Not Ronald Reagan!

"Mushroom", by Peter Pegnam, 12" x 16:", oil on board, 2008.

I have been going through a closet I have not excavated for 10 or 15 years in search of a couple of paintings. In this closet I found a lot of junk paintings, some of it interesting junk, some.not. Just stuff I had no idea that I had. This was one of interesting paintings and not really junk, just not great art.

My first thought when I saw this painting was that it was an inept attempt at a portrait of Ronald Reagan. I found out the truth when I turned it over and saw that it is of a cowboy named Ping Crawford. No idea why he was called Ping or why the painting is titled "Mushroom". I was just glad that I had not bought a painting of Ronald Reagan, who I hold in very low esteem. I later found several record albums on ebay in France and Germany, but not in the U.S., attributed to "Ping Crawford". Possibly a tough in cheek reference to a cowboy Bing Crosby?

Peter Pegnam was an interesting Texas artist with his own studio and gallery who actually made a living as a artist, a rare thing. He died in 2019.

https://www.wmicentral.com/obituaries/latest_obituaries/peter-pegnam/article_dd85ecf4-873d-5960-9895-49cc1f685f07.html