Agnes Lawrence Pelton (1881–1961) was a modernist painter who was born in Germany and moved to the United States as a child. She studied art in the United States and Europe. She made portraits of Pueblo Native Americans, desert landscapes and still lifes. Pelton's work evolved through at least three distinct themes: her early "Imaginative Paintings," art of the American Southwest people and landscape, and abstract art that reflected her spiritual beliefs. She was a first cousin of American sculptor Laura Gardin Fraser.
Agnes Lawrence Pelton was born in Stuttgart, Germany to American parents, William and Florence Pelton.[1] She lived in Rotterdam, the Netherlands from 1882 to 1884 and in Basel, Switzerland from 1884 to 1888.[1] In 1888, when Agnes was about 7 years old, she and her mother moved to Elizabeth Tilton's home in Brooklyn, New York, located at 1403 Pacific Street. Agnes' father died of a morphine overdose May 23, 1891, at his brother's home in Louisiana.[2][3] Florence Pelton studied music at the Stuttgart Conservatory of Music and operated the Pelton School of Music, from the family home, in Brooklyn for 30 years.[2] She also gave lessons in French and German.[3][4] Due to her poor health, Agnes was educated at home and her mother and Arthur Whiting taught her piano.[4]
EducationEdit
Pelton studied at the Pratt Institute from 1895 to 1900,[1] graduating with fellow Modernist artist Max Weber.[3] She continued her studies with one of her instructors, Arthur Wesley Dow, in Ipswich, Massachusetts. She studied landscape and was Dow's assistant at his summer school, where he taught Modernism, inspired by Chinese and Japanese art. Biographer Tiska Blankenship said that "Dow emphasized structure, spirit, imagination, creation, and the nonnaturalistic use of color, a technique he taught using Japanese prints to demonstrate space relations and the appropriate use of light and dark masses... Dow's influence was critical to Pelton's development of abstractions based on interior, spiritual values."[4] Dow also taught Georgia O'Keeffe.[3] Pelton took summer classes from William Langson Lathrop in 1907. Pelton studied in Italy in 1910 and 1911, taking life drawing lessons and studying Italian painters at the British Academy in Rome, and also studied with Hamilton Easter Field,[1][4] who was another of her Pratt instructors.[4]
CareerEdit
Room Decoration in Purple and Gray, 1917
Her work was exhibited in Ogunquit, Maine at Field's studio in 1912. Based upon her work at that show, Walt Kuhn invited her to participate in the 1913 Armory Show, where two of her paintings, Stone Age and Vine Wood were exhibited.[1][4] What Pelton called "Imaginative Paintings" were influenced by the work of Arthur B. Davies and depicted the effect of natural light. She made these paintings from 1911 to 1917.[3][4]
Pelton had her studios in Greenwich Village[3] in New York City until 1921 when her mother died. She moved to Long Island and lived in a Hayground windmill that had been converted to a house. She also traveled to Hawaii, Beirut, Syria, Georgia and California.[4]
She painted portraits and still lifes in Hawaii in 1923 and 1924.[citation needed] She created abstract works of art beginning 1926, which were exhibited in New York at the Argent Galleries and the Museum of New Mexico. By 1926, she had exhibited in 20 group exhibitions and 14 solo exhibitions.[4]
She settled in Cathedral City, California in 1932.[4] Pelton originally intended to just visit the area, but lived there for nearly 30 years. She wrote:
The vibration of this light, the spaciousness of these skies enthralled me. I knew there was a spirit in nature as in everything else, but here in the desert it was an especially bright spirit.[3]
Pelton recorded her spiritual and philosophical thoughts, had an "intense interest" in Agni Yoga, which influenced her work. Seven of her paintings, like Fires of Spring and White Fire, represented the fire symbol of Agni Yoga. She had a close friendship with modern transpersonal astrology pioneer Dane Rudhyar and Modernist Southwest painter Raymond Jonson.[4] In 1938, she was a co-founder, first president, and the oldest member of the Transcendental Painting Group.[3] Pelton died in Cathedral City in 1961 and was cremated.[4] Her ashes were buried in the San Jacinto Mountains.[6]
Posthumous exhibitions and legacyEdit
"Agnes Pelton, Poet of Nature", a 1995-1996 retrospective exhibition of her work, brought national attention to her work.[4] Curator Michael Zakian wrote:
Pelton's works were poetic celebrations of nature that explored the vital forces animating the physical world. Interested in themes of creation, growth, and radiance, Pelton translated favorite subjects—a glowing star, an opening flower—into life-affirming images of rare beauty and resonance. In many ways, her paintings resemble the art of her contemporary Georgia O'Keeffe, only more colorful, more spiritual, and more imaginative.[3]
^ abZakian, Michael (1995). Agnes Pelton Poet of Nature. California State University, Sacramento Library: Palm Springs Desert Museum. p. 17. ISBN0-295-97450-8.
