September 7, 2019—On a June day in 1947, Agnes Pelton sat at her table in Cathedral City and drew a map of a place she knew as well as she knew her own backyard. There was the ancient stone wall…
Lost Farm: The Rediscovered Homestead of Agnes Pelton
Awakenings: An Untold Backstory of the Agnes Pelton Renaissance
In 2019, the Phoenix Art Museum published Agnes Pelton, Desert Transcendentalist, a 220-page hardcover book about the illustrious paintings of Agnes Pelton (1881–1961). This impressive volume, which will accompany the traveling exhibition, contains magnificent full-page reproductions of her art and…
Wagonmaster: The Backcountry Adventures of George Service
June 22, 2019–In the days when the Palm Springs Art Museum included desert in their name, they featured an exhibit spotlighting three dune systems: the Salton Sea, the Coachella Valley and the Algodones Dunes. One of the artists starring in…
The Road Goes Ever, Ever On: Route 66 Photographs by Andy Romanoff
May 24, 2019–When I walked into the La Quinta Museum one day recently the place was abuzz over an unlikely topic. Staff members too young to remember Woodstock were chatting excitedly about the Hog Farm–a 1960s commune founded by peace…
A Happy Occupation: Agnes Pelton in Her Own Words
May 11, 2019–The star-maker machinery, as Joni Mitchell called it, is working hard for Agnes Pelton. The current exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum positions her as the next Hilma af Klint. An ethereal wisp high on metaphysics, Pelton touches…
A Higher Education: Bonhams California and Western Art Auction
March 31, 2019–Art auctions seem to be geared toward sophisticates, people who drive Aston Martins and have helipads in the backyard. But these events also open up worlds of information to the rest of us. The Bonhams California and Western…