Noel Daggett

Noel Daggett, American (1925–2005)

Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Noel Daggett's brilliantly vibrant canvases reflect his lifelong belief in a "universal motivation to life." His formal training took him from the California School of Fine Arts to the Art Institute of Chicago and the New School in New York City, where he consistently pushed beyond academic convention in pursuit of authentic self-expression.

An inveterate world traveler, Daggett journeyed through Europe, Hawaii, Tahiti, Africa, Asia Minor, and the Far East — experiences that deepened his perception of life's underlying oneness and infused his work with stunning color, light, and humanity. Paris critics praised his "vibrant rhythms and intense colors of rich flavor," while Le Monde heralded him as "a lyrical visionary."

Daggett founded The Daggett Museum for Living Artists in Galisteo, New Mexico, and was commissioned by the U.S. Coast Guard to create twenty-five paintings for its Combat Art Collection — work the National Galleries' Curator of Paintings called "among the finest I have ever seen." A winner of the Emily Lowe Award, his limited edition prints reached collectors internationally.

Daggett's approach was always humanistic and perceptive — loving color, employing it with tenderness, yet always forceful and in control.

+ Expanded Bio

Noel Daggett's belief that there is a "universal motivation to life" is not only reflected by his personal action but through his brilliantly vibrant canvases. Born in Phoenix, Arizona, the family later moved to San Francisco where Daggett began his painting career. Motivation, talent, energy led him to a scholarship at the California School of Fine Arts.

After service in the Merchant Marine, Daggett studied at the prestigious Art Institute of Chicago. He served as Illustrator for


U.S. Army Headquarters, Heidelberg, Germany, returned to the Art Center School in Los Angeles and became a technical advisor on a popular TV show. He soon left the world of commerce to paint, exhibit and lecture in Mexico and returned when he won a scholarship, this time to the esteemed New School in New York City. Eschewing the academic, formal approach to painting which his instructors pressed upon him, Daggett's motivation for self expression became apparent in experimenting with pigments, styles, themes in a search for artistic excellence.

Distant worlds with their beckoning frontiers became the inspiration for his palette and easel Journeying through Europe, Hawaii, Tahiti, Pago Pago-then later explorations of Israel, the Mediterranean, Africa, Asia Minor and the Far East, served to heighten his perception of life's underying oneness. He captured the colors, landscapes and people with a stunning quality in style, substance and technique.

Of his exhibit in Paris, Arts hailed his work as "distinguished by vibrant rhythms, intense colors of rich flavor, and an excellent feeling of luminosity." Masques & Visa ges called his work "very beautiful." Le Monde further heralded Daggett as "A lyrical visionary of bright


The Palm Beach Daily News spoke glowingly of his exhibit there: "All of his heavily textured canvases have a play of light and shadow that effectively suggest the bright light of the tropics... the people are invariably beautiful, with an unselfconscious pride that Daggett captures in canvas after canvas.


Daggett's return to the Southwest United States and his establishment of The Daggeft Museum for Living Artists in Galistec, New Mexico gave him expanded frontiers of freedom.

His former odysseys fertilized a new plasticity of style and technique inspired by the wide vistas, the progenitors of America: the Indians, and the native cowboys.

Winner of the Emily Lowe Award, the excellence of Daggett's work was so highly regarded that the U.S. Coast Guard commissioned him to do twenty five paintings for its Combat Art Collection. Dr. Lester Cook, Curator of Paintings for the National Galleries, Washington, D.C. appraised them with, "These paintings are among the finest I have ever seen.


The prestigious Triton Press, New York, introduced two signed editions by Daggett, on Hot Air Ballooning. And in 1981 they also launched a Daggett poster on the same theme, which was distributed at Art Expo in New York. Daggeft participated by signing and remarking at this show, which is the world's largest art fair.


The Tucson Art Publishers Exchange is currently introducing Daggett's limited edition prints to the international market.


Daggett loves color and employs it with respect and tenderness, but his stance is forceful and he is always in control. His approach to art is humanistic and perceptive and his technical proficiency is apparent 10 a wide circle of devotees.

+ Individual Exhibitions

  • Gallerie Ror Volmar, Paris
  •   David Truslow Gallery, Woodland Hills, Cal.
  •   Old Queens Gallery, New Brunswick, N.J.
  •   Lobster Pot Gallery, Nantucket, Mass
  •   Palm Beach Galleries, Palm Beach, Fla.
  •   The Centaur Gallery, Denver, Col.
  •   Simmons/Alexander Gallery, Taos, New Mexico
  •   The Nantucket Gallery, Inc., Nantucket, Mass.
  •   The May Gallery, Jackson Hole, Wyoming
  •   Troy Cowboy Art Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona
  •   The Jameson Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
  •   The Fine Arts Galleries, Davenport, lowa
  •   Tricorne Gallery, New York

+ Collective Exhibitions

  • Art de France, Cannes
  •   Gallerie La Boutique d'Art, Nice
  •   Allied Artists of America, National Academy, New York
  •   Palm Beach Galleries, Palm Beach, Fla.
  •   Maxwell Galleries, San Francisco
  •   Zantman Galleries, Carmel, Cal.
  •   Burrell Gallery, New York
  •   Simmons/Alexander Galleries, Taos, New Mexico
  •   Walter Wallace Gallery, Palm Beach, Fla.
  •   Moscow Gallery, Mt. Snow, Vermont
  •   Pat Niblack Gallery-Santa Fe Festival of the Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico
  •   Artworks, Inc. Danbury, Conn.
  •   Saratoga Art Gallery, Saratoga Springs, New York
  •   Grigsby Gallery One, Scottsdale, Arizona
  •   National Print Galleries, Phoenix, Arizona
  •   Silver Fox Gallery, La Habra, California