Pulliam Deffenbaugh Gallery presents ' Northwest Masters '

Friday, 14 March 2008 00:39

Portland, OR - A 1953 cover of LIFE magazine proclaimed Guy Anderson, Kenneth Callahan, Morris Graves and Mark Tobey to be the school of NW Mystic painters.  It was a break-through moment for the artists of the Pacific Northwest even though the journalistic piece named only the Seattle four.  
 
The national exposure gave credibility to the work being made by Louis Bunce, Paul Horiuchi and Amanda Snyder.  It also nurtured the younger artists of the 1950’s – Byron Gardner, Clifford Gleason, George Johanson, Milton Wilson and Duane Zaloudek to continue to develop their art.  Jay Steensma, 1942 – 1994, was very influenced by the NW Mystics and was critically considered to be their heir.
 
The works in this exhibition truly illustrate the richness of the Northwest school.  Works in the exhibition were selected from collectors who purchased work during the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s, from the heirs of some of those collectors and in some cases from the estate of an artist.  On exhibition April 1 - 26, 2008. 1st Thursday reception, April 3, 2008, 5:30 – 8pm
 
 “A style of art was born in the NW that was so distinctive as to comprise an artistic thumbprint.  Its ingredients were a subdued palette, landscape fractured by light, and figures and animals that seemed pregnant with cosmic meaning.”
Deloris Tarzan Ament, author of 'Iridescent Light, Emergence of NW Art '.
            
PULLIAM DEFFENBAUGH Gallery - 929 NW Flanders Street - Portland, OR 97209 - T. 503.228.6665