The Collection: Art of the Americas

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Landscapes of the American West

Header: Paul Pletka, Nuestro Señor el Desollado (Our Lord, The One Who is Flayed), 2004 (detail). Acrylic on canvas. Museum purchase with funds provided by Western Art Associates, Eddie Basha, Drew and Laurie Brown, Bennett and Jacquie Dorrance, Bennett Dorrance, Jr., Dr. Anthony and Jenny Hedley, Dennis and Janis Lyon, Russ Jr. and Rosie Lyon, David E. Reese, John and Ellen Stiteler, Terry and Naomi Thomas, Don and Sharon Ulrich, Mike and Cindy Watts, Riva Yares, Charlie and Barbara Young, Dr. Frederick and Patti Lau, Mary Hamilton, Richard Mallery, James and Jean Meenaghan, William and Jill Pilcher, Ray and Amy Thurston, Betty Wusich, Myer Alperin, Mike and Sherry Maxwell, Linda Marcus, Lee R. Lyon, Lance Ross, and Sandra Schocker

Maynard Dixon, Home of the Desert Rat, 1944-1945. Oil on canvas. Bequest of Leon H. Woolsey. Photo: Ken Howie

The Art of the American West collection at PhxArt is distinguished by outstanding holdings of landscape painting, including desert Southwest landscapes. Works by featured artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Mary-Russell Ferrell Colton, Maxfield Parrish, Thomas Moran, and Emil Bisttram demonstrate the ways artists across centuries depict the region’s dramatic light and color, vast geologic forms, flora and fauna, and human-made dwellings.

Lives and Legends in the West

Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Profile of Larry Ossei, 2022. Oil on canvas. Museum purchase with funds provided by the Lenhardt Contemporary Art Initiative

Investigate the layered and dynamic narratives of the American West, a region characterized by distinctive lifestyles and cultural histories rooted in the influence of Latin American and Hispanic cultures, as well as the rich traditions of Indigenous peoples such as the Diné (Navajo), Apache, Hopi, Pueblos, Pima, Havasupai, and Tohono O’odham. In addition to historical work by artists such as Joseph Henry Sharp and Oscar E. Berninghaus, featured works in this installation present contemporary perspectives from Ivan McClellan, Otis Kwame Kye, Grace Kennison, and Virgil Ortiz that challenge common perceptions of the American West by centering Black cowboy culture, Indigenous futurism, cowgirl culture, and more.

18^th– and 19^th – century American Art 

Julius LeBlanc Stewart, Spring Flowers (In the Conservatory), 1890. Oil on canvas, Gift of Citibank. Photo: Mike Lundgren

The Museum’s 18^th– and 19^th century American Art collection is home to nearly 450 works that trace the artistic and cultural development of the United States, anchored by iconic portraits and landscapes. John Singleton Copley’s John A. Graham (c. 1798) and William Merritt Chase’s The White Rose (c. 1886) reflect America’s formative years and the transatlantic traditions that shaped early painting, while later portraits by John Singer Sargent, Julius LeBlanc Stewart, William Merritt Chase, and more reveal the growing sophistication of American art as it balanced European influence with a distinct national identity. Landscape paintings by Alexander Helwig Wyant, George Inness, Elihu Vedder, and other artists signal the traditions of the Hudson River School, Tonalism, and American Impressionism.

Art and an Evolving Nation

Gilbert Stuart, George Washington, 1796 or later, oil on canvas, Gift of Mr. Gilbert A. Harrison

Throughout history, art has been used to examine issues of power, sovereignty, justice, identity, nation-building, protest and dissent, and more. Placed in dialogue, historical and contemporary works from the PhxArt Collection reflect how artists throughout the history of the United States have used their practices to document and engage with moments of social change, highlighting the power of art to spark discussion, deepen understanding, promote resilience, and inspire hope for a greater future. Featured artists in this installation include Ali Dipp, William Henry Powell, Gilbert Stuart, and Federico Solmi.

Viceregal Art of Latin America 

San Agustín de Hippo, después de Holguín (Saint Augustine of Hippo, after Holguín), 18th century, Cuzco School. Oil on canvas. Gift of Gerry S. Culpepper. Photo: Mike Lundgren

Encounter the traditions and innovations in the art of Latin America during the 16^th through the 19^th centuries, when territories in the Americas and Asia were governed by viceroys, or Spanish administrators. Featured works demonstrate the various ways local artists of the viceroyalties of New Spain adapted to the sophisticated tastes of an increasingly globalized clientele, reinterpreting traditional media like lacquerware and ceramics from China and Japan, and how they developed new religious imagery in place-specific contexts.

Amalia Mesa-Bains: In Dialogue

Amalia Mesa-Bains, Queen of the Waters, Mother of the Land of the Dead: Homenaje a Tonantzin/Guadalupe, 1992 (detail). Mixed-media installation including fabric drape, six jeweled clocks, mirror pedestals with grottos, nicho box, found objects, dried flowers, dried pomegranates, and potpourri. Courtesy of the artist and Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco. Installation view of Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory, 2023. Phoenix Art Museum

Throughout her five-decade career, Amalia Mesa-Bains has become a central scholar, artist, and writer in Chicanao feminist art and established altar-making as a cornerstone of Chicana/o artistic practice. Queen of the Waters, Mother of the Land of the Dead: Homenaje a Tonatzin/Guadalupe (1992) is an offering to the divine mother goddesses from three cultures that shaped Mexico—the Indigenous Nahua, or Aztec, represented by the goddess Tonantzin; the Spanish, represented by the Virgen de Guadalupe; and West African culture, represented by the Queen of the Waters, Yemayá.