Power of Art: New Works by Woody Gwyn
The paintings of Woody Gwyn are well known and their importance in the pantheon of American contemporary art widely acknowledged. They have a singular kind of beauty lauded for their luminous serenity and tranquil contemplativeness. They have for many years brought joy to those fortunate enough to view his paintings of New Mexico high desert landscapes, stunning seascapes cloaked in clouds, or apple orchards in full bloom.
Indeed, looking at a Gwyn vista, one might readily agree that it isn’t hyperbole when the great art historian, critic and director of Britain’s National Gallery, Sir Kenneth Clark, wrote that “With the exception of love, there is nothing else by which people of all kinds are more united than by their pleasure in a good view.” And perhaps it might have been paintings of the ilk of Gwyn’s that researchers at the University College of London were looking at in their study when they concluded that adults over 50 who engaged with such art every few months had a 31 percent lower chance of dying over the following 12 years on average.
Such is the very real power of great beauty in art. Increasingly, researchers in fields with lofty names like “cognitive neuroscience and neuroaesthetics” are corroborating, with elaborate studies and scientific data, that which collectors and connoisseurs have known intuitively for millennia – at least since the time of the first acknowledged art collector in 269 B.C.E., Greek King Attalos I of Pergamon (now Bergama in Turkey) - and that is beauty and art are truly important to the wellbeing and health – mental and physical – of human beings.
So it is no surprise to this writer - or likely to the many others who have been extolling the virtues of Woody Gwyn’s masterful representational paintings for lo these many decades - that their extraordinary beauty is breathtaking. But it is gratifying to add to our canon the ratification of scientific study that his work may also be breath-extending. Gwyn’s landscapes read as meticulously detailed and cleareyed elucidations of unexpected visual synergies between what might traditionally be thought of as the majestic and the ordinary in landscape. Examples abound. A gorgeous
vista that extends as far as the eye can see shares its overall visual splendor with a dirt embankment of an arroyo in its foreground that, like magic, gives the vista its grandness. Ordinary mist becomes a co-equal aesthetic element with an ascending chamisa-studded hillside in an improbable landscape detail that becomes a mesmerizing painting for its simplicity and elegance. A layer of azure blue sea occupies a bit more than an eighth of a large vertical painting. An enormous cloud descends atop this sliver of sea and occupies the balance of the work except for another small layer of cerulean blue sky that angles across the cloud at the painting’s crest. Though this combination of elements might seem unremarkable at first glance, as one looks more closely, there is gradually revealed an extraordinary gradient of layers of lavender suffused within the cloud that renders this work a masterpiece of subtlety and subdued minimal color.
In each of these works, and all of Gwyn’s remarkable paintings, there is profound joy at the hand of an artist who blends the quotidian and nature’s utter magnificence into an ineluctable visual magic. But also it now seems that the response viewers experience in seeing his paintings may be thought of as being more than just “joy.” This kind of impact is being seen by medical science as having palpable positive effects on the human brain in ways that also translate into physiological benefits.
In an article by the Mayo Clinic, the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine says that just seeing beautiful art and experiencing the feeling of joyfulness can increase serotonin levels that help treat anxiety, depression and other mood disorders, and can increase blood flow to the part of the brain associated with creative ways of thinking, pleasure, and “imagining a more hopeful future,” all of which they say can assist in treating pain and emotional disorders. Doctors in Quebec prescribe free visits to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts as part of a museum prescriptions medical wellness program. A similar program is going on in Brussels.
Researchers have reported that the more beautiful that people find the art the greater the health benefit.
common response of gallery visitors viewing a Gwyn oceanscape variegated in mist and fog, or a landscape of a juniper sitting before a New Mexico foothill, for example, is “awesome.” It turns out that awe is actually a very positive human emotion that has tangible health effects according to scientific studies. During the feeling of awe, the mind is stilled, neurotransmitters open and the vagus nerve is stimulated producing calm and releasing a pleasant rush of dopamine. Called “cognitive accommodation,” awe produces a sense of wonder that can be an effective antidote to burnout, post-traumatic stress, heartbreak, and loneliness. A University of California, Berkeley, report claims that awe is “embedded in our DNA” and has palpable positive effects on human wellness.
