They arrived with vision and anticipation, three Woodstock, New York painters, bringing new eyes and fresh perspectives to the Museum of Northern Arizona’s 2007 Artist-in-ResidenceProgram in Flagstaff. Painted Journeys on the Colorado Plateau, an exhibit of their 36 works (12 from each artist), opens Saturday, December 6, 2008.
From their homes in the Catskill Mountains, Judy Abbott, K.L. McKenna, and Eva van Rijn came to the Southwest seeking artistic challenge and outdoor adventures, en plein air. During their three-week visit they got both, as they traveled throughout the region in search of subjects from Oak Creek Canyon to Canyonlands National Park and many places in between.
Museum Director Robert Breunig said, “In the year since their visit, these artists have created a large body of work dedicated to the deep space, architectural plateaus, and dramatic canyons—as well as the spirit—of the Colorado Plateau. We’re looking forward to choosing one painting per artist from this exhibit to add to the Museum’s permanent collection.”
“As early as the 1850s, Eastern artists began to look to the West in search of unpainted landscapes,” states MNA Curator of Fine Art Alan Petersen. “At that time landscape painting was a vehicle for the revelation and celebration of the Divine in nature. Painters of that period sought to illustrate their vision with rich color and breathtaking atmospheric spaces for a receptive audience, eager for new subjects completely unlike the often painted, ancient forested landscapes of the East.”
Among the Eastern artists looking to the West were the painters associated with the Hudson River School of New York. The Hudson River Valley and the Catskill Mountains of New York have been a source of artistic inspiration and innovation since the early nineteenth century, when the region came to prominence through art that established American values and attitudes toward the natural world. And so, the art of New York painters Abbott, McKenna, and van Rijn represents a contemporary journey in the tradition of the earlier Hudson River Valley artists, but with three contrasting painting styles.
Abbott’s paintings are still and quiet, almost meditative in their inquiry into the meaning of a place. Her intensely realistic work reveals numerous details that convey the uniqueness of each place she chooses to paint.
McKenna’s work is the most abstract of the three painters in this exhibit. Her expressionistic colors and dynamic landscape shapes present her vibrant and energetic vision.
Van Rijn, a relative of the greatest Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn, is a symbolist whose depictions are rich in atmospheric depth and subtle color ranges. They express vastness and focus on strongly lit forms and the nuances of reflected light.
Painted Journeys on the Colorado Plateau is open through May 26, 2009. The Museum of Northern Arizona is located in Flagstaff, nestled at the base of the San Francisco Peaks. It is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.
Museum admission is $7 for adults, $6 for senior (65+), $5 for students, $4 for children (7–17), and always free to Museum members. In addition to the Painted Journeys exhibit,THERIZINOSAUR—Mystery of the Sickle-Claw Dinosaur is also on display. MNA also offers a Museum Shop with museum-quality fine arts from the Colorado Plateau and a Bookstore specializing in Southwestern topics. More information can be found at musnaz.org or 928/774-5213.