacts, one ton of uncut sapphires, and gold nuggets and gold dust valued at $1 million for the Montana Territorial Centennial Train in 1964. The purpose of the train was to take Montana to the people of the United States, with the destination being the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City. Bob traveled on the train to make sure that all the exhibits arrived in New York in good shape.

Bob began his fine art career 1972. From that point on, Montanans have been fortunate to enjoy many of the over 3,000 paintings Bob has created. His name is recognized throughout Montana as his art hangs in venues such as the Sheraton Hotel in Billings, the Montana Historical Society, Helena Regional Airport, the five murals in the Montana Agricultural Center in Fort Benton, and the City-County Building in Helena. His paintings depicting Lewis and Clark’s journey across Montana and commemorating the 200th anniversary of the “Corps of Discovery” expedition. Bob was also commissioned to paint a poster for the U.S. Marines “Toys for Tots” campaign.

One of Bob’s paintings depicts a stagecoach rolling into Virginia City. Many of Bob’s paintings depict scenes from Helena’s past. As an ardent fan of Charles M. Russell's work, Bob had a national reputation as a Russell scholar. He painted more than seventy authentications of Russell’s work. He was the co-founder of the “Northwest Rendezvous of Art” with Jack Hines, a fellow artist who died the same evening as Bob who passed away June 20, 2015.