ArtExhibitionsAgnes Pelton: Desert Transcendentalist 
Special Exhibition

Agnes Pelton: Desert Transcendentalist 

Saturday, March 9 - Sunday, September 8, 2019 Located in the Steele Gallery

Agnes Pelton: Desert Transcendentalist is the first exhibition on the little-known American painter in more than 24 years. Born to American parents in Stuttgart, Germany, Agnes Pelton (1881-1961) and her family briefly lived in Basel, Switzerland before returning to the United States in 1888.

ABOUT THIS EXHIBIT

Intentionally moving away from the “mainstream” arts community, Pelton eventually settled in Cathedral City, California. She painted conventional desert landscapes to make a living, but it was her abstract studies of earth and light, biomorphic compositions of delicate veils, shimmering stars, and atmospheric horizon lines, that distinguished her work. A believer in numerology, astrology, and faith healing, Pelton’s abstract compositions propelled her into an esoteric world epitomized by the Transcendental Painting Group (1938-1942), a short-lived group that promoted abstract, non-objective art.

IMAGE CREDIT

Agnes Pelton, Day, 1935. Oil on canvas. Collection of Phoenix Art Museum, Gift of The Melody S. Robidoux Foundation.

Fire inSpace

Although Pelton received some attention during her lifetime, she has been relatively unknown within the field of American Art. Approximately 40–45 works will comprise this exhibition shedding light on Pelton’s artistic contribution to American modernism, while examining her practice against a broader, international framework of spiritual and esoteric abstraction.

Image Credit

Agnes Pelton, Fires in Space, 1938. Oil on canvas. Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY.

Fountains

Agnes Pelton: Desert Transcendentalist is organized by Phoenix Art Museum. It is made possible through the generosity of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and SRP.

Image Credit

Agnes Pelton, The Fountains, 1926. Oil on canvas. Collection of Georgia and Michael de Havenon.

Accompanied by a fully illustrated publication edited by the organizing curator of the exhibition, Gilbert Vicario with contributions by Elizabeth Armstrong, Director, Palm Springs Museum of Art; Dr. Michael Zakian, Director, Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University; Dr. Susan Aberth, Associate Professor of Art History; Coordinator, Theology, Bard College; and Dr. Erika Doss, Professor, Department of American Studies, University of Notre Dame.

PURCHASE THE CATALOGUE

Image Credit

Agnes Pelton, Messengers, 1932. Oil on canvas. Collection of Phoenix Art Museum, Gift of The Melody S. Robidoux Foundation.

TOUR SCHEDULE

Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona | March 9 – September 8, 2019
New Mexico Museum of Art, New Mexico | October 5, 2019 – January 5, 2020
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York | Dates to be announced
Palm Springs Art Museum, California| Dates to be announced

EXHIBITIONS

On view for a limited time, exhibitions present art from across the centuries and the globe, from iconic fashion to Old Master paintings, contemporary photography to historical objects of Asia.

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ARTISTS IN THE COLLECTION

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