View source for Agnes Lawrence Pelton

{{Short description|German American painter}}
{{Infobox artist
| honorific_prefix =
| name             = Agnes Pelton
| honorific_suffix =
| image            = Agnes Pelton in the studio, estimate 1910s.jpg
| image_size       =
| alt              =
| caption          = Agnes Pelton in the studio, estimate 1910s
| native_name      =
| native_name_lang =
| birth_name       =
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1881|08|22}}
| birth_place      = [[Stuttgart, Germany]]
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1961|03|13|1881|08|22}}
| death_place      = [[Cathedral City, California]]
| resting_place    = [[San Jacinto Mountains]]
| resting_place_coordinates =
| nationality      = American
| education        = [[Arthur Wesley Dow]]
| alma_mater       = [[Pratt Institute]]
| known_for        = Painting
| notable_works    =
| style            = Abstract
| movement         = Transcendental Painting Group
| spouse           =
| awards           =
| elected          =
| patrons          =
| memorials        =
| website          = http://www.agnespeltonsociety.com
| module           =
}}
'''Agnes Lawrence Pelton''' (August 22, 1881 – March 13, 1961) was a [[Modernism|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 [[Puebloans|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]].
==Early life==
Agnes Lawrence Pelton was born in [[Stuttgart]], Germany to American parents, William and Florence Pelton.<ref name=Severson /> She lived in [[Rotterdam]], the [[Netherlands]] from 1882 to 1884 and in [[Basel, Switzerland]] from 1884 to 1888.<ref name=Severson /> 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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Agnes Pelton Poet of Nature|last=Zakian|first=Michael|publisher=Palm Springs Desert Museum|year=1995|isbn=0-295-97450-8|location=California State University, Sacramento Library|pages=17}}</ref><ref name=Zakian /> Florence Pelton studied music at the [[State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart|Stuttgart Conservatory of Music]] and operated the Pelton School of Music, from the family home in Brooklyn, for 30 years.<ref name=":0" /> She also gave lessons in French and German.<ref name=Zakian /><ref name=WAAW>Blankenship, ''Women Artists of the American West''.</ref> Due to her poor health, Agnes was educated at home and her mother and [[List of music students by teacher: T to Z#Arthur Whiting|Arthur Whiting]] taught her piano.<ref name=WAAW />
==Education==
Pelton studied at the [[Pratt Institute]] from 1895 to 1900,<ref name=Severson /> graduating with fellow Modernist artist [[Max Weber (artist)|Max Weber]].<ref name=Zakian /> 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."<ref name=WAAW /> Dow also taught [[Georgia O'Keeffe]].<ref name=Zakian /> 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 School at Rome|British Academy in Rome]], and also studied with [[Hamilton Easter Field]],<ref name=Severson>Severson, 2002.</ref><ref name=WAAW /> who was another of her Pratt instructors.<ref name=WAAW />
==Career==
[[File:Agnes Lawrence Pelton - Room Decoration in Purple and Gray.png|thumb|''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 [[Armory Show|1913 Armory Show]], where two of her paintings, ''Stone Age'' and ''Vine Wood'' were exhibited.<ref name=Severson /><ref name=WAAW /> 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.<ref name=Zakian /><ref name=WAAW />
[[File:Agnes Pelton, Candido, Taos, 1919.jpg|thumb|left|''Candido, Taos,'' 1919]]
Pelton'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]].<ref name=WAAW /> Pelton visited [[Puebloans|Pueblo Native Americans]] in the American southwest.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Zakian|first1=Mchael|title=Agnes Pelton : Poet of Nature|date=1995|publisher=Palm Springs Desert Museum|location=Palm Springs, California|isbn=0295974516|pages=36–37}}</ref>
Pelton had her studios in [[Greenwich Village]]<ref name=Zakian /> 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.<ref name=WAAW />
She painted portraits and [[still lifes]] in Hawaii in 1923 and 1924.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}} 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.<ref name=WAAW />
She settled in [[Cathedral City, California]] in 1932.<ref name=WAAW /> Pelton originally intended to just visit the area, but lived there for nearly 30 years. She wrote:
{{blockquote|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.<ref name=Zakian />}}
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]].<ref name=WAAW /> In 1938, she was a co-founder, first president, and the oldest member of the Transcendental Painting Group.<ref name=Zakian /> Pelton died in Cathedral City in 1961 and was cremated.<ref name=WAAW /> Her ashes were buried in the [[San Jacinto Mountains]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Leigh Eric Schmidt|author2=Sally M. Promey|title=American Religious Liberalism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B6dbHHSaJOUC&pg=PA137|year=2012|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-00216-7|page=137}}</ref>
==Posthumous exhibitions and legacy==
"Agnes Pelton, Poet of Nature", a 1995-1996 retrospective exhibition of her work, brought national attention to her work.<ref name=WAAW /> Curator [[Michael Zakian]] wrote:
{{blockquote|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.<ref name=Zakian>{{cite web | url=http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/9aa/9aa269.htm | author=Michael Zakian |title=Agnes Pelton: Poet of Nature |publisher=Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc. | accessdate=December 13, 2014 }}</ref>}}
