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Back home: After two traveling exhibitions, UNM Art Museum reunites the works of 'Pelton & Jonson'
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Fresh from two traveling exhibitions, the contemplative paintings of Agnes Pelton and Raymond Jonson have returned to the University of New Mexico Art Museum.
UNM curators have paired the two artists鈥� work in the show 鈥淧elton & Jonson: The Transcendent 1930s.鈥� The ongoing exhibit illustrates the aesthetic achievements and personal connections between the pair.
Long nationally ignored or unknown, a new generation of art historians and curators has rediscovered the pair, said UNM Art Museum director Arif Khan.
Not so long ago, the work of Pelton and Jonson was dismissed as 鈥渞egional.鈥�
No more.
The exhibit builds on the growing recognition surrounding these artists in notable shows such as New York鈥檚 Whitney Museum of American Art鈥檚 鈥淎gnes Pelton: Desert Transcendentalist,鈥� the first major exhibition of her work, and 鈥淎nother World: The Transcendental Painting Group, 1938-45鈥� at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
鈥淏ecause of that, these artists have been receiving attention in the larger art world,鈥� said Khan said. 鈥淎ll four of (Pelton鈥檚) paintings will be together, and we鈥檙e not even sure the last time that happened.鈥�
Inspired by the abstract beauty and mystery of the American Southwest, Pelton was born in Germany and moved to the U.S. as a child. Her figurative and landscape work changed dramatically following a visit to Mabel Dodge Luhan in Taos in 1919. Touching on Surrealism, her work blended theosophy, Buddhism, astrology and the occult with levitating motifs, subtle colors, effusions of light and transparent space.
Pelton鈥檚 exquisitely finished, otherworldly abstractions teem with mysterious shapes and distant horizons, glowing vessels, flowers, several kinds of stars and other celestial events. They are the stuff of dreams, visions and mirages; they often came to the artist while she slept or meditated.
Jonson鈥檚 life changed when he visited New Mexico in 1922 while teaching in Chicago. The sights from this short visit to Santa Fe convinced Jonson to move here in 1924. In Santa Fe, he founded the Atalaya Art School.
In 1934, Jonson began teaching art at the University of New Mexico.
鈥淗e did have a history in art circles and his being at UNM helped attract students,鈥� Khan said.
By 1950, the Jonson Gallery was established at UNM.
鈥淗e organized some of the earliest art exhibitions on campus and had a painting studio,鈥� Khan added. 鈥淗e did salon-style critiques of students.鈥�
Jonson donated his archives and more than 600 paintings by himself, his students, Pelton and other members of the Transcendentalist Group to UNM. He moved from an academically-trained figurative style and an early career in stage design to increasingly abstract and non-objective subjects. His exacting experiments in color, texture and media set him apart as an important contributor to modernism. Often inspired by music, his work expressed a galaxy of emotions.
鈥淭echnically, as a painter, he was amazing,鈥� Khan said. 鈥淭hey still look fresh and new.
鈥淭he work is back home, and we wanted to put our spin on these artists.鈥�
