Rock Candy Mountain, Utah, 1931
9 x 13 inches
watercolor
Influenced by her association with Georgia O’Keefe, Ina Annett (Annette) embraced modernism in her portrayals of the American Southwest. She is listed in many publications, including Women Artists of the American West. In this depiction of the southern Utah geological feature made famous by Wallace Stegner’s autobiographical novel Big Rock Candy Mountain, Annett employs semi-abstraction and deft brushwork to create a flowing, almost sinuous portrayal.
Wulf Barsch (1943 - )
untitled, 1986
lithograph
22 x 20 inches
Gustave Baumann (1881 - 1971)
Hopi Katzinas, 1925
Color woodblock print, 38/120, First Printing
12.25 x 13.25 inches
Signed in pencil and titled with artist's hand-in-heart ink stamp
"From his first years in New Mexico, Baumann was interested in traditional Pueblo and Hopi dolls and figurines, whose craftsmanship and childish delight combined with deep cultural significance in ways the artist found enchanting. He collected them avidly and became knowledgeable about their forms, decorations, and meanings. Among those he collected were the popular Kachina dolls, the representations of deified ancestral spirits (also called Kachinas) the Hopis believe periodically visit and effect our world. In Hopi rituals conceived to summon these spirits encourage their intercession - particularly for beneficial weather and bountiful hunts and harvest - dancers impersonate the Kachinas with vivid symbolic costumes and by performing specific dance steps. Traditionally during these ceremonies Kachina dolls are presented to the children. Carved from cottonwood roots to the children. Carved from cottonwood roots or branches, the dolls are gaily painted and decorated with buckskin, horsehair, and feathers.
The first woodcut representing Baumann's budding doll collection was Strangers from Hopi Land created around 1920. Judging from the number of times he submitted it for exhibition, he was proud of this print. A more ambitious piece, Hopi Katzina suggests how extensive the artist's collection of dolls had become by about 1925, and how the artist delighted in their every detail. The composition is simple and uncluttered, so as not to detract from the dolls' splendid ornamentation. The technical complexity of this print is outstanding, with its myriad colors and intricate designs. This woodcut precisely reproduces the artist's oil painting, now at the Museum of New Mexico, which is titled on the canvas "Pasatiempo." Like the artists of Santa Fe who organized and celebrated the annual Pasatiempo fiesta, Baumann's Kachinas assemble for their own festival, circling around to watch the performance of a troupe of acrobats. The gather dolls seem to come alive, interacting with each other, taking on human characteristics, and appearing to express their delight in the performance. A childlike tendency to humanize these playthings is common in Baumann's prints of dolls and toys and reflects something of the artist's character. "
Source: Guatave Baumann Nearer to Art
Conrad Buff (1886-1975)
Zion, 1931
lithograph
12.50 x 17.25 inches
Born and raised in the conservatism of nineteenth-century Switzerland, Conrad Buff spent a restless youth seeking an outlet for his artistic spirit. His talent would flourish in the majestic landscape and creative individualism of the American West. In the opening decade of the new century, his arrival in California coincided with the flowering of a dynamic movement in American art. Sketching and painting en plein air, Buff was inspired by the grandeur of the High Sierras and the drama of the wind-sculpted desert. In a long and prodigious career he bridged the coloration and brushwork of impressionism with the abstraction and structure of modern art. (Source: The Art and Life of Conrad Buff, by Libby Buff, George Stem, Will South) In the 1920s, a Los Angeles art critic wrote, “Conrad Buff comprehends the enormity of the West. More than that, he adds thereto a discernment of the stylized and conventionalized forms in which the West abound. Not one artist in a hundred grasps the significance of the West’s dynamic forms.”
G. Russell Case (1966 - )
untitled (red rock landscape with cattle)
Watercolor
22 x 29.50 inches
George S. Dibble, (1904-1992)
WP Oiler
Watercolor
30 x 22 inches
Signed lower right
George S. Dibble (1904 - 1992)
Home Port
Watercolor
22 x 30 inches
signed lower right
George Dibble was born in Oahu, Hawaii in 1904. Dibble was a painter, teacher, and art critic for The Salt Lake Tribune who, throughout his career, greatly influenced numerous artists and students. He died in 1992.
He took his first art class through the mail from a Cleveland cartoonist and caricaturist. In 1926, he received his teaching certificate from the University of Utah and taught elementary school for two years. Dibble then returned to the University for additional classes in 1928. Later he studied in New York City at the Art Student's League.