Gwyn himself has talked about how beauty engenders an “expansive feeling.” Though beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, for Gwyn there are clearly elements that help create it in his paintings. Always there is remarkable clarity and forthright integrity in presenting well-defined detail inevitably present in his work. His paintings achieve an exceptional amount of emotional heft from such elements as uncanny compositional creativity and perspectival quirk, as well as unyielding fidelity to the purity of the place that is his subject. There is a sense of solitude that pervades his work associated with the absence of any human presence. An essential part of his magic is his ability to use crystalline light and lucid color in ways that seem impossible on a painted surface.
All these attributes coalesce in service of what Gwyn terms his allegiance to “painting things the way they are.” It is a profound and enduring commitment to his idea that the unalloyed truth of things is itself a thing of sublime beauty. He says too that the goal of “all art, whether it is abstract or realistic, is to bring us to the same state of mind: to transcendence and the essence of things.”
One of the key aspects of Gwyn’s approach is his passionate engagement with the minutest of details, portraying each compositional element with affectionate reverence and imbuing the work with a magnetism that pulls the viewer toward a new appreciation of the enchantment offered by those elements. Each tiny stone on the side of a hill, every whitecap on a wave, every blossom on an apple tree, all are painstakingly painted, one by one by Gwyn, attaining the status of iconography of a world whose unmitigated truth is itself shown in a Gwyn painting to be a thing of profound beauty.
In this way Gwyn’s artwork becomes tonic for a freeing of the mind that comes from closer looking, seeing, and meditative contemplation. From his extraordinary illumination, he creates an entirely unexpected reordering of the accepted sense of aesthetic parity, between the ordinary and the exalted. He shows that both can be beautiful when lit with such reverential light compelling a new way of looking at those things. Maybe there are physiological benefits that can come from the awe of being astonished by the beauty discovered if one pays close enough attention to the ordinary in nature - or even in people.
Without doubt the capacity of Gwyn’s paintings to impart a feeling of peace and equanimity with their contemplation of simple beauty possible everywhere in the world fosters a meditative sense of grace. And that is what new cuttingedge research about art suggests is providing therapeutic benefit. Whether it is the serenity and beauty of the painting that relaxes the mind and reduces blood pressure or the fascination with the minute detail and crystalline light that stimulates the mind to strengthen cognition, there is reason to believe that experiencing a Woody Gwyn painting in one’s life enhances it.
We will have to leave it to more scientific research to determine further whether it will truly contribute to your living longer, but one thing that is certain about a Gwyn painting: it’s just damn good!
-Kenneth R. Marvel
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Cerro, 2024 Oil on canvas
24 x 30 in
Summer Coast 2, 2022 - 2024
Oil on linen 65 x 48 in
Arroyo Blanco, 2023 - 2024
Egg tempera on panel
12 x 16 in
Oil on panel
8 x 24 in
Otono, 2023 - 2024
Las Nubes, 2024
Oil on canvas
10 x 6 in
Los Dos, 2024
Acrylic on panel
4.75 x 7.5 in
Cloud Hill, 2023 - 2024
Oil on panel
4.75 x 24 in
El Rio, 2023 - 2024
Egg tempera on canvas
12 x 12 in
Las Nubes lll, 2024 Oil on canvas
5 x 9 in
Pacific, 2022 - 2023
Egg tempera on panel
4 x 12 in
Near Ragged Point, 2017
Mixed media on paper
10 x 13 in
Rio Hondo, 2018
Watercolor on paper
9.75 x 6.75 in
Condor Pass, 2022 - 2023
Egg tempera on panel
48 x 84 in
Roswell Windbreak, 2017 - 2023
Oil on panel
60.25 x 60.25 in
Las Nubes ll, 2024 Oil on panel
12 x 12 in
Azul Coast, 2021 - 2024
Acrylic on panel
6 x 24 in
Villanueva Trees, 2014
Egg tempera on panel
3.63 x 9.25 in
Primavera, 2024
Egg tempera on panel
12 x 12 in
Sun / Sea, 2023 - 2024
Pecos Trees l, 2021
Egg tempera on panel
3 x 12 in
Fog Bank, 2023 - 2024
Oil on panel
30 x 42.75 in
Abiquiu Curve, 2024 Oil on canvas
50 x 52 in
2 x 13 in
Plaza Blanca, 2022
Egg temprera on panel
