{{Short description|American painter (1933–2024)}} {{Infobox artist | name = Frank Hagel | image = Frank D. Hagel.PNG | image_size = <!-- for under 220px and leave off "px" part --> | alt = | caption = Hagel, {{circa|1975}} | birth_name = Frank D. Hagel | birth_date = {{Birth date|mf=yes|1933|12|20}} | birth_place = Kalispell, Montana, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|mf=yes|2024|10|7|1933|12|20}} | death_place = Kalispell, Montana, U.S. | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Ethel I. Houston|1954|1967}} * Rita Hagel }} | known_for = Painting, sculpture | training = | movement = Realism, Impressionism | notable_works = ''Trapper with Bull Boat'' (2010) | patrons = U.S. State Department<ref name=Art.State.Gov /><br />Raymond James Financial<br />Shakespeare<br />Dow Chemical Company | awards = | elected = | website = {{official website}} }}
'''Frank D. Hagel''' (December 20, 1933 – October 7, 2024) was an American realist and impressionist painter and sculptor. His artwork depicts Native Americans, trappers, and wildlife of the western American frontier.
For the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial, he completed a corporate commission of a dozen paintings, three of which appeared in ''Smithsonian'' magazine's coverage of the Expedition. His paintings, known for their authenticity, are found in private as well as corporate art collections across the country and some have been selected for display by the U.S. State Department in American embassies abroad.
==Early life== Hagel was born on December 20, 1933, in Kalispell, Montana, the son of Frederick A. Hagel and Winona Hagel (née Popham). Hagel's father, who was originally from Salmon, Idaho, worked as a sawyer in the white pine forests of Montana and Idaho and later worked for the U.S. Forest Service and opened up a tanning business specializing in white buckskins in Kalispell in 1929.<ref name="Frederick Hagel">{{cite news|title=Obituaries: Frederick Hagel, 82|newspaper=The Daily Inter Lake|location=Kalispell, MT|date=December 6, 1976|page=2|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="Return from Africa">{{cite news|title=Hagels Return From African Sojourn to Reopen Tannery|newspaper=The Daily Inter Lake|location=Kalispell, MT|date=June 19, 1960|page=8|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The tannery—which is still in operation today—has been operated by Hagel's son Michael since 1976. As a young man Frank worked in the tannery and also engaged in ranching, logging, and construction. After serving in the U.S. Navy (1952–55) during the Korean War, Hagel used the G.I. Bill and attended the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, California, graduating in 1959 after studying illustration.<ref name=Art.State.Gov>{{cite web|title=Frank Hagel|url=http://art.state.gov/ArtistDetail.aspx?id=147236|website=Art.State.Gov|accessdate=4 December 2015|archive-date=8 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208050352/http://art.state.gov/ArtistDetail.aspx?id=147236|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In May 1954, Hagel married Kalispell native Ethel Irene Houston who would die young at age 31 on November 28, 1967, in Ferndale, Michigan, due to a brain tumor.<ref name="Ethel Hagel">{{cite news|title=Hagel Funeral Rites Pending|newspaper=The Daily Inter Lake|location=Kalispell, MT|page=2|date=December 1, 1967|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="Ethel dies">{{cite news|title=Former Resident Dies in Michigan|newspaper=The Daily Inter Lake|location=Kalispell, MT|page=10|date=November 28, 1967|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Born to the couple were three sons: Scott, Michael, and Jack.
