BMA : Exhibitions : 2004

Spiritual Journeys
The Art of Robert Sudlow
1 April – 9 May 2004

Robert Sudlow has long been considered one of the most important landscape painters to emerge from the Midwest. Despite this fact, little is known about his method, iconology, and intent. There are many misconceptions about his work, the most important being that his landscapes are simply a description of nature observed. Sudlow’s paintings are richer and more complex than such superficial interpretations might suggest. Instead, what Sudlow captures is the essence of the landscape, that which requires both the mind and the eye to understand. He represents not only the land and sky, but also eastern Kansas light, atmospheric effects, and the transient moment. Most importantly, he transforms these elements into an evocative experience, an experience that is remembered and present within the same moment.

The works represented in this retrospective exhibition come from the artist’s personal collection, from the community of Sudlow collectors, and from the permanent collection of the Beach Museum of Art. Spiritual Journeys: The Art of Robert Sudlow is accompanied by a book of the same name, with essays by Dr. David Cateforis, Associate Professor, Department of Art History, University of Kansas, and Dr. Preston Fambrough, Professor, Department of English, Baker University. The introduction is written by Dr. Wes Jackson, MacArthur Fellowship recipient and President of the Land Institute, and the graphic design is provided by Patrick Dooley, Associate Professor, Department of Art and Design, University of Kansas.

Sudlow is a native Kansan, born in Holton in 1920. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Kansas, where he worked with Albert Bloch, a member of Der Blaue Reiter, a group of German Expressionists in Munich, Germany. In 1946 Sudlow returned to Lawrence as a faculty member at the University of Kansas in the Art and Design department where he served as Professor of painting until his retirement in June 1988. Sudlow has the distinct honor of being named first artist in the history of Kansas as the “Governor’s Artist” for the state in 1974.

The exhibition is organized and toured by ExhibitsUSA, an organization designed to create access to an array of arts and humanities exhibitions, nurture the development and understanding of diverse art forms and cultures, and encourage the depth and breadth of cultural life in local communities. ExhibitsUSA is a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance, a private, non-profit organization founded in 1972. . ExhibitsUSA is generously supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Houston Endowment Inc., the Meadows Foundation, the Louis and Elizabeth Flarsheim Charitable Foundation, Douglas County Bank/Ross and Marianna Beach, Phillips Petroleum Company, the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, the Don and Sybil Harrington Foundation, the H&R Block Foundation, the William T. Kemper Foundation, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, DST Systems, Inc., the Cooper Foundation, Maureen and Robert Decherd, the Helen Jones Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the state arts agencies of Arkansas, Kansas, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas. The Lila-Wallace Reader’s Digest Fund enabled ExhibitsUSA to produce many of the high-quality museum exhibitions currently available at an affordable price. ExhibitsUSA is a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance, a private, non-profit organization founded in 1972 and assisted by the NEA, its six partner state art agencies, and private contributors. Spiritual Journeys: The Art of Robert Sudlow is made possible through the generous support of Douglas County Bank, Ross and Marianna Beach, and Hortense Oldfather.

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