2023 Continued Dominions, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2023 Dominions, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2023 Museum of Southwest, Midland, TX
2020 The Earth, the Air, the Water, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2018 Next to Nature, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2017 The Road to Excellence, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2016 American Vista, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
A Sense of Scale, Museum of the Southwest, Midland, TX
2015 Solitary Places, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2014 Recent Landscapes, David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, New York, NY
2013 Santa Fe’s Holy Trinity of Landscape Painting, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2012 Elements of Landscape, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2010 Expanded Views, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
Woody Gwyn: American Landscapes, George Washington University, Luther Brady Gallery, Washington, DC
Woody Gwyn, David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, New York, NY
2009 Recent Paintings, Modernism, San Francisco, CA
Woody Gwyn, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2007 Between Earth and Sky, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2006 Recent Work, David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, New York, NY
Fog Light and Space, Modernism, San Francisco, CA
2005 Woody Gwyn, David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, New York, NY
Woody Gwyn Revisited, Museum of the Southwest, Midland, TX
2004 Woody Gwyn: In Human Terms, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2003 Woody Gwyn, Gerald Peters Gallery, New York, NY
2002 Woody Gwyn: Solitary Places, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2000 Woody Gwyn, MB Modern, New York, NY
1998 Woody Gwyn: Artist of the Year, Assembly of the Arts, Midland, TX
1997 Woody Gwyn, Cline-LewAllen Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1996 Woody Gwyn, Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery, New York, NY
1995 Woody Gwyn, Horwitch-LewAllen Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1994 Woody Gwyn: Recent Works, Louis Newman Galleries, Beverly Hills, CA
Woody Gwyn, Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery, New York, NY
1993 Woody Gwyn: Recent Work, Louis Newman Galleries, Beverly Hills, CA
1992 New Paintings and Monotypes, Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery, New York, NY
Recent Works, Louis Newman Gallery, Beverly Hills, CA
1991 New Paintings and Monotypes, Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery, New York, NY
1989 The Edges of the Land, Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery, New York, NY
1988 Recent Works, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1987 Woody Gwyn, Foxley-Leach Gallery, Washington, D.C.
1986 Woody Gwyn, Modernism Gallery, San Francisco, CA New Works by Woody Gwyn (Travelling Exhibition): Museum of the Southwest, Midland, TX; McAllen International Museum, McAllen, TX; The Art Center of Waco, Waco, TX; The Museum at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX; and The Amarillo Art Center, Amarillo, TX
1984 Woody Gwyn, Modernism Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1983 Woody Gwyn, Davis-McClain Galleries, Houston, TX
1982 Woody Gwyn, Allan Stone Gallery, New York, NY
1981 Woody Gwyn, Heydt/Bair Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1980 Woody Gwyn, Allan Stone Gallery, New York, NY
1978 Woody Gwyn, Elaine Horwitch Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1977 Woody Gwyn, Meredith Long & Co., Houston, TX
1975 Woody Gwyn, Meredith Long & Co., Houston, TX
1974 Woody Gwyn, Meredith Long & Co., Houston, TX
1973 Woody Gwyn, Meredith Long & Co., Houston, TX
1972 Woody Gwyn, Meredith Long & Co., Houston, TX
1971
Woody Gwyn, Meredith Long & Co., Houston, TX
1970 Woody Gwyn, Meredith Long & Co., Houston, TX
1969 Woody Gwyn, Meredith Long & Co., Houston, TX
1968 Woody Gwyn, Meredith Long & Co., Houston, TX
1965 Woody Gwyn, Canyon Art Gallery, Canyon, TX
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022 Four Legends of Santa Fe Painting: John Fincher, Woody Gwyn, Forrest Moses, and Tom Palmore, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2017 The Art of Trains, Gordon Galleries at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA
2016 Truth and Vision: 21st Century Realism, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE
2014 Hunting + Gathering: New Additions to the Museum’s Collection, New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM
2013 The Holy Trinity of Santa Fe Landscape Painting: John Fincher, Woody Gwyn & Forrest Moses, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2010 Reality Check: Contemporary American Trompe l’Oeil, Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, PA
21st Century Regionalists: The Art of the Next West, Rockwell Museum, Corning, NY
American Landscapes, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
2008 Town & Country, Group Exhibition, David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, New York, NY
2006 The Fort Wayne Museum of Art 2006 Biennial (Contemporary American Realism), Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN
2003 NM Printmakers, Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM
Re-presenting Representation VI, The Arnot Museum, Elmira, NY
Re-presenting Representation VI-The West, Rockwell Museum of Art, Corning, New York
2002 Red as a Color for Exploration and Expression, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2001 Group Exhibition, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Group Exhibition, J. Cacciola Galleries, New York, NY
The American Scene II (2000-2001), The Van Vechten-Lineberry Taos Art Museum, Taos, NM
2000 The American Scene II, The Van Vechten-Lineberry, Taos Art Museum, Taos, NM
1999 Green Woods and Crystal Waters: The American Landscape Tradition Since 1950, Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK Central Park, MB Modern, New York, NY
The American Scene, Van Vechten-Lineberry Taos Art Museum, Taos, NM
Realism, Photo Realism and Super Realism, The Harwood Museum, Taos, NM
6th Annual Realism Exhibition, van de Griff Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
First Annual Realism Invitational, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1998 Collage & Landscape, LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
New York Urban Landscapes, MB Modern, New York, NY
Realism Knows No Bounds, van de Griff Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Town and Country, MB Modern, New York, NY
Realism in Contemporary Art in the American West, University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, Wyoming
1997 Contemporary Forum- Building a Collection, Phoenix Museum of Art, Phoenix, AZ
1996 Places of Spirit: Canyon de Chelley, Suzanne Brown Galleries, Scottsdale, AZ
Contemporary NM Artists, SITE Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM
Realism ’96, van de Griff Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Group Show, Horwitch-Newman Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
Group Show, Horwitch-Newman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1994 Realism ’94, Fletcher Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1993 Daylight Fantasy: The Night’s Dark Side, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA
1992 7 Artists, 7 Mediums on Paper, Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery, New York, NY
1991 The Eternal Landscape, South Eastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC
The Palm Tree Show, Modernism Gallery, San Francisco, CA
The West: In Image and Object, Kavesh Gallery, Ketchum, ID
1990-1 The Hubbard Museum Invitational, Ruidoso, NM; (Travelled to Berlin, Germany & Moscow, Russia
1990 Woody Gwyn/ Tim Prythero: 2 Realists/2 Realities, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
New Art of the West: Eiteljorg Museum Invitational, Indianapolis, IN
1988 Contemporary Painting and Sculpture, Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery, New York, NY
The Face of the Land, Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Loretto, PA
1987 Boundless Realism, The Rockwell Museum, Corning, New York
Landscapes from the Collection, The Albuquerque Museum of Art, Albuquerque, NM
The Frederick R. Weisman Foundation of Art Traveling Exhibition:
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
Tel Aviv Museum, Tel Aviv, Israel
Centre National Des Artes Plastiques, Paris, France
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Gwyn’s work is reproduced on the exhibition poster.)
