Abstracting the Land: Southwest Transcendentalism

November 2007 through May 3, 2008

Abstracting the Land: Southwest Transcendentalism

 

Primarily painters working in New Mexico in the 1930s, the Transcendental Painting Group established themselves as a group of artists that strove to define their art beyond formal terms—beyond the traditions of landscape, still life and figurative imagery. The art work selected for this exhibition exemplifies these artists’ explorations of the southwestern landscape and expressions of the sublime. Pueblo pottery is paired with paintings creating an interesting dialogue about the influences of Native American art on the early development of Modernism and the quest for an American art. Artists shown include: Agnes Pelton, Raymond Jonson, Emil Bisttram, Lawren Harris, Cady Wells, and Lee Mullican. 

 

Lobby Gallery

 

Sponsored by the Department of English, the American Studies Program, the Department of History, and the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art with funding provided by the Utah Humanities Council, the Utah Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.