In the late 1930s, the Utah State Art Center exhibited works by Dibble and Bill Parkinson in what was probably the first non-objective art show in Salt Lake City. Dibble was a member of the first Modern Artists of Utah and participated in an exhibition and helped write a formal statement to the public, both intended to increase the understanding and acceptance of modern art in Utah. George Dibble's Marine #2 was done in 1938 and exhibits the main features of a cubist painting.
Source: Utah Artists Project (University of Utah)
Maynard Dixon (1875 - 1946)
untitled (cowboy roping), 1940
crayon on paper
10 x 13 inches
Maynard Dixon (1875 - 1946)
untitled (cowboy on horseback with mountains in distance)
Pen and ink
4 7/8 x 7 inches
Maynard Dixon (1875 - 1946)
untitled (Indian on horseback against angular mesas)
pencil on paper
3 x 3 inches
James T. Harwood (1860 -1940)
Old BY Mill Liberty Park, 1885
3 x 4 inches
Etching
Signed and dated lower left
James T. Harwood (1860 - 1940)
Our Home, 1933
etching
4 x 7 inches
Brian Kershisnik (1962 - )
The Pilgrim, c 1990s
Woodblock Print
28 x 21.50 inches
Thomas Moran (1837 - 1926)
The Great Salt Lake, Utah Territory, 1876
chromolithograph
9.375 x 14 inches
signature and watercolor original date - T Moran / 1874
Publisher - copyright, 1875, by L. Prang & Co. & Prang's American Chromo
This extraordinary print clearly features an idealized view of the Great Salt Lake and the Wasatch Range. Moran’s work reflects the fondness for romantic views that support the idea of the sublime. In our troubled times, it transports us to a feeling of grandeur and peace.
In 1841 Thomas Moran served as official artist for the United States Government Expedition to Yellowstone Valley along with geologist Prof. F.V. Hayden. Upon his return, Louis Prang commissioned Moran to create 14 watercolors of his travel which were printed alongside text by Hayden. "These prints have never been surpassed as examples of the best American chromolithgraphy . . . (they are) considered unexcelled among illustration of the Far West." (The Chromolithographs of Louis Prang, Katharine M. McClinton, 1973, p.159)
Fritz Scholder (1937 - 2005)
Snake Dancer, 1979
color lithograph, 81/150
30 x 22 inches
One of the most celebrated Native American artists, Scholder created powerful images that defied stereotypes and had significant aesthetic appeal. Scholder says "...it is my intention not only to set up graphically a new visual experience for the viewer, but also to make a statement in regard to the society and land in which we, the descendants of the American Indian, live. I am well aware that my paintings are not literal, for to me some ideas require unique statements. I try to capture not only the physical, but the inner and even spiritual."
Birger Sandzen (1871 - 1954)
Utah Poplars, 1930
lithograph
20 x 16 inches
Description
A pencil-signed and titled lithographic composition of tall poplar trees.
Birger Sandzen (1871 - 1954)
Timberline Snow, 1925
lithograph
9 7/8 x 13.75 inches
DESCRIPTION
A pencil-signed and titled vista of Pike's Peak, with cedars in the foreground. Executed on cream laid paper, in a wooden frame.
Birger Sandzen (1871 - 1954)
Arroyo with Trees, 1925
lithograph
12 x 18 inches
A pencil-signed and titled image of trees before a Southwestern gully.
Birger Sandzen (1871 - 1954)
The Red Canyon, 1927
lithograph
17 x 22.25 inches
DESCRIPTION
Pencil-signed and titled The Red Canyon is a view of the Colorado River, near Moab, Utah.
SIGNATURE
Pencil signed - title lower left and signed lower right. Printed signature and dated lower right.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Charles Pelham Greenough, The Graphic Work of Birger Sandzen, Birger Sandzen Memorial Foundation, 2001, L - 117
Hiroshi Yoshida (1876 - 1950)
Grand Canyon, The United States Series, First Edition - Earliest State, 1925
10 1/4 x 15 5/8 inches
Japanese woodblock print
Publisher: artist
Color earliest "red"
Signature:
Jizurk seal in upper left margin
brush signed & sealed by the artist
pencil titled & signed in the bottom margin
A romantic realist, Yoshida’s style resembles that of an English 19th Century watercolorist applied to Japanese themes. Yoshida is noted for subtle colors and naturalistic atmosphere. This stunning print captures the stark contrasts of light and shadow, red rock and white snow of the Grand Canyon in winter solitude.
