Mulvane Art Museum

Washburn University

Topeka, KS

785-231-1124

http://www.washburn.edu/reference/mulvane/

Encaustic paintings by Philip Hershberger and Gail Gregg

January 8 - February 27, 2000

Mulvane Art Museum features the work of two artists who use encaustic, an ancient painting technique in which pigment is dissolved in hot wax.

Philip Hershberger, a Topeka artist, creates images of interiors, sometimes with exterior views through a window, which may be read literally or metaphorically. The objects within each scene seem to be part of story, but the absence of figures imparts an eerie quality, as if things have been interrupted. The indeterminacy of Hershberger's paintings invites the viewer's contemplation, and the artist in fact encourages us to interpret the paintings through the filter of our own experience. (left: Philip Hershberger, Two Trees)

Gail Gregg's luminous paintings are her responses to the landscape of Kansas and the West, much of which was once divided into plots by the Homestead Act. Gregg's current paintings were inspired by her observation of the Kansas landscape from an airplane. Titling her paintings after small towns, Gregg uses the geometrical division of the Great Plains as a point of departure for paintings she hopes will capture what she calls the "nuance" of the landscape. (right: Gail Gregg, Beulah)

The Mulvane Art Museum opened in 1924 and is the oldest accredited art museum west of the Mississippi River. The museum's permanent collection is national and international in scope and is also well represented with Kansas and regional artists. The Mulvane also features the ArtLab: Look, Create, Understand education facility, a hands-on activity center for all ages that is open during regular museum hours.

The Mulvane Art Museum is located on the Washburn University campus at 17th and Jewell Streets, Topeka, KS, adjacent to White Concert Hall.

For hours and admission fees please see the Museum's web site.

rev. 9/26/06 (museum information)

Visit the Table of Contents for Resource Library for thousands of articles and essays on American art, calendars, and much more.