Colorado Art History: other online resources

Colorado Art History

with an emphasis on representational art

(above: Albert Bierstadt, Estes Park, Colorado, Whyte's Lake, circa 1877, oil on canvas, 30 x 43.7 inches, Buffalo Bill Center of the West. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

Other online information

American Museum of Western Art The Anschutz Collection website. Accessed August, 2015.

Allen Tupper True: An American Artist by Jere True and Victoria Tupper Kirby is a 2010 online book review from the Museum of The Rockies. Jere True and Victoria Tupper Kirby say: "No artist better captured Colorado's pioneer era, which he studied carefully. True spent much of his life exploring Colorado's outdoors as an avid hunter, fisherman, and camper." Accessed 8/23

Ana María Hernando: Star Flowers is a 2020 exhibit at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art Robischon Gallery, via MutualArt, says of the artist:: "The hand-crafted linens of her Buenos Aires childhood along with the traditional needlework that surrounded her, celebrated the life-affirming flower as a symbol of the feminine." Accessed 11/20

A.R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art in Trinidad, CO features the art of renowned western painter A. R. Mitchell. The museum says: "Art and collectibles- Western, Native American, Hispanic Folk and Religious - displayed in an iconic turn-of-the-century building." Accessed 5/24

Artworks that "Captivate the Viewer Quietly": Colorado Artist Bernard Arnest by Stan Cuba is a 2019 online article from History Colorado. In the online article, Stan Cuba says: "Several of Arnest's small-format paintings done as a Robinson student depict scenes of harvesting and cattle ranching, a part of western daily life. Reflecting his teacher's preoccupation with draftsmanship, Arnest did not conceal the imagery with color and the entire composition depends not on patterns, but on the rhythmic curves and movement of the human figures and the animals. "Accessed 7/23

Beyond the Gallery: Allen True and the Impact of Exhibits and Community Partnerships on Collections by Alisa DiGiacomo is a 2011 article from History Colorado. In the exhibition description Alisa DiGiacomo says: "Awarded the job in 1927, True installed the lunette murals and one other mural in the building's two lobbies. Removed prior to the building's demolition in 1976, the murals, entitled The Producers, The Refiners, and The Marketers, depict activities in the petroleum industry." Accessed 7/23

Broadmoor Art Academy, from the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. Accessed August, 2015.

Chicano Art in Colorado: An Overview, by George Rivera, Ph.D.; from Latina/o Art Community. Accessed August, 2015.

(above: Albert Bierstadt, Wind River Country, 1860, oil on canvas; 29 5/8 x 43 3/4 inches, Denver Art Museum, The Charles H. Bayly Collection, 1987.47)

Colorado Abstract +10: A History is a 2019 exhibition at the Kirkland Museum which says: "Kirkland Museum's temporary exhibition, Colorado Abstract +10: A History, presents two and three-dimensional artworks created by the artists featured in the historical section of the book, tracing the history and development of this artistic style in Colorado." Accessed 7/23

Colorado Modernism is a 2025 artcle by Grok which says "What set Colorado modernism apart was how geography wasn't just backdrop -- it was the pulse. Imagine hiking up Pikes Peak, where the air thins and colors sharpen into something almost hallucinatory; artists here translated that into paintings where forms twist and overlap, echoing cubism but grounded in boulder-strewn valleys or thundering herds against snow-capped peaks. Unlike the flat, folksy regionalism of Grant Wood's Iowa cornfields, Colorado painters leaned into the verticality of the Front Range, using modernist fragmentation to mimic fractured rock faces or wind-whipped aspens. Events played their part too -- the Dust Bowl's echoes reached the plains, fueling WPA mural projects that plastered post offices with visions of hardy miners and cowboys, but with a modernist edge: flattened perspectives, vibrant palettes borrowed from Matisse, and a subtle critique of industrialization creeping into the wilds." Accessed 11/25

Colorado State Capitol, touring the rotunda, from FOX31. Accessed August, 2015.

