07/23/2026
A win for Modernists in the American western art genre. Kim Wiggins has won the 2026 Ann Noble Brown Prix de West Purchase Award, the most prestigious museum award in Western art, presented annually by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.
What makes this year’s award interesting is Wiggins’ style. He’s a modernist painter whose distinct approach has made him one of the most recognizable artists working in American western art. Along with greats such as Ed Mell, Donna Howell-Sickles, T.C. Cannon and Kevin Red Star, Wiggins is regarded as one of the creative forerunners of the “Modernist” movement. His winning piece, How the West Was Won – Chisum at Castle Gap, is a 60 x 48 inch oil painting depicting the 1866 cattle drive that helped establish the legendary cattle trails of the time.
“In 1866, cattle kings Chisum, Goodnight, and Loving drove 3,000 longhorns west, establishing the most famous cattle trail in American history. This painting shows John Chisum and Wild West icon Frank Chisum battling to control a massive stampede at Castle Gap near the Pecos River after crossing 80 miles of harsh desert.” ~ Kim Wiggins
The gallery representing Wiggins – Maxwell Alexander Gallery – called the win part of a groundbreaking shift: “museums are increasingly looking beyond traditional Western realism and recognizing artists working within a broader modernist tradition, what we categorize as ‘Western Regionalism.’” Western art has roots in the modernist movement of the early 1900s, but much of the genre shifted toward traditional realism starting in the 1970s.
Fun fact: Fans of Lonesome Dove may recognize the character Deets. Wiggins says he’s likely based on Frank Chisum – a real cowhand who became a wealthy cattle baron. John Chisum bought Frank in 1860 to free him from slavery, and Frank later took the Chisum name as an homage. If you haven’t read Lonesome Dove, it’s one of the greatest Western novels ever written.
