Stanton Macdonald-Wright September 2-October 3, 2016
Stanton Macdonald-Wright (American Painter, 1890-1973) Stanton Macdonald-Wright was one of America’s leading modernist painters and an early pioneer of abstract art. Born in Virginia and raised in southern California, he settled in Paris in 1907, studying at the Sorbonne and exhibiting at the Salon d’Automne and at the Salon des Indépendents. Together with fellow American expatriate Morgan Russell, he co-founded the avant-garde painting movement Synchromism, which produced luminous and rhythmic compositions of swirling and serpentine forms infused with a rich chromatic palette. As MacdonaldWright later described it, “Synchromism simply means ‘with color’ as symphony means ‘with sound’, and our idea was to produce an art whose genesis lay, not in objectivity, but in form produced in color”. After repatriating himself to the United States in 1915, Macdonald-Wright resided in New York, where he participated in the Forum Exhibition in 1916 and had his first one-man show at Alfred Stieglitz’s “291” gallery in 1917. Having become dissatisfied with what he saw as the “sterile artistic formulism” of modern art and the “academicism” of his own work, Macdonald-Wright permanently resettled in Santa Monica in 1919 and withdrew from the commercial art scene, working primarily as a teacher (UCLA, USC, Scripps College) and as a director (Art Students League, WPA Art Project). During this same period, he wrote a student textbook on color theory and continued his artistic pursuits, which turned heavily toward Eastern representational models, especially Chinese painting. After a hiatus of more than thirty years, Macdonald-Wright returned to nonobjective painting in the mid 1950s with renewed vigor and enthusiasm, producing some of his finest canvases. These Neo- Synchromist works surpassed the artist’s earlier paintings by way of a heightened luminosity and augmented spatiality, creating as a result a deeper spirituality.
Arrival, Return of the Astronauts Oil on panel 1965 72 x 42 inches 73 x 43 inches framed
Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973 Exhibition History: Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Esther Robles Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Nov. 15-Dec. 3, 1956, no. 16 Stanton Macdonald-Wright: A Retrospective Exhibition, 1911-1970, UCLA Art Galleries/ The Grunwald Graphic Arts Foundation, Los Angeles, CA, Nov. 16-Dec. 20, 1970, no. 65 Stanton Macdonald-Wright Paintings: 1903-1973, Arco Center for Visual Art, Los Angeles, CA, Sept.25-Nov.3, 1979, listed
Abstraction of Still Life with Purple Plate Oil on board 1973 20 x 24 inches 24 x 28 inches framed
Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973 Exhibition History: Synchromist Works by Stanton Macdonald-Wright and Morgan Russell, Whitman College, Donald Sheehan Gallery, Walla Walla, WA, February 8 through March 8, 1981 Joseph Chowning Gallery, SF, CA, 1990 Forum Gallery, New York, NY Publication: Sheila Sandiford, Abstractions in Spectral Color, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, February 12, 1981, illus (b&w) 17.
Beethoven Series: Symphonic Form Oil on board 1973 40 x 30 inches 44 5/8 x 34 5/8 inches framed
Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973 Exhibition History: Stanton Macdonald-Wright Paintings: 1903-1973, ARCO Center for Visual Art, Los Angeles, CA, Sept. 25-Nov. 3, 1979, listed
Non-Objective
Oil on canvas 1973 26 1/2 x 16 1/4 inches 33 1/2 x 23 1/4 inches framed Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973 Exhibition History: Forum Gallery, New York, NY, 1982
Woman with Musical Instrument
Pencil, ink, charcoal, contĂŠ crayon on paper 1945 25 3/4 x 18 1/4 inches 38 3/4 x 31 5/8 inches framed Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973 Private Collection, Missouri, 2016
Still Life with Abalone Shell Oil on canvas 1945 23 x 29 inches 27 1/2 x 35 inches framed
Desire
Oil on canvas 1958 56 x 43 inches 57 x 44 inches framed Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973 Exhibition History: Stanton Macdonald-Wright: A Retrospective Exhibition, 1911-1970, UCLA Art Galleries/the Grunwald Graphic Arts Foundation, Nov. 16-Dec. 20, 1970, no. 48 Stanton Macdonald-Wright Paintings: 1903-1973, ARCO Center for Visual Art, Los Angeles, CA, Sept. 25-Nov. 3, 1979, listed.