Deep Into Nature: Landscape Paintings by Stephen Quiller is a 2016 exhibit at the Burchfield - Penney Art Center which says: "Stephen Quiller is one of the nation's leading watercolorist based in Creede, Colorado where his gallery is located." Accessed 8/18

The Denver Artists Guild: How Much Do You Know About It? by Barbara E. Sternberg is a 2011 online article from History Colorado. Sternberg says: "At this point, artist William Sanderson entered the fray. Sanderson was a talented artist and an eloquent teacher at the DU School of Art. He was an active member of the Artists Guild, though not a founding one." Accessed 8/23

Frank Mechau (1904-1946) is a 2016 exhibit at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center / Taylor Museum which says: "Frank Mechau (1904-1946) is among the greatest artists associated with the early 20th century development of Colorado art. Mechau commanded national renown through his vision and virtuosity as an artist, as well as his influence as a teacher." Accessed 2/17

Frank Mechau's Rodeo #1 by Lauren Anuszewski is a 2022 online article from the Denver Art Museum. In the online article, Lauren Anuszewski says: "Colorado painter and muralist Frank Mechau (pronounced "may-show," 1904-1946) championed the American West as a subject for modern American art." Accessed 7/23

Frank Mechau's Wild Horses on View in Stampede by JR (Jennifer R.). Henneman, is a 2018 online article from the Denver Art Musuem In the online article Jennifer R. Henneman says: "There, in the midst of the Great Depression, Mechau started teaching at the Kirkland School of Art and soon opened his own school. In 1934, Mechau won a prestigious Guggenheim award (the first of three), which, in his words, allowed him to "saturate my mind with the rich material of landscape, rodeos, horses with which this territory abounds, and retain in my mind subjects for paintings for years to come. "Accessed 7/23

From Pikes Peak to the Mind's Eye: A History of Colorado Art, 1925-2000 is a 2025 article by Gemini 2.5 Pro which says: "To understand the story of art in Colorado one must first understand the land itself. The state's artistic identity is built on a fundamental duality: a tension between the staggering, undeniable physical reality of its geography and the potent, romantic mythology of the American West. This tension is the engine that powered the region's great stylistic shifts, from the crisp Realism of its early days to the narrative-driven Regionalism of the Great Depression and the psychological explorations of Modernism. Accessed 11/25

The Harvest Mural by Lindsey Cillis is a 2020 online essay from Intermountain Histories. In the online essay, Cillis says: "Ronnebeck's work prominently represents the history of the Ute people's forced removal from Colorado throughout the nineteenth century." Accessed 8/23

Herndon Davis, Colorado Artist by Amy Zimmer is a 2018 online essay from the Colorado Virtual Library. In the online essay Zimmer says: "Herndon Davis (1901-1962) started his artistic career as a commercial illustrator in several midwestern cities. He moved to Denver in 1936, working for the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post. While in Central City to paint a series of murals for the Central City Opera House, Davis painted the Face, thought to be an image of his wife, Nita." Accessed 8/23

History Colorado Center Exhibition Gives the Backstory Behind Western American Art by JR (Jennifer R.) Henneman is a 2017 online article from the Denver Art Musuem. In the online article Henneman says: "Paintings and bronzes by Charles Russell and Frederic Remington place visitors in the Old West in the third section of the exhibition entitled "A Wanderlust Memory." Objects used by real Colorado cowboys in the late-nineteenth century -- including wooly chaps, a branding iron, and a chuckwagon stand as a testament to a ranching lifestyle that continues into the present day." Accessed 7/23

"History of Colorado Art, from Traditional through Modern, at Kirkland Museum" by Hugh Grant, Founding Director & Curator, and Stan Cuba, Associate Consulting Curator, is an extensive online essay on the Kirkland Museum website. Accessed 7/19

How a Landscape Painter Got Around Colorado in the 1800s by Molly Medakovich is a 2012 online article from the Denver Art Musuem In the online article Molly Medakovich says: "The Rocky Mountain bug had bitten him, and he spent decades traveling throughout Colorado, sketching and painting its mountains and valleys and their trees, flowers, and rivers during all seasons and times of day." Accessed 7/23

Imagining Heaven and Earth at Mount Holy Cross, Colorado by Kevin Blake is a 2008 manuscript from Kansas State University. Blake says: "Images based on Moran's painting quickly joined Jackson's photographs informing the dominant visual representations of Mount of the Holy Cross, overwhelming any sense of the feature as a topographic oddity and providing the "visual proof of the uniqueness of western landmarks" necessary for later preservation efforts" Accessed 8/23.

