A little known fact is that about five percent of the art work at the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum has very little known it.  One of these paintings was a piece that was donated to the PPHM in 1966 by the widow of Dewitt M. Lockman.  Lockman was a rather famous portrait painter in at one time in the New York area.
From 1966 to 1987 this paining remained rolled up in the museum vault.  In 1987, Michael Grauer, the Curator of Art and Western Heritage, found the painting.  It is 12 feet tall and seven feet wide.  Upon its discovery, the only things known about it were that it was painted in 1914 by Lockman and that it had been gifted to the museum in 1966.
Earlier this semester, museum intern Brooke Dossett, chose this painting to write her research paper over.  Dossett, after weeks of research, discovered the title of the painting through its exhibition history.  The painting is titled “At the Ball.”
“It helps to bring the painting back to life and also helps to bring Dewitt Lockman back to life,” Dossett said. She is a senior history major.
This painting is different from Lockman’s other works because he was a portrait painter.
Dossett suspects that “At the Ball” was a show off piece that Lockman kept in his studio.  Lockman painted well known people: governors and Navy officers of the time.
“It is gratifying when a student rolls their sleeves up and does the digging,” Grauer said.  “For us to be able to share with the rest of the world that we have this painting by an important American artist is a big deal.”
The painting requires cosmetic conservation and stabilization.  It would be cost upwards of $50,000 to preserve the painting, since it is so large.
For the mean time, “At the Ball” is going to stay in storage.
“The treasure hunt of this piece involves tracking how the piece came to be in our museum in the Panhandle, a path that leads us to discover more about a lesser-known artist and that provides a wonderful story for our museum that will make the owning and display of the work here more meaningful for the public,” Dr. Amy Von Lintel, Assistant Professor of Art History, said.   “We all like biographical, dramatic stories and works of art that have such exciting life stories are definitely worth having in our campus museum.”