Bright Star Structure
Oil on panel 1967 39 1/2 x 29 1/2 inches 41 x 31 inches framed
Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973 Exhibition History: Forum Gallery, New York, NY Stanton Macdonald-Wright: A Retrospective Exhibition, 1911-1970, UCLA Art Galleries/The Grunwald Graphic Arts Foundation, Los Angeles, CA, Nov. 16-Dec. 20, 1970, no. 71
Flying Fudo
Oil on canvas 1960 70 x 48 inches 73 Âź x 49 Âź inches framed Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973 Exhibition History: Washington, D.C., National Collection of Fine Arts , Smithsonian Institution, A Retrospective Exhibiton, The Art of Stanton Macdonald-Wright, 4 May - 18 June 1967 Rose Fried Gallery, New York, New York, 1966
Still Life with Red Vase Synchromy Oil on canvas 1973 24 x 20 inches 31 x 27 inches framed
Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973 Exhibition history: Joseph Chowning Gallery, San Francisco, CA Forum Gallery, New York, NY The Harmon Gallery, Naples, FL
Yaku Oni
Oil on board 1962 24 x 20 inches 32 1/2 x 28 1/2 inches framed Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973 Exhibition history Joseph Chowning Gallery, San Francisco, CA, 1990 Tortue Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, 2000
Tahiti (Three Nudes) Oil on canvas 1943 20 x 16 inches 28 x 24 inches framed
Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973
Still Life with Red Vase Oil on canvas 1973 24 x 20 inches 31 5/8 x 27 5/8 inches framed
Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973 Exhibition history: Joseph Chowning Gallery, San Francisco, CA Forum Gallery, New York, NY
Buddha and the Tigers Oil on canvas 1943 24 x 20 inches 30 x 24 inches framed
Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973 Exhibition History: Stanton Macdonald-Wright Paintings: 1903-1973, ARCO Center for Visual Art, Los Angeles, CA, Sept. 25 - Nov. 3, 1979, listed Joseph Chowning Gallery, San Francisco, CA Goldfield Galleries, Los Angeles, CA
Self Portrait with Wife Oil on board 1970 24 x 20 inches 25 x 21 inches framed
Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973
Prometheus
Oil on panel 1965 95 x 48 inches 99 3/8 x 52 3/8 inches framed Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973 Exhibition History: Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Esther Robles Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, / Nov. 15-Dec. 3, 1965, no. 15 The Art of Stanton Macdonald-Wright, National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., May 4-June 18, 1967, no. 95 Stanton Macdonald Wright Paintings: 1903-1979, Arco Center for Visual Art, Los Angeles, CA, Sept. 25-Nov.3, 1979, listed
Maiko
Oil on panel 1962 24 x 20 inches 40 3/4 x 41 3/4 inches framed Provenance: Estate of Stanton MacDonald-Wright, 1973 Exhibition History: Redding, Calif., Redding Museum and Art Center, Stanton Macdonald-Wright: Paintings, 1953-1964, 2-23 January 1985, listed.
Jeune Fille au Piano
Oil on canvas 1946 40 x 30 inches 42 1/2 x 31 1/2 inches framed Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973 Exhibition History: Los Angeles, UCLA Art Galleries/ The Grunwald Graphic Arts Foundation, Stanton Macdonald-Wright: A Retrospective Exhibition 1911-1970; Nov. 16-Dec.20, 1970, no. 26
Old Fisherman Synchromy Watercolor on paper 1928 40 x 38 inches 42 1/2 x 40 1/2 inches framed
Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973 Exhibition History: A Retrospective Showing of the Work of Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA., Jan. 19Feb.19, 1956, no. 20 The Art of Stanton Macdonald-Wright, National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., May 4-June 18, 1967, no. 33 Stanton Macdonald-Wright Paintings: 1903-1973, ARCO Center for Visual Art, Los Angeles, CA., Sept. 25-Nov. 3, 1979, listed.
Petunias
Oil on canvas 1960 30 x 25 inches 38 x 33 inches framed Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973
Persimmon Extrapolation
Oil on board 1964 30 x 40 inches 34 5/8 x 44 5/8 inches framed
Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973 Exhibition History: Los Angeles, Esther Robles Gallery, Stanton Macdonald-Wright, 15 November - 3 December 1965, no. 17. Los Angeles, UCLA Art Galleries/ The Grunwald Graphic Arts Foundation, Stanton Macdonald-Wright: A Retrospective Exhibition 19111970, 16 November - 20 December 1970, no. 68. Palo Alto, University Art Center, Exhibit 72, Magazine of Art, January February 1976, pg. 11, illus. (b&w). Redding, Calif., Redding Museum and Art Center, Stanton MacdonaldWright: Paintings, 1953-1964, 2-23 January 1985, listed.