List of artists in Colorado from Wikipedia. Accessed August, 2015

The Murals of Allen True by Amy Zimmer is a 2019 online article from Colorado State Publications. In the online article Amy Zimmer says: "If you've ever been inside the State Capitol, the Brown Palace Hotel, or the Telephone Building on 14th Street, you've seen the work of 1930s artist Allen True. Recently, another of his murals has been restored in Capitol Hill's Tammen Hall." Accessed 7/23

O Beautiful! Shifting Landscapes of the Pikes Peak Region is a 2019 virtual exhibition at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center which says: "The natural landscape of spacious skies, amber waves of grain, and purple mountains majesty of which Bates wrote, and would later become the famous anthem America the Beautiful, provided ample inspiration to late 19th and early 20th century painters. By the early 20th century, Colorado Springs was a popular tourist destination and a celebrated place for healing." Accessed 9/23

Paul Gillis: When Kingship Ascends to Heaven is a 2020 exhibit at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art which says: "Staging complex scenes using all of human history, from ancient alphabets and imagery such as the Tower of Babel to robotic protagonists and supernatural landscapes, Gillis explores the idea that as much as things change in the world, humans remain the same." Accessed 10/20

Pioneers: Women Artists in Boulder, 1898-1950 is a 2016 exhibition at the University of Colorado at Boulder Art Museum which says: "This exhibition celebrates the little-studied artistic contributions of women, who were the drivers of cultural life in the first half of the twentieth century within Colorado, and provides as an important case study into the ways in which women contributed to the development of American art." Accessed 8/23

SProcess and Print is a 2020 virtual exhibition by the Kirkland Museum of Fine and Decorative Arts. In the description curator Christopher Herron says: "Kirkland Museum celebrated the March 2020 Month of Printmaking (Mo'Print) -- and then extended the celebration through the end of 2020 -- by highlighting and explaining some of the processes and techniques used to create fine art prints, illustrated with examples by some of the great printmaking artists in Colorado history." Accessed 8/23

Prints by Dean Babcock (1888-1968) of Estes Park, Colorado is a 2017 exhibit at the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery. Cori Sherman North, curator of the exhibit, says in her essay: " This exhibition presents a retrospective of Babcock's career as an artist and aims to encourage a wider appreciation for the artist's life and work." Accessed 9/17

Review of Pike's Peak Vision: The Broadmoor Art Academy , 1919-1945; from DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Accessed August, 2015.

Rocky Mountain Majesty: The Paintings of Charles Partridge Adams is a 2012-13 exhibit at the Denver Art Museum which says: " Rocky Mountain Majesty: The Paintings of Charles Partridge Adams marks the first time that Adams' paintings will be displayed together at a major art museum; and the Denver Art Museum will be the sole venue for this important exhibition that highlights his greatest paintings of Colorado." Accessed 3/17

Rocky Mountain Modern: How Colorado Forged Its Own American Scene is a 2025 article by Gemini 2.5 Pro which says: "The artists of the 1930s had succeeded in their primary mission: they forged a visual identity for their region that was authentic, modern, and entirely their own. They rejected the Midwestern agrarian model and gave the nation a new set of icons: the explosive energy of Mechau's rodeo, the haunting memory of Wolle's ghost towns, and the thundering vitality of the wild horse. But their greatest legacy was not just the art; it was the infrastructure. The institutions that Robinson, Wolle, and Kirkland built and led -- the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, the University of Colorado's art department, and the University of Denver's School of Art-became the permanent foundation for the state's future. They did more than just paint the local scene; they transformed Colorado from a seasonal "sketching ground" into a self-sustaining, vital, and permanent center for American art." Accessed 11/25

Ron Kroutel: The Glade Series is a 2023 exhibition at the Gregory Allicar Museum of Art. In the exhibition description the artist says: "Since moving to Northern Colorado from Southeast Ohio in 2016, I have tried to understand my vastly new environment. Rather than paint the remote, sublime grandeur of the high mountains, the close landscape around me along the Front Range of Northern Colorado has become my center of interest. Here water use is a major issue." Accessed 9/23

Sally Elliott: Metaphors and Memories is a 2017 exhibit at the Loveland Museum/Gallery which says: "Sally Elliott has been exhibiting locally and nationally for over thirty years. She was a founding member of Front Range Women in the Visual Arts and is a long time member of Spark Cooperative Gallery in Denver where she exhibits yearly. Elliott was a recipient of a 2004 fellowship from the Colorado Council on the Arts and a Boulder Arts Commission Grant (1992). From 1999 to 2011, she was on the Drawing and Painting faculty at the University of Colorado at Boulder." Also see artist's website Accessed 6/17

Sally Elliott Retrospective Dissonant Harmony: A Life in Art is a 2022 exhibit at the Redline Art Gallery which says: "Elliott is a Boulder-based painter with an illustrious career spanning over 4 decades. She was a founding member of the Front Range Women in the Visual Arts in 1987, and helped produce visual arts, music, and theatre productions throughout the state." Accessed 9/23

Springs Surreal is a 2016 exhibition at the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center which says: "These artists are looking to their Surrealist predecessors and at the same time personalizing and contemporizing the philosophies that defined the movement during its inception during the early 20th century between World Wars I and II, taking form first in literature then in visual arts." Accessed 7/23

The Surrealistic Art of Phyllis Hutchinson Montrose: Modern Art, Minor History, and Gender in the American West by Stefani Shulte is a 2013 online thesis from the University of Colorado. In the thesis Shulte says: "Phyllis Hutchinson Montrose (b. 1928) is a Colorado-based Surrealistic artist who relies upon her dreams and spiritual experiences to fuel her work. While there are varying opinions on when or if the Surrealist movement ended in the mid-twentieth century, Colorado is not typically considered to be a Surrealist or Post-Surrealist center; thus Montrose eludes placement in the traditional art historical canon." Accessed 8/23

The West Through a Modernist Artist's Eyes by Stan Cuba is a 2023 article from History Colorado. In the online article Stan Cuba says: "Paul Kontny was enchanted by Western landscapes. His groundbreaking work is still a definitive part of Colorado's cultural history." Accessed 7/23

"Where's the Art: Frank Mechau by Sarah Gordon" is a 2014 online essay from the U.S General Services Administration. In the essay Sarah Gordon says: "Below Dangers of the Mail, Mechau produced five smaller scenes related to the Indian Wars and the Pony Express. Below these, he included the names of 21 Native American leaders, including spokesmen for peace and education - such as Spotted Tail and Plenty Coups - as well as warriors who led the resistance against white settlement of the West - such as Sitting Bull and Ink Paduta." Accessed 9/23

"Wish You Were Here" in Colorful Colorado: Postcards and the Visual History of Colorado" by Kevin Smith, is a 2019 online article from History Colorado. In the online article Kevin Smith says: "Today, postcards from the past reveal Colorado's visual history through photography as well as the ways Coloradans and visitors portrayed the state to the rest of the world." Accessed 7/23

From Palmer Divide Productions. Historic Artists of the Pikes Peak Region is a 90 minute video produced, written and directed by Jim Sawatzki, Palmer Divide Productions, in association with The Pikes Peak Arts Council & the Smokebrush Foundation. A 9 minute online video presentation is presented on the website. Accessed May, 2015.

(above: John William Casilear, Near Greeley, Colorado, 1882, oil on canvas; 23 3/8 x 46 inches, Denver Art Museum, William Sr. and Dorothy Harmsen Collection, 2001.457)

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