While we were in Joseph for a show about art in rural communities last summer, we heard about a painter you might not expect to find in cowboy country, where most of the art leans towards landscapes and wildlife.

“There’s a great artist here named Bob Fergison, who just turned 82, and he’s at least three-quarters blind,” said Seth Kinzie, the web developer at the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture.

“He’s very Max Beckmann–like,” said the center’s executive director, Cheryl Coughlan. “Oil painting with a lot of heavy brush strokes that are textural. Lots of nudes. He has one woman that was his model for years, that was very obese, but she only had one breast. If you take him a bottle of wine, he’ll open his studio.”

“He will also be happy to draw you naked if you feel the need to disrobe in front of a great live drawer,” added Kinzie dryly.


I wasn’t keen on disrobing, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to meet Fergison, who currently has a show on display at the Josephy Center through Feb. 17.