In the mid-1970s, at the height of his celebrity, Leo Kenney counted among his fans Alan Watts, Joseph Campbell, and Tom Robbins. Influenced by Surrealism as well as by Northwest painters Morris Graves and Mark Tobey, Kenney captivated audiences with his meticulous gouache technique, luminous color, and imagery that uniquely reflected the times. Kenney quit high school in 1943, on his 18th birthday, to devote himself to painting. Just two years later, the Seattle Art Museum bought its first painting by Kenney for the permanent collection. The gifted young painter rapidly developed into one of the Northwest's premiere artists, touted by Robbins as "heir to Tobey and Graves." However, constrained by ill health and a snail-like work pace, Kenney was unable to meet the demands of his growing fame. After his Seattle Art Museum retrospective in 1973, his output dwindled. After the 1970s Kenney had no gallery exhibitions. Now for the first time, the full range of Kenney's extraordinary oeuvre is revealed. Spanning nearly 50 years, the paintings illustrated show the systematic, disciplined progression of an artist whose work developed in synchronicity with the spirit of the times and, in the end, transcended it. From his dark early paintings executed under the sway of Andre Breton's theory of "psychic automatism" to the radiant mandala paintings of the 1960s to the final series of shimmering "geometrics," the works strike variations on a theme. Kenney paints the dualities of human nature, the vastness of the universe, and the microcosm of life on earth - in a spectrum of color as dazzling as any jewel. With a foreword by Museum of Northwest Art curator Barbara Straker James and a comprehensive essay by poet and art critic Sheila Farr, this book establishes Leo Kenney's rightful place in the history of Northwest painting.

Leo Kenney, a Retrospective: Celebrating the Mysteries

Arts & Photography

Farr, Sheila

Museum of Northwest Art

Kenney, Leo

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

Univ of Washington Pr

<p>This volume was published in conjunction with an exhibition to be presented at the Museum of Northwest Art in July 2001. It commemorates the life and achievements of artist Kenneth Callahan, who is best known as part of the "Northwest School" of painting, together with artists Guy Anderson, Morris Graves, and Mark Tobey. In addition, he was an art critic, teacher, and curator of painting at the Seattle Art Museum. Essays by Watkinson (director, Fort Wayne Museum of Art in Indiana) and writer Thomas Orton discuss his life and work, and the catalog presents color reproductions of 100-plus paintings. Oversize: 9.25x12.25</p>

Kenneth Callahan

Callahan, Kenneth

Orton, Thomas

Watkinson, Patricia Grieve

Individual Artists

<p>Published in conjunction with the July-October 2002 retrospective exhibit of James's work at the Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, Washington, this catalogue features 12 color plates of James's paintings and 48 color plates of the artist's sculptures, created between 1956 and 2002. Halper's accompanying text details James's stay at a conscientious objectors' camp in Oregon during 1944, his relocation to Washington State, relationships with fellow artists in the Pacific Northwest including Morris Graves, Jim and Nan McKinnell, and Paul Havas and the development of James's work over the past 45 years. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)</p>

Clayton James

Halper, Vicki

James, Clayton

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