Wilson Hurley, at 84; noted American landscape painter

September 01, 2008|Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE - Wilson Hurley, a noted American landscape painter, died Friday. He was 84.

Mr. Hurley's death was confirmed by his wife, Rosalyn.

He had been diagnosed last year with Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

ALS damages the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

Mr. Hurley had painted until January, when the disease began to take its toll on him, his wife said.

Mr. Hurley was born in Tulsa, Okla., and graduated from West Point.

He worked as an attorney, engineer, fighter pilot and bank founder.

But through it all, he painted, devoting himself to his art full-time at age 40.

Mr. Hurley received numerous awards for his landscapes, and more than 800 of his paintings have gone into private and corporate collections.

Most notably, his paintings hang in the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma State Capitol, and the Albuquerque Museum.

Mr. Hurley was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1996, and was declared a cultural treasure in that state in 2002.

That same year, he became the Albuquerque Museum Foundation's second notable New Mexican.