Stage Coach Holdup by Ben Messick, Oil on Board P3598

Now this is quite the charming painting. A lively, narrative scene from California Regionalist painter Ben Messick (1891–1981), depicting a stagecoach robbery in progress against a hazy backdrop of distant mountains.

Messick studied at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles and later taught life drawing there, becoming known as one of the West Coast's key Regionalist voices, with a particular fondness for scenes of everyday American life and character. This painting captures that same storytelling instinct: a masked figure with hands raised in surrender, armed bandits closing in on foot and horseback, and a team of horses caught mid-motion pulling the coach forward.

The palette is loose and atmospheric, with soft purples and golds giving the whole scene a dusty, Old West haze.

Signed by artist in lower right. Dated to the 1930s. Presented in its original frame, which shows wear consistent with age.

Art measures 189" x 24", in frame 23" x 29"