Northwest Primitives

Opening Reception & Gallery Talk

with Collector Sean Moen:

Saturday, March 12th, 1:30-3:00pm, Gallery Talk at 2:00pm

Edith Creel (19th/20th Cent.)
Mt. Hood, c. 1890's

oil on canvas

30" x 37"

SOLD

Ralph Redmann (1886 - 1975)
3 Sisters, Oregon, 11/7/23

oil on board

13" X 19"

SOLD

The artist Robert Wood called them "Buckeyes"... paintings that could be produced in 5-10 minutes, catch a prospective customers eye, and then be sold for a dollar.
Paintings in this style remain affordable to this day, and are often called everyman paintings, flash paintings, or speed paintings. Many artists here in the Northwest made livings painting this way. The history of this group of artists has yet to be fully researched and explored, but this style of painting has roots in the 19th century, that continued into the 1930's. Artists who worked in this manner include Astley David Middleton (ADM) Cooper (1856-1924), John D. Delane (1870-?), James J. Fowler (Early 20th Cent.), Winifred Mulkey Kendall (1872-1946), William M. Lemos (1861-1942), Harry Leonard Lopp (1888-1974), Paul V. Putnam (19th/20th Cent.), Ralph Robert Redmann (1886-1975), Leroy Updyke (1876-1959), Robert William Wood (1889-1979), Eliza Barchus (1899-1975), Edith Creel (19th/20th Cent.), and Howard Sewall (1899-1975) - an eventual modernist who was a student of Barchus. While these paintings are sometimes referred to as folk art or naive, they offer an undeniable charm in their simplicity, and are definitely a part of our regions art history.