==Career== After college graduation Hagel moved to Detroit, Michigan, where from 1959 to 1970 he worked as a commercial artist for three Detroit art studios and produced illustrations for all major Detroit ad agencies and the big three auto manufacturers.<ref name=Hockaday>{{cite web|title=Lewis and Clark Discovery: Works by Frank Hagel|url=http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/4aa/4aa343.htm|website=tfaoi.com|accessdate=4 December 2015}}</ref> From 1959–61 he worked for Allied Artists, was at Lebeau Studios, Inc. from 1962–64, and thereafter worked for Graphic Productions, Inc., all of Detroit. In addition to the auto manufacturers, Hagel's work was commissioned by Shakespeare (a manufacturer of fishing rods) and Dow Chemical Company, among others.<ref name="Work in Detroit">{{cite news|title=Hagel Works on Display at Hockaday Center|newspaper=The Daily Inter Lake|location=Kalispell, MT|page=11|date=August 23, 1970|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1970 he moved back to his hometown of Kalispell. Hagel’s work is frequently juried into prominent western art shows including the C. M. Russell Museum art auction in Great Falls, Montana, where he has been exhibiting for a number of years.<ref name="CMR Art Show Sales in 2013">{{cite web|title=2013 Sales by Lot Number|url=https://www.cmrussell.org/sites/cmrussell.org/files/downloadable_documents_folder/The_2013_Russell_Auction_results.pdf|website=CMRussell.org|accessdate=4 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208062111/https://www.cmrussell.org/sites/cmrussell.org/files/downloadable_documents_folder/The_2013_Russell_Auction_results.pdf|archive-date=8 December 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=CMR>{{cite web|title=The Russell Exhibition Artist Bios|url=https://www.cmrussell.org/russell-exhibition-artist-bios/h|website=CMRussell.org|accessdate=5 December 2015|archive-date=8 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208073518/https://www.cmrussell.org/russell-exhibition-artist-bios/h|url-status=dead}}</ref>
His paintings, known for their authenticity, are found in private as well as corporate art collections across the country.<ref name="Hagel website">{{cite web|title=Frank Hagel Fine Art|url=http://www.frankhagel.com/about/|website=FrankHagel.com|accessdate=4 December 2015}}</ref> Some of his work has been displayed by the U.S. State Department in American embassies abroad.<ref name=Art.State.Gov />
On January 31, 1977, Hagel had a one-man show at the First Security Bank in Kalispell. At the time it was believed to be the largest collection of Hagel paintings ever assembled.<ref name="One-Man Show">{{cite news|title=Hagel show opens today|newspaper=The Daily Inter Lake|location=Kalispell, MT|page=2|date=January 31, 1977|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
===Medal sculpture=== In August 1971, Joseph B. Hartzog, Jr., director of the National Park Service, awarded a contract to the Kalispell firm of Roche Jaune Inc. to produce a series of 37 medals, called the “National Parks Centennial Series”, that depict a scene in each of America's national parks. The medals were struck by the Medallic Art Company of New York City.<ref name="Medals struck by Medallic">{{cite news|title=An Invitation to the Residents of Northwest Montana from Roche Jaune Inc. of Kalispell|newspaper=The Daily Inter Lake|location=Kalispell, MT|page=22|date=April 9, 1972|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> At the time, Hagel was serving as the vice president of Roche Jaune Inc.<ref name="Roche Jaune">{{cite news|title=Kalispell Firm Awarded Park Centennial Contract|newspaper=The Daily Inter Lake|location=Kalispell, MT|page=1|date=August 8, 1971|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1974–75 he completed a series of five medals for the Montana Bicentennial and in 1989 completed a Montana statehood centennial medal.<ref name=Medalblog>{{cite web|title=Medalblog: Medal Making History by D. Wayne Johnson|url=https://medalblog.wordpress.com/2011/03/07/phone-interview-with-frank-hagel-original-sculptor-national-park-series/|website=medalblog.wordpress.com|accessdate=4 December 2015}}</ref>
===Painting=== While involved in sculpting medals and doing corporate illustration work early in his career, the bulk of his lifetime work has been in painting where he specializes in works depicting genre scenes of American Indians—particularly those from the Pacific Northwest—as well as trappers and wildlife. A large number of his paintings feature the Piegan Blackfeet tribe. His ''Trapper with Bull Boat'' (2010), a 30x40 inch oil on canvas, sold in 2010 for $14,040 at the Coeur d'Alene Art Auction.<ref name="Coeur d'Alene Art Auction">{{cite web|title=Fine Western and American Art|url=http://www.cdaartauction.com/2010/?through=6|website=cdaartauction.com|accessdate=4 December 2015}}</ref>
==Personal life and death== Hagel was the father of three sons: Scott, Michael, and Jack. His hobbies included bird hunting and trout fishing, and he was an avid golfer as a member of Buffalo Hill Golf Club.
Hagel resided in Kalispell, where he died on October 7, 2024, at the age of 90.<ref>{{cite web |title=Frank D. Hagel |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/dailyinterlake/name/frank-hagel-obituary?id=56494463 |website=Legacy |access-date=22 December 2024}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagel, Frank}} Category:1933 births Category:2024 deaths Category:20th-century American painters Category:American male painters Category:21st-century American painters Category:21st-century American male artists Category:20th-century American sculptors Category:20th-century American male artists Category:American male sculptors Category:Artists from Kalispell, Montana