Green Woods & Crystal Waters: The American Landscape Tradition

Davenport Museum of Art

Davenport, IA

319-326-7804

Green Woods & Crystal Waters: The American Landscape Tradition

This may be the era of video camcorders and panoramic-view cameras, but the American landscape painting tradition has remained very much alive and well during the past half century. The Davenport Museum of Art's featured exhibition for the spring, entitled "Green Woods & Crystal Waters: The American Landscape Tradition," includes contemporary landscapes by 89 American artists from the Bay Area to the East Coast. It focuses on the pastoral views and dramatic wilderness that have provided powerful American subjects for the past two centuries. "Green Woods & Crystal Waters" is a major exhibition showcasing the rich variety of American landscape painting and features examples from public and private collections throughout the country. The exhibition opens April 16, 2000 and runs through June 25, 2000. (left: Susan Shatter, b. 1943, Indian Point, 1984, oil on canvas, 45 x 75 inches, Courtesy of the artist. Susan Shatter was the first contemporary watercolorist to begin making large-scale paintings. Her Indian Point is a brilliant example of the practice of plein air painting.)

The diverse works in the exhibition range from the plein air depiction of nature, to the romantic or mystical use of landscape as a vehicle for the spirit, to abstract and expressionistic portrayals. Elegant panoramas by artists such as James Winn reside next to vistas by Paul Wonner, Richard Diebenkorn, Wolf Kahn, and Alice Neel. Dramatic marinescapes by artists such as Brooks Anderson hang near spectacular scenes of the Southwest by artists such as Alexandre Hogue. (left: James Winn, b. 1949, Clearing Off, 1996, acrylic on paper, 18 1/2 x 46 inches, The Philbrook Museum of Art The specific mood of Illinois artist James Winn's Clearing Off - the transient weather, late afternoon light, humid haze and quietude - are reinforced by his immense skill as a painter.)

Also on view is "Regionalist Landscapes from the DMA Collection," an exhibition inspired by "Green Woods & Crystal Waters." The companion exhibition highlights the contribution of mid-western artists in paintings and works on paper. Drawn from the DMA collections, works by native son Grant Wood, John Steuart Curry, and Thomas Hart Benton, are featured along with works by other Midwestern artists.

The project directors for the exhibitions are Michelle Robinson, DMA Curator of Collections & Exhibitions and Ann Marie Hayes, DMA Curator of Education. The guest curator for "Green Woods & Crystal Waters" is John Arthur, a leading authority on contemporary American realism . "Green Woods & Crystal Waters" is organized and circulated by The Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK. The Davenport showing is made possible by a grant from The Scott County Regional Authority and through annual support from The Beaux Arts Committee Fund, Inc.

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