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Phone: (307) 766-2929
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UW Art Museum Presents Two Exhibitions Featuring Jon Schueler

abstract painting with pastel grays, yellows and pinks
Jon Schueler’s “Weathering Skies,” 1967, 22 x 30 inches, watercolor on paper (w/c 67-26) from “Jon Schueler: Weathering Skies” is on view through June 24 at the UW Art Museum. (Collection: Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock (c) Jon Schueler Estate)

The University of Wyoming Art Museum is presenting two exhibitions by American abstract expressionist painter Jon Schueler.

“Jon Schueler: Weathering Skies” is a national touring exhibition on view now through June 24. “Jon Schueler: Paintings” will be on view July 1-Sept. 9. 

Organized by the Arkansas Art Center and the Jon Schueler Estate, “Jon Schueler: Weathering Skies” presents 26 watercolors that explore Schueler’s fascination with the power of the sky. Before he was a painter, Schueler navigated a B-17 bomber during World War II. The sky became a place fraught with anxiety and, yet, filled with incredible beauty and meaning. 

Only after the war did Schueler train as an artist at the California School of Fine Arts. He became one of the 20th century’s abstract expressionist painters known for filling his canvases with images inspired by the atmospheric sky.

“Jon Schueler: Paintings” explores the evolution of Schueler’s artistic practice through 18 paintings drawn from the UW Art Museum collection and representing four decades of the artist’s work. His focus is largely on the sky, and his paintings convey nature at a specific moment, such as the buildup of clouds with the filtered sun breaking through. Using a range of color to express light, from subdued gray to intense red, Schueler creