The Denver Artists Guild: Its Founding Members; An Illustrated History

About this book

In 1928 the newly organized Denver Artists Guild held its inaugural exhibition in downtown Denver. Little did the participants realize that their initial effort would survive the Great Depression and World War IIand then outlive all of the groups fifty-two charter members. The guilds founders worked in many media and pursued a variety of styles. In addition to the oils and watercolors one would expect were masterful pastels by Elsie Haddon Haynes photographs by Laura Gilpin sculpture by Gladys Caldwell Fisher and Arnold Rnnebeck ceramics by Anne Van Briggle Ritter and Paul St. Gaudens and collages by Pansy Stockton. Styles included realism impressionism regionalism surrealism and abstraction. Murals by Allen True Vance Kirkland John E. Thompson Louise Ronnebeck and others graced public and private buildingssecular and religiousin Colorado and throughout the United States. The guilds artists didnt just contribute to the fine and decorative arts of Colorado; they enhanced the national reputation of the state. Then in 1948 the Denver Artists Guild became the stage for a great public debate pitting traditional against modern. The twenty-year-old guild split apart as modernists bolted to form their own group the Fifteen Colorado Artists. It was a seminal moment: some of the guilds artists became great modernists while others remained great traditionalists. Enhanced by period photographs and reproductions of the founding members works The Denver Artists Guild chronicles a vibrant yet overlooked chapter of Colorados cultural history. The book includes a walking tour of guild members paintings and sculptures viewable in Denver and elsewhere in Colorado by Leah Naess and author Stan Cuba. In honor of the books release the Byers-Evans House Gallery will showcase a collection of founding guild members works starting June 26 2015. The exhibit also titled The Denver Artists Guild: Its Founding Members contains paintings from artists such as the famed Paschal Quackenbush Louise Ronnebeck Albert Byron Olson Elisabeth Spalding Waldo Love and Vance Kirkland. The show will be on display through September 26 2015.