Adieu La Belle
Watercolor on paper 1972 28 x 20 1/2 inches 38 5/8 x 31 5/8 inches framed Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973
Fireworks #4
Watercolor on paper 1972 29 x 22 inches 40 1/2 x 32 5/8 inches framed Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973
Aloha Hula Girl
Watercolor on paper 1972 29 x 21 1/4 inches 37 x 28 3/4 inches framed Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973
Guardian Angel #1
Watercolor on paper 1971 29 1/2 x 21 1/2 inches 40 1/2 x 31 5/8 inches framed Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973 Exhibition history: Forum Gallery, New York, NY
Il Sole Tramonto Bramoso Watercolor on paper 1971 26 1/8 x 19 3/8 inches 37 1/2 x 29 5/8 inches framed
Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973
The Haiga Portfolio
Wood block prints on mulberry paper 1965 21 x 18 inches each Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973 Exhibition history: Washington, D.C., National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, The Art of Stanton Macdonald-Wright, 4 May - 18 June 1967, no. 96. Los Angeles, UCLA Art Galleries/ The Grunwald Graphic Arts Foundation, Stanton Macdonald-Wright: A Retrospective Exhibition 1911-1970, 16 November - 20 December 1970, no. 117. San Francisco, Western Association of Art Museums, Stanton MacdonaldWright: Prints of the Haiku, 1980, then traveling, nos. 1-20, no. 1 illus. (color) cover. Raleigh, N. C., North Carolina Museum of Art, Color, Myth, and Music: Stanton Macdonald-Wright and Synchromism, 4 March - 3 July 2001, then traveling, no. 51a-f, illus. (color).
A set of 20 prints illustrating haiku by Basho, Buson, Issa, Shiki, Chiyoni, and Hokushi. Haiku is the Japanese verse form in which the poem is composed in 17 syllables, patterned in segments of 5, 7 and 5. These illustrations vary from figurative to nonobjective and are intended as a pictorial completion of the verses. Although the form of haiku remains modern, Macdonald-Wright believes illustrations done in earlier periods have seldom risen above the level of an academic sketch. Peyton Wright Gallery currently has two complete sets in inventory, edition 11/50 and 14/50.
After Basho: A cloud of cherry blossoms; a temple bell, is it from Ueno, is it from Asakusa
After Basho: An old pond a frog leaps in, the sound of water
After Basho: An octopus trap and fleeting dreams under a summer moon
After Basho: Wild sea and the milky way athwart the island of Sado
After Basho: On a journey ill, my dreams wander over the withered moor After Basho: Bright red sun cruelly hot but the wind is of autumn
After Buson: The spring sea swelling and falling all the day
After Buson: Departing spring hesitates in the late cherry blossoms
After Buson: Sun beams slant on the riverbank and cold rain falls from a floating cloud
After Buson: Slow days piling up, how distant they seem, these past times
After Buson: Demons sowing barley in the long rays of sunset
After Issa: On small islands also men till the earth while larks sing above
After Issa: Naked in the rain riding a naked horse
After Issa: Oh flying butterfly I feel myself a creature of dust
After Issa: Stony River rippling, lightning flickering
After Shiki: A train passes, how the smoke swirls round the young leaves
After Shiki: Cruel heat, my mind in a whirl, I listen to the thunder rumble
After Hokushi: The sound of a cracked temple bell is also hot under a summer moon
After Shiki: In the hand the fire fly makes a cold brilliance
After Chiyoni: No matter what we wear, we are beautiful when moon viewing
Santa Monica Coastline
Lithograph, edition 2/25 1928 19 x 25 1/2 inches 27 x 32 1/2 inches framed
Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973
Amazons at War
Lithograph, edition 1/27 1972 18 3/4 x 25 1/2 inches 26 1/2 x 32 1/2 inches framed Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973
La Danza
Lithograph, edition 1/25 1972 27 x 20 inches 37 x 30 inches framed Provenance: Estate of Jean Macdonald-Wright, 1973