Deep Wood Water, 2006, Oil on panel, 32 x 32 in.
Artist of the Poetry of Landscape
One of the finest abstracted landscape painters of American contemporary art, acclaimed artist Forrest Moses’s (1934-2021) legacy is celebrated in this major LewAllen Galleries exhibition featuring a rare range of the artist’s largest and most exemplary works. The first posthumous survey exhibition of paintings since his passing, Forrest Moses: A Legacy assembles nearly forty paintings created over five decades, revealing the subtle evolution of a modern master’s evolving and refined painting sensibility and philosophical maturity across a distinguished career.
Forrest Moses comes out of a rich tradition of American landscape painting that sought to capture both the majesty and intimacy of the nation’s diverse natural environments. He conveys the kind of luminosity found in the astonishing latecareer landscapes of John Singer Sargent—which Singer became almost as well-known for as his commissioned portraits of society’s leading lights—and, like Sargent, Moses convincingly recreates the flow of water or rustling of leaves with confident brushstrokes. Eschewing the label of “impressionism,” Moses could perhaps locate the origins of his work instead in the lively landscapes of pioneering artist John Marin, whose watercolor landscapes pre-dated and presaged the abstraction that would mark an era-defining shift in American art. Indeed, having studied in New York during the 1950s, Moses was not
immune to the Abstract Expressionist movement fomenting around him, and he credits its influence to renewing his interest in contemporary art. Moses’ synthesis of classical subject matter and a contemporary approach could therefore link him artistically with painters such as Joan Mitchell (an artist he much admired), whose works were inspired by and gestured toward the features of landscape though presented on canvas in a wholly abstracted mode.
Moses’ study and incorporation of philosophy elevated his landscapes beyond the elements of form and medium, and his Eastern influences further distinguished them from the particularities of Transcendentalism that inevitably thread throughout the American landscape tradition. For Moses, painting was an act of reverence for the beauty inherent in the natural world. The creative process was deeply spiritual. To “capture the aliveness” of nature was to convey its sense of the sacred, which he so successfully communicated throughout his long career in his stirringly evocative paintings. As his work evolved, it became renowned for its power to enchant and the capacity of its poetic qualities to impart the atmosphere of Nature. In the contemplation of the work viewers found it possible to suspend their day- to-day preoccupations and find a certain sublime engagement with the grace of being in Nature.
The Early Period: 1960s AND 1970s
Evident from his earliest paintings, Forrest Moses’ work is characterized by distinctive and complex rhythms of color and line that recreate the transcendent quality of being in nature. With brush and palette, Moses is not only able to conjure in his visual medium the sensory experience of place – the sound of a mountain breeze, the fragrance of an early morning, a snatch of birdsong on the wind – but also to transport the viewer into these scenes and to delight in their midst. In this early stage of his career, he was particularly intrigued by rivers and the movement of water in Nature, which he captured so evocatively. Even without the identifying aid of their titles, his early works feature recognizable elements of landscape that locate them in a specific time and place of the American countryside.
New mexico in the 1980s and forward
In Moses’ search for truth and meaning, Nature became his teacher through direct observation and purity of feeling. After moving to New Mexico, the spiritual energy of place became the animating feature of Moses’ work and his bond with the land became complete. The visual authenticity and spare simplicity of mountains, mesas, and streams inspired a deep veneration reflected in his increasingly profound landscape paintings. No matter where his travels subsequently took him, a resolute response rooted in honesty and openness to place sustained and enriched Moses’ works and made them unmistakably his own. As inspiration in this phase, he cited the seminal book by Yanagi Soetsu, The Unknown Craftsman: A Japanese Insight into Beauty. Influenced by his study of Japanese aesthetics and spirituality, and especially the principles of wabi-sabi, the brushstrokes became more lyrical and calligraphic, describing the contours of landscape with a conscious incompleteness that only further provoked curiosity and intrigue.