1986 The New West, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, CO
Landscapes of the Southwest, Stables Art Center, Taos, NM
Art of the States, Santa Barbara Museum of Fine Art, Santa Barbara, CA
1985 Arts NM, Western States Art Association, Washington D.C. & Mexico City, Mexico
1984 Art of the State, Santa Barbara Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Barbara, CA
Contemporary Western Landscapes, Museum of the Art of the American West, Houston, TX
1983 Faculty Exhibition, University Art Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA
Santa Fe and Taos (Travelling Exhibition):
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Lincoln, Nebraska
Spiva Art Center, Joplin, Missouri
Wyoming State Museum, Cheyenne, Wyoming
Salina Art Center, Salina, Kansas
Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City, Iowa
Abilene Fine Arts Museum, Abilene, TX
Santa Fe Comes to Scottsdale, Leslie Levy Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
1982 Evolving Images, Santa Fe Festival of the Arts, Santa Fe, NM
Selections from the Mel Pfaelzer Collection of Northern Illinois, Illinois Bell, Chicago, IL
Paintings of the Land, Davis-McClain Galleries, Houston, TX
1981 The Artists in the American Dessert (Travelling Exhibition):
Sierra Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV
Fresno Art Center, Fresno, CA
Kauser Center, Oakland, CA
Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, TX
University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
Beaumont Art Center, Beaumont, TX
Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA
Arapaho College, Littleton, CO
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum, Wausau, WI
Salt Lake Art Center, Salt Lake City, UT
1981 Icons-Iconoclasts/ New York-NM, Sarah Campbell Blaffer Gallery, University of Houston, Houston, TX
1979 New Talent, Elaine Horwitch Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1977 Made in NM, Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM
1976 Looking at an Ancient Land, Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM
Twelve Contemporary Artists in NM, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
1974 12/Texas, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX
1973 Abstract Realism, Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, San Antonio, TX
1972 Southwest Fine Arts Biennial, Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM
1971 Mid-Western Biennial, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE
Contemporary American Drawing, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
1970 American Drawings, Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences, Norfolk, VA
Selected Publications & Reviews
2017 Carstens, Rosemary. “Woody Gwyn: The Road to Excellence,” Western Art & Architecture, Winter 2017-2018, pp. 142-147
2012 Abatemarco, Michael. “Recommendation,” Visual Art Source, August 2012. Abatemarco, Michael. “Art in Review,” Pasatiempo, August 2012
2011 O’Hern, John. “Holy Trinity,” American Art Collector, January 2011. pp. 56-61 Smith, Eliza Wells. “Precisely, Woody Gwyn,” Santa Fe Trend Magazine, Winter 2011-12.pp. 78-82
2010 O’Hern, John. “Unfathomable Ocean,” American Art Collector, Sep. pp. 58-63 “Art to Heart,” New Mexico Magazine, Sep. p. 40 Schneider, Wolf. “The Galisteo Mystique,” New Mexico Magazine, Sep. pp. 20-23 Brandauer, Aline. “Tradition and Transgression,” Art & Antiques, Summer, pp. 62-65 Malin Wilson-Powell. “Sharing the Atmosphere,” Albuquerque Journal North, 28 Jun. “Exhibition Previews,” Santa Fean Magazine, 1 Jun. “Governor’s Art Awards Announced,” The Santa Fe New Mexican, 6 May “New Mexico’s Highest Honor,” SantaFe.Com, 5 May
2008 Olasky, Marvin. “The March of Art,” New York Journal, Jun. 14-21, Color reproductions.
2006 Newman, Louis. Woody Gwyn: Recent Works, David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, 11 pages, color, exhibition catalog.
2005 Peterson, William. Woody Gwyn Revisited, Museum of the Southwest, 48 pages (color), exhibition catalog.
2004 Skotz, Mary Lynn, William Peterson, Mark Stevens. In Human Terms – The Figurative Work of Woody Gwyn Peters Gallery, 62 pages (color), exhibition catalogue.
2001 D’Agata, John. Halls of Fame, Graywolf Press, color reproduction, cover.
1999 MacCannell, Dean and Lucy R. Lippard. The Tourist, University of California Press, color reproduction, cover. Naisbitt, John, Nana Naisbitt and Douglass Phillips. High Tech High Touch: Technology and Our Search for Meaning, Bantam Books, Inc., Oct.
1998 “Tunnel II,” Midland Arts Association, celebration poster.
1996 Adlman, Jan with Barbara McIntyre. Contemporary Art in New Mexico, Craftsman House, G + B Arts International. Color reproduction. Black and white reproduction. Udall, Sharyn R. “Woody Gwyn: Landscape Painting and the Social Meaning of the Earth,” Contested Terrain: Myth and Meanings in the Southwest, Color reproduction. Black and white reproductions. University of New Mexico Press.
1995 Sacks, Peter, Sharyn Udall and Mark Stevens. Woody Gwyn, 186 pages (color), Texas Tech University Press.
1994 Campbell, Susan. Paintings of the Southwest, int. by Arnold Skolnick, ed. Clarkson N. Potter Inc., Crown Publishing Group. Color reproduction.
