Ancel Edward Nunn (1928-1999) was a distinguished Texas artist whose style has been justly compared to Andrew Wyeth. Nunn's artistic vision was quite his own, however. Nunn painted images of rural Texas in which the past, though worn and superseded, could still be seen to have a place, however tenuous, in the present. He also employed surreal elements (or at least unusually placed ones) to drive home his point  (e.g., a chair hung on a wall or a bed in a field). Nunn grew up in West Texas. Considering school a kind of jail, he dropped out of high school and for a time studied anatomy on his own. He received instruction and inspiration in Dallas from Alexandre Hogue, among others. He joined the Army as a reservist in 1947, secured a high school diploma, and continued in the Army reserves for more than 20 years until his honorable discharge in 1969. By that time, he had begun painting in earnest. In that year he set up a studio in Palestine, Texas. A decade later he established, just outside Palestine, Morningtown Studio, where he began to produce superb lithographs. Nunn left a meticulous record of his art business which is now housed at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History in Austin.

Ancel Nunn’s works are highly valued. Since 2007 some 30 of his pieces have been offered at auction. His sold oil paintings have averaged $5,667 in price. His acrylics have sold at an average of $12,965. His lithographs have sold at auction for as high as $1,500. Nunn's works give every appearance of being an extremely sound aesthetic as well as financial investment.

SOURCES:

Ancel E. Nunn Papers, 1963-1984, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, Austin, TX.

Askart.com (accessed July 6, 2019).