In 2009, her work was exhibited with those of three other Modernist artists: [[Georgia O'Keeffe]], [[Florence Miller Pierce]], and [[Agnes Martin]]. A 192-page catalog accompanied the exhibition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://whitney.org/Collection/AgnesPelton|title=Illumination: The Paintings of Georgia O'Keeffe, Agnes Pelton, Agnes Martin, and Florence Miller Pierce|publisher=Whitney Museum of American Art|accessdate=December 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220032312/http://whitney.org/Collection/AgnesPelton|archive-date=December 20, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> From March to September 2019, the [[Phoenix Art Museum]] held an exhibition featuring over 40 of Pelton's works.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.phxart.org/exhibition/agnes-pelton|title=Agnes Pelton: Desert Transcendentalist|publisher=Phoenix Art Museum|accessdate=December 6, 2018}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://whitney.org/exhibitions/agnes-pelton |title=Agnes Pelton|website=Whitney Museum of American Art|accessdate=March 25, 2020}}</ref>
The Agnes Pelton Society was founded in 2013 to promote Pelton's life and legacy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.agnespeltonsociety.com/mission-statement.html|title=Mission statement|publisher=Agnes Pelton Society|accessdate=December 13, 2014 }}</ref>
==Collections==
{{Div col}}
* [[Honolulu Museum of Art]], Hawaii
* The Raymond Jonson Collection, [[University of New Mexico Art Museum]], Albuquerque
* [[New Mexico Museum of Art]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Awakening|url=http://sam.nmartmuseum.org/view/objects/asitem/People$00402481/0?t:state:flow=9216cfff-d330-4604-84c6-a158a6cfc316|publisher=New Mexico Museum of Art|accessdate=July 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006103916/http://sam.nmartmuseum.org/view/objects/asitem/People$00402481/0?t:state:flow=9216cfff-d330-4604-84c6-a158a6cfc316|archive-date=October 6, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Oakland Museum of California]]
* [[Palm Springs Art Museum]], California
* Palladino/Den Historic Home of Agnes Pelton, Cathedral City Cove, California
* [[Parrish Art Museum]], [[Southampton (village), New York|Southampton, New York]]
* [[Phoenix Art Museum]], Arizona: ''Messengers'', 1932;<ref>{{cite web | url=http://egallery.phxart.org/view/objects/asitem/items$0040:34587 |title=Messengers | publisher=Phoenix Art Museum | accessdate=March 1, 2018 }}</ref> Day, 1935<ref>{{cite web | url=http://egallery.phxart.org/view/objects/asitem/items$0040:34586 |title=Day | publisher=Phoenix Art Museum | accessdate=March 1, 2018 }}</ref>
* [[San Diego Museum of Art]], California: ''The Primal Wing'', 1933<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sdmart.org/collections/americas/item/1934.12 | title=The Primal Wing | publisher=The San Diego Museum of Art | accessdate=December 13, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213204058/http://www.sdmart.org/collections/americas/item/1934.12 | archive-date=December 13, 2014 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[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<ref>{{cite web|url=http://whitney.org/Collection/AgnesPelton|title=Agnes Pelton|publisher=Whitney Museum of American Art|accessdate=December 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220032312/http://whitney.org/Collection/AgnesPelton|archive-date=December 20, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Crystal Bridges Museum]], Arkansas: Divinity Lotus, 1929
{{Div col end}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Sources==
* {{cite web |url=http://www.cla.purdue.edu/waaw/Pelton_Pierce/Pelton_PierceBios.html | title=Agnes Pelton and Florence Miller Pierce: The Two Women Artists in the Transcendental Painting Group |website=Women Artists of the American West|publisher=College of Liberal Arts, Purdue University | accessdate=December 12, 2014 |first=Tiska|last=Blankenship }}
* Severson, Don R. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=C9c4AQAAIAAJ Finding Paradise: Island Art in Private Collections]'', University of Hawaii Press, 2002, p.&nbsp;120. [[ISBN (identifier)|ISBN]]&nbsp;[[Special:BookSources/978-0-937426-55-5|<bdi>978-0-937426-55-5</bdi>]].
==Further reading==
* 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, {{ISBN|978-0-937426-89-0}}, p.&nbsp;97
*{{cite book | last1=Pelton | first1=Agnes | last2=Vicario | first2=Gilbert | last3=Doss | first3=Erika | last4=Zakian | first4=Michael | last5=Armstrong | first5=Elizabeth | last6=Aberth | first6=Susan L. | last7=Zebro | first7=Rachel Sadvary | title=Agnes Pelton : desert transcendentalist | publication-place=Munich, Germany | date=2019 | isbn=978-3-7774-3192-5 | oclc=1048948103 }}
* 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 Transcendentalist'', 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|645728571}}
==External links==
{{commons category|Agnes Pelton}}
* {{wikisource author-inline|Agnes Lawrence Pelton}}
* [http://www.californiadesertart.com/ California Desert Art]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130630092010/http://cathedralcityhistoricalsociety.com/agnes-pelton.html Cathedral City Historical Society: Voyaging, Agnes Pelton]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelton, Agnes Lawrence}}
[[Category:20th-century American painters]]
[[Category:American abstract painters]]
[[Category:American landscape painters]]
[[Category:Painters from California]]
[[Category:People from Cathedral City, California]]
[[Category:1961 deaths]]
[[Category:1881 births]]
[[Category:Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States]]
[[Category:Pratt Institute alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American women painters]]