1993 Henry, Gerrit. “Woody Gwyn at Katharina Rich Perlow,” Exhibition review, Art in America, Apr.
1992 Artists of 20th-Century New Mexico, The Museum of Fine Arts Collection, University of New Mexico Press. Color reproduction. Adams, Clinton. Printmaking In New Mexico: 1880-1990, University of New Mexico Press. Black and white reproduction.
1990 Wallace, Michael. Mother Road: Route 66, St. Martins Press. Color Reproduction. New Art of the West, exhibition catalog, published by the Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis. Color reproduction. Greenguard, Samuel. “Studio Audience,” Spirit, Oct.
1989 Fitzgerald, Paula. “Southwestern Vision,” Designer’s West, Apr.
1988 Van Deventer, M.J. “Woody Gwyn,” Art Gallery International, Feb. Steigmaier, Mark. “Woody Gwyn,” American Artist, Mar. Peterson, William. “Woody Gwyn,” Rev. of Aug. exhibition at Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, ARTNews, Oct.
1987 Boundless Realism, 1987, catalog to the exhibition, published by the Rockwell Museum, Corning, NY. Dennis, Lisl and Lendt. Santa Fe, published by Herring Press.
1986 Peterson, William. Essay in Woody Gwyn, catalog to the exhibition, “New Works by Woody Gwyn”, Museum of the Southwest, Midland, TX
Broder, Patricia. The West–The Modern Vision, New York Graphic Society.
1983 Sherman, Lisa. “Woody Gwyn,” Artspace, Winter
Licht, Michael. “Woody Gwyn,” Rev. of exhibition at Allan Stone Gallery, New York, NY, Arts Magazine, Dec.
1982 Doe, Donald Bartlett. Essay in Taos-Santa Fe, catalog for the exhibition, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Lincoln, NE McClain, Robert. Essay in Painting of the Land, catalog for the exhibition, Davis-McClain Gallery, Houston, TX, Apr.
“Approaching Art from Realism,” Artspeak, Vol. IV, 14 Oct.
“Horizon and Cloud,” Santa Fe Festival of the Arts, festival poster.
1981 Goodyear, Frank. American Realism Since 1960, published by the New York Graphic Society. Artists in the American Desert, catalog for the exhibition, Sierra Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, Nevada. Bell, David. “Woody Gwyn,” Artlines, Nov.-Dec.
Constable, Rosalind. Essay in Rosalind Constable Invites, catalog to the exhibition, published by the Santa Fe Festival of the Arts.
Leeper, John Palmer. Forward to The Texas Hill Country, 1981, published by Texas A&M Press
1980 “Smoke Rings-Shinto Shrimes-Doktor Thrill and the Snake Lady,” ARTnews, Dec.
“Six Landscape Painters,” Artspeak, 5 Jun.
“Report from New Mexico,” Art in America, Summer “Squaring Off in Houston,” Southwestern Art, Sep.
1979 Nadel, Norman. “Gwyn Achieves New York ‘miracle,’” Newspaper Enterprise Association, Jan.
1976 Coke, Van Deren. 12 Contemporary Artists in New Mexico, catalog to the exhibition, published by the University of New Mexico Press
Review of “Five Southwestern Painters,” Davis and Long Gallery, NY, Arts Magazine, Feb.
1974 “Realism and the Time Factor,” Southwest Art, Apr.
1969 “The South Central States,” Time-Life’s Library of America
Selected Collections
Albuquerque Museum of Art, Albuquerque, NM
The Amarillo Museum of Art, Amarillo, TX
The Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY
Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
The Cody Museum, Cody, WY
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, CO
Denver Museum of Art, Denver, CO
Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, IN
Fine Arts Museum of the South, Mobile, AL
Fisher Landau Center for Art, New York, NY
Forbes Magazine Collection, New York, NY
Harvard University, Boston, MA
Luther Brady Gallery, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX
Mel Pfaelzer Collection of Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM
Museum of the Southwest, Midland, TX
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Reading Museum, Reading, PA
Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ
Picker Art Gallery, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY
Reading Public Museum & Art Gallery, Reading, PA
Selected Grants & Awards
2010 New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts
1979 National Endowment of the Arts Grant
Education
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
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