^ abcdefghiMichael Zakian. "Agnes Pelton: Poet of Nature". Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
^ abcdefghijklmnBlankenship, Women Artists of the American West.
^Zakian, Mchael (1995). Agnes Pelton : Poet of Nature. Palm Springs, California: Palm Springs Desert Museum. pp. 36–37. ISBN0295974516.
^Leigh Eric Schmidt; Sally M. Promey (2012). American Religious Liberalism. Indiana University Press. p. 137. ISBN978-0-253-00216-7.
^. Whitney Museum of American Art. Archived from the original on December 20, 2014. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
^"Agnes Pelton: Desert Transcendentalist". Phoenix Art Museum. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
^"Agnes Pelton". Whitney Museum of American Art. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
^"Mission statement". Agnes Pelton Society. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
^. New Mexico Museum of Art. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
^"Messengers". Phoenix Art Museum. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
^"Day". Phoenix Art Museum. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
^. The San Diego Museum of Art. Archived from the original on December 13, 2014. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
^. Whitney Museum of American Art. Archived from the original on December 20, 2014. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
SourcesEdit
Blankenship, Tiska. "Agnes Pelton and Florence Miller Pierce: The Two Women Artists in the Transcendental Painting Group". Women Artists of the American West. College of Liberal Arts, Purdue University. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
Severson, Don R. Finding Paradise: Island Art in Private Collections, University of Hawaii Press, 2002, p. 120.
Further readingEdit
Stainer, Margaret, Betty Estersohn, Jan Rindfleisch and Deanna Bartels. "Agnes Pelton” in Staying Visible: The Importance of Archives, 1981.
Gale, Zona, When I was a Little Girl, with illustrations by Agnes Pelton, New York, The Macmillan Company, 1913.
Moss, Karen, Illumination, the Paintings of Georgia O'Keeffe, Agnes Pelton, Agnes Martin and Florence Miller Pierce, Newport Beach, Calif., Orange County Museum of Art, 2009.
Papanikolas, Theresa and DeSoto Brown, Art Deco Hawai'i, Honolulu, Honolulu Museum of Art, 2014, ISBN978-0-937426-89-0, p. 97
Rindfleisch, Jan, Making the Desert Flower: An Alternative Look at Rarely Seen Agnes Pelton Paintings, California Desert Art: Art, History and Landscape of the California Desert, 2019.
Vicario, Gilbert, editor. Authors: Susan L. Aberth, Elizabeth Armstrong, Erika Doss, Gilbert Vicario, Michael Zakian, Rachel Sadvara Zebro. Agnes Pelton: Desert Transendentalist, Hirmer Verlag GmbH, Munich. 2019. ISBN978-3-7774-3192-5
Zakian, Michael, Agnes Pelton, Poet of Nature, (Palm Springs, Calif., Palm Springs Desert Museum). Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. 1995. ISBN978-0295974514. OCLC 645728571
External linksEdit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Agnes Pelton.
California Desert Art
October 21, 2023
agnes, lawrence, pelton, 1881, 1961, modernist, painter, born, germany, moved, united, states, child, studied, united, states, europe, made, portraits, pueblo, native, americans, desert, landscapes, still, lifes, pelton, work, evolved, through, least, three, d. Agnes Lawrence Pelton 1881 1961 was a modernist painter who was born in Germany and moved to the United States as a child She studied art in the United States and Europe She made portraits of Pueblo Native Americans desert landscapes and still lifes Pelton s work evolved through at least three distinct themes her early Imaginative Paintings art of the American Southwest people and landscape and abstract art that reflected her spiritual beliefs She was a first cousin of American sculptor Laura Gardin Fraser Agnes PeltonAgnes Pelton in the studio estimate 1910sBorn 1881 08 22 August 22 1881Stuttgart GermanyDiedMarch 13 1961 1961 03 13 aged 79 Cathedral City CaliforniaResting placeSan Jacinto MountainsNationalityAmericanEducationArthur Wesley DowAlma materPratt InstituteKnown forPaintingStyleAbstractMovementTranscendental Painting GroupWebsitehttp www agnespeltonsociety com Contents 1 Early life 2 Education 3 Career 4 Posthumous exhibitions and legacy 5 Collections 6 References 7 Sources 8 Further reading 9 External linksEarly life EditAgnes Lawrence Pelton was born in Stuttgart Germany to American parents William and Florence Pelton 1 She lived in Rotterdam the Netherlands from 1882 to 1884 and in Basel Switzerland from 1884 