When Stetson decided to honor the 100th anniversary of the painting it has long used in its marketing — Lon Megargee’s The Last Drop, of a cowboy kneeling to let his horse drink out of his Stetson — the company sought out California-based artist Logan Maxwell Hagege for a still-under-wraps special collaboration. That’s just one indication of the cachet, power, and aesthetic appeal of Hagege’s work.
At only 42, he’s already perched at the top of the Western art market. The in-demand artist’s paintings often sell before they leave the easel. He broke the $200,000 price point at auction when he was just 38, but more important than the prices his works command is the impact they have on the definition of what “Western” art is or can be.
Known for his paintings of riders on horseback, Indians, cowboys, clouds, cacti, hollyhocks, and rocky desert landscapes, Hagege’s bold and bright stylized realism has attracted collectors like musicians Bruno Mars, Brandon Flowers of The Killers, and members of the country band Midland. At the same time, his works are snapped up for the permanent collections of such venerable institutions as the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, and the Booth Western Art