November, Rocks & Leaves, 1997
Mountain - a Detail, 1995
The latter Period: Post 2000s
Observing the contrasts, consistencies, and development in Moses’ work over the years, one can sense the elegant transition to an artist of liberated spirit and refined profound maturity. The extravagant celebration of nature’s sensual fullness gradually settles over time. The more distinct elements shift subtly into the less specific. The visually recognizable dissolves into the emotionally evocative and subtly meditative. The assertive use of black mark and strong outline yields into gentle allusion in merged shape and blended color. Although Moses’ work has long possessed the selfassured quietude of poetry, his crisp narrative verse has given way to the light, spare lines of haiku
October Reflections with Woods, 2001 Oil on canvas
moses' affirmation of beauty: the legacy that endures
LewAllen Galleries has been a proud steward of Moses’ career for many decades, and his significance and impact on the field of abstracted landscape is only just beginning to come into focus. After ushering him into the eighth decade of his illustrious career, and by hosting a major anniversary show shortly before his passing, LewAllen Galleries remains committed to continuing the legacy of this close personal and professional relationship that has defined both artist and gallery for so many years. Unsurprisingly, Moses’ paintings have long inspired dedicated collecting for his unique mastery of the sublimity of nature. He accomplishes this through intuitive openness to the pulses and vibrations of nature’s quiet beauty – the upswelling harmonies of color, the simplicity of line and form – and channeling them with loving honesty into his painting. At the heart of Moses’ remarkable work is a deep affirmation of the beauty of the weathered, the broken, the bare, the ephemeral; the mysterious, wonderful beauty of the sublime. It is here that the genius and power of Moses’ work resides, and it is from here that his work will forever remain enduringly engaging.
Education
1956 BFA, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA
1960-62 Studied at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2019 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2016 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2012 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2011 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2010 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2009 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, New York, NY
2008 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2007 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
Edenhurst Gallery, Palm Desert, CA
2006 Meredith Long Gallery, Houston, TX
LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2005 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2004 Susan Duval Gallery, Aspen, CO
LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2003 Meredith Long Gallery, Houston, TX
LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2002 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2001 Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery, New York, NY
2000 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
1999 Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery, New York, NY
1998 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
1997 Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery, New York, NY
1996 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
1994 I. Wolk Gallery, St. Helena, CA
1993 Munson Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1991 Munson Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1989 Munson Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Gump’s Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1987 Munson Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1986 Munson Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Peregrine Press, Dallas, TX
Sheldon Memorial Museum Gallery, Lincoln, NE
Watson Gallery, Houston, TX
1984 Watson/de Nagy Gallery, Houston, TX
Egrets Gallery, Pasadena, CA
St. John’s College, Santa Fe, NM
1983 Watson/de Nagy Gallery, Houston, TX
Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, NY
Carson-Sapiro Gallery, Denver, CO
Eason Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Wildline Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
1982 Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, NY
1981 Spoleto Festival USA, Charleston, SC
1980 Watson/de Nagy & Company, Houston, TX
The Art Center, Waco, TX
1979 Hills’ Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Illinois State University, Normal, IL
Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM
Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, NY
1978 Museum of Fine Arts, Danville, VA
Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, WA
Watson/de Nagy & Company, Houston, TX
1977 Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, NY
William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1976 Delahunty Gallery, Dallas, TX
1975 Janus Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1974 Smither Gallery, Dallas, TX