to 1888 1 In 1888 when Agnes was about 7 years old she and her mother moved to Elizabeth Tilton s home in Brooklyn New York located at 1403 Pacific Street Agnes father died of a morphine overdose May 23 1891 at his brother s home in Louisiana 2 3 Florence Pelton studied music at the Stuttgart Conservatory of Music and operated the Pelton School of Music from the family home in Brooklyn for 30 years 2 She also gave lessons in French and German 3 4 Due to her poor health Agnes was educated at home and her mother and Arthur Whiting taught her piano 4 Education EditPelton studied at the Pratt Institute from 1895 to 1900 1 graduating with fellow Modernist artist Max Weber 3 She continued her studies with one of her instructors Arthur Wesley Dow in Ipswich Massachusetts She studied landscape and was Dow s assistant at his summer school where he taught Modernism inspired by Chinese and Japanese art Biographer Tiska Blankenship said that Dow emphasized structure spirit imagination creation and the nonnaturalistic use of color a technique he taught using Japanese prints to demonstrate space relations and the appropriate use of light and dark masses Dow s influence was critical to Pelton s development of abstractions based on interior spiritual values 4 Dow also taught Georgia O Keeffe 3 Pelton took summer classes from William Langson Lathrop in 1907 Pelton studied in Italy in 1910 and 1911 taking life drawing lessons and studying Italian painters at the British Academy in Rome and also studied with Hamilton Easter Field 1 4 who was another of her Pratt instructors 4 Career Edit nbsp Room Decoration in Purple and Gray 1917Her work was exhibited in Ogunquit Maine at Field s studio in 1912 Based upon her work at that show Walt Kuhn invited her to participate in the 1913 Armory Show where two of her paintings Stone Age and Vine Wood were exhibited 1 4 What Pelton called Imaginative Paintings were influenced by the work of Arthur B Davies and depicted the effect of natural light She made these paintings from 1911 to 1917 3 4 nbsp Candido Taos 1919Pelton s work changed significantly following a visit to Mabel Dodge Luhan in Taos New Mexico in 1919 She painted in oil and used pastels to create realistic portraits and desert landscapes and her works were exhibited in Santa Fe at the School of American Research 4 Pelton visited Pueblo Native Americans in the American southwest 5 Pelton had her studios in Greenwich Village 3 in New York City until 1921 when her mother died She moved to Long Island and lived in a Hayground windmill that had been converted to a house She also traveled to Hawaii Beirut Syria Georgia and California 4 She painted portraits and still lifes in Hawaii in 1923 and 1924 citation needed She created abstract works of art beginning 1926 which were exhibited in New York at the Argent Galleries and the Museum of New Mexico By 1926 she had exhibited in 20 group exhibitions and 14 solo exhibitions 4 She settled in Cathedral City California in 1932 4 Pelton originally intended to just visit the area but lived there for nearly 30 years She wrote The vibration of this light the spaciousness of these skies enthralled me I knew there was a spirit in nature as in everything else but here in the desert it was an especially bright spirit 3 Pelton recorded her spiritual and philosophical thoughts had an intense interest in Agni Yoga which influenced her work Seven of her paintings like Fires of Spring and White Fire represented the fire symbol of Agni Yoga She had a close friendship with modern transpersonal astrology pioneer Dane Rudhyar and Modernist Southwest painter Raymond Jonson 4 In 1938 she was a co founder first president and the oldest member of the Transcendental Painting Group 3 Pelton died in Cathedral City in 1961 and was cremated 4 Her ashes were buried in the San Jacinto Mountains 6 Posthumous exhibitions and legacy Edit Agnes Pelton Poet of Nature a 1995 1996 retrospective exhibition of her work brought national attention to her work 4 Curator Michael Zakian wrote Pelton s works were poetic celebrations of nature that explored the vital forces animating the physical world Interested in themes of creation growth and radiance Pelton translated favorite subjects a glowing star an opening flower into life affirming images of rare beauty and resonance In many ways her paintings resemble the art of her contemporary Georgia O Keeffe only more colorful more spiritual and more imaginative 3 In 2009 her work was exhibited with three other Modernist artists Georgia O Keeffe Florence Miller Pierce and Agnes Martin A 192 page catalog accompanied the exhibition 7 From March to September 2019 the Phoenix Art Museum held an exhibition featuring over 40 of Pelton s works 8 From March 13 to June 28 2020 Whitney Museum of American Art held an exhibit organized by the Phoenix Art Museum Agnes Pelton The Desert Transcendentalist 9 The Agnes Pelton Society was founded in 2013 to promote Pelton s life and legacy 10 Collections EditHonolulu Museum of Art Hawaii The Raymond Jonson Collection University of New Mexico Art Museum Albuquerque New Mexico Museum of Art 11 Oakland Museum of California Palm Springs Art Museum California Palladino Den Historic Home of Agnes Pelton Cathedral City Cove California Parrish Art Museum Southampton New York Phoenix Art Museum Arizona Messengers 1932 12 Day 1935 13 San Diego Museum of Art California The Primal Wing 1933 14 Santa Barbara Museum of Art California Sussman Staying Visible Collection Foothill DeAnza Community College District Cupertino California Whitney Museum of American Art New York Untitled abstract 1931 15 Crystal Bridges Museum Arkansas Divinity Lotus 1929References Edit a b c d e Severson 2002 a b Zakian Michael 1995 Agnes Pelton Poet of Nature California State University Sacramento Library Palm Springs Desert Museum p 17 ISBN 0 295 97450 8 a b c d e f g h i Michael Zakian Agnes Pelton Poet of Nature Traditional Fine Arts Organization Inc Retrieved December 13 2014 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Blankenship Women Artists of the American West Zakian Mchael 1995 Agnes Pelton Poet of Nature Palm Springs California Palm Springs Desert Museum pp 36 37 ISBN 0295974516 Leigh Eric Schmidt Sally M Promey 2012 American Religious Liberalism Indiana University Press p 137 ISBN 978 0 253 00216 7 Illumination The Paintings of Georgia O Keeffe Agnes Pelton Agnes Martin and Florence Miller Pierce Whitney Museum of American Art Archived from the original on December 20 2014 Retrieved December 13 2014 Agnes Pelton Desert Transcendentalist Phoenix Art Museum Retrieved December 6 2018 Agnes Pelton Whitney Museum of American Art Retrieved March 25 2020 Mission statement Agnes Pelton Society Retrieved December 13 2014 Awakening New Mexico Museum of Art Archived from the original on October 6 2014 Retrieved July 10 2013 Messengers Phoenix Art Museum Retrieved March 1 2018 Day Phoenix Art Museum Retrieved March 1 2018 The Primal Wing The San Diego Museum of Art Archived from the original on December 13 2014 Retrieved December 13 2014 Agnes Pelton Whitney Museum of American Art Archived from the original on December 20 2014 Retrieved December 13 2014 Sources EditBlankenship Tiska Agnes Pelton and Florence Miller Pierce The Two Women Artists in the Transcendental Painting Group Women Artists of the American West College of Liberal Arts Purdue University Retrieved December 12 2014 Severson Don R Finding Paradise Island Art in Private Collections University of Hawaii Press 2002 p 120 Further reading EditStainer Margaret Betty Estersohn Jan Rindfleisch and Deanna Bartels Agnes Pelton in Staying Visible The Importance of Archives 1981 Gale Zona When I was a Little Girl with illustrations by Agnes Pelton New York The Macmillan Company 1913 Moss Karen Illumination the Paintings of Georgia O Keeffe Agnes Pelton Agnes Martin and Florence Miller Pierce Newport Beach Calif Orange County Museum of Art 2009 Papanikolas Theresa and DeSoto Brown Art Deco Hawai i Honolulu Honolulu Museum of Art 2014 ISBN 978 0 937426 89 0 p 97 Pelton Agnes Vicario Gilbert Doss Erika Zakian Michael Armstrong Elizabeth Aberth Susan L Zebro Rachel Sadvary 2019 Agnes Pelton desert transcendentalist Munich Germany ISBN 978 3 7774 3192 5 OCLC 1048948103 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Rindfleisch Jan Making the Desert Flower An Alternative Look at Rarely Seen Agnes Pelton Paintings California Desert Art Art History and Landscape of the California Desert 2019 Vicario Gilbert editor Authors Susan L Aberth Elizabeth Armstrong Erika Doss Gilbert Vicario Michael Zakian Rachel Sadvara Zebro Agnes Pelton Desert Transendentalist Hirmer Verlag GmbH Munich 2019 ISBN 978 3 7774 3192 5 Zakian Michael Agnes Pelton Poet of Nature Palm Springs Calif Palm Springs Desert Museum Seattle WA University of Washington Press 1995 ISBN 978 0295974514 OCLC 645728571External links Edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Agnes Pelton California Desert Art Cathedral City Historical Society Voyaging Agnes Pelton Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Agnes Lawrence Pelton amp oldid 1172703411, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