Watson/de Nagy & Company, Houston, TX
1973 Janus Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1972 Wichita Falls Museum & Art Center, TX
1971 Janus Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1969 David Gallery, Houston, TX
1968 Stratford College, Danville, VA
1967 David Gallery, Houston, TX
1966 David Gallery, Houston, TX
1965 David Gallery, Houston, TX
1961 Washington & Lee University, Lexington, VA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2018 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2015 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2013 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2007 Los Angeles Art Show (exhibited by LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM) at Barker Hangar, Santa Monica, CA
2006 Painting – Alive and Well! Eight Master Artists, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
Diptychs, LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM,
2001 I. Wolk Gallery, St. Helena, CA
1996 Lizardi-Harp Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1995 Susan Duval Gallery, Aspen, CO
1994 Art Thomas Gallery, Charleston, SC
1992 Traveling Exhibition, Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai, Japan
1991 Damian Art, Sapporo, Japan
Damian Art, Tokyo, Japan
World Collection, Yokohama, Japan
Galerie Miyabe, Okinawa, Japan
Galerie Miyabe, Fukuoka, Japan
Crane Art, Nagoya, Japan
Crane Art, Ikebukuro, Japan
Crane Art, Tokyo, Japan
Art Dumonde, Tokyo, Japan
1987 Paper Works II, McNay Art Museum, Austin, TX,
1985 Contemporary American Monotypes, Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA,
Egypt, Munson Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1984 Contemporary Western Landscape, Museum of Art of the American West, Houston, TX
1983 American Artists as Printmakers, 23rd National Print Exhibit, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY, Print Invitational, Connecticut College, New London, CT
Abilene Fine Arts Museum, Abilene, TX
Sioux City Arts Center, Sioux City, IA
Salina Arts Center, Salina, KS
Wyoming State Museum, Cheyenne, WY
Spiva Art Center, Joplin, MO
1982 Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Lincoln, NE
1981 San Antonio Museum of Art, TX University of Houston, TX
1980 Monotypes, Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, NY
New York Realists ’80, Thorpe Intermedia Gallery, Sparkhill, NY
1979 Art of Paper ’79, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Greensboro, NC
1978 The Landscape: Different Points of View, Wave Hill, New York, NY
1976 Arco Center for Visual Arts, Los Angeles, CA Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM Roswell Museum, Roswell, NM
1975 Contemporary Landscape Painting, Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, OK
1974 Abilene Fine Arts Museum, Abilene, TX
Twelve from New Mexico (traveling exhibition) Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio, TX; Beaumont Art Museum, Beaumont, TX; Tyler Museum, Tyler, TX
Wichita Falls Museum & Art Center, Wichita Falls, TX
1972 Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM
1966 Monterey Peninsula Museum, CA
1964 Beaumont Art Museum, Beaumont, TX Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
1961 Pratt Institute, New York, NY
Selected Collections
Amerada Hess Corporation, New York, NY
American Telephone & Telegraph, New York, NY
Ana Hotel, Tokyo, Japan
Beatrice Foods, Chicago, IL
Chicopee Manufacturing Company, Nautcenswick, NJ Citibank, New York, NY
Deloitte Touche, Washington, DC
CRS Design Associates, Houston, TX
Dallas Arboretum, Dallas, TX
Diamond Shamrock Corporation, Dallas, TX
First National Bank of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ
General Electric, Fairfield, CT
W.R. Grace & Company, Dallas, TX
Grand Hyatt, Washington, DC
Gulf Oil Company, Houston, TX
Hilton Hotel, Chicago, IL
Houstonian Hotel, Houston, TX
Hughes Aircraft, GA
Huntington Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, TX
IBM, Tucson, AZ
Illinois State University, Normal, IL
InterFirst Bank, Dallas, TX
Jundt Art Museum, Spokane, WA
Kaiser-Permanente, Denver, CO
Keisey Seybold Clinic, Houston, TX
Kimberly Clark, Dallas, TX
La Paloma Hotel, Tucson, AZ
Little Neil, Aspen, CO
LTV Corporation, Dallas, TX
Mellon Bank, Pittsburgh, PA
Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX
Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC
Mobil Oil Company, Dallas, TX
Mountain Bell, Denver, CO
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM
Oppenheimer Management, New York, NY
Owens Corning Fiberglass, Toledo, OH
Pfizer, Inc., New York, NY
Phillips Petroleum, Denver, CO
The Phoenician Hotel, Phoenix, AZ
Princeton University
Prudential Insurance Company of America, Newark, NJ
RCA, New York, NY
Rainer Bank, Seattle, WA
Roswell Museum of Art, Roswell, NM
Simpson Timber Company, Seattle, WA
Spanish Bay Resort, Pebble Beach, CA
Sunwest Bank, Albuquerque, NM
Tesoro Petroleum, San Antonio, TX
Texas Instruments, Dallas, TX
Tobin Group, San Antonio, TX
Touche-Ross, San Francisco, CA
United Airlines, Denver, CO
US Tobacco Company, Greenwich, CT
Westin Hotel, Dallas, TX
Whitney Museum of Art, New York, NY
Wilson Industries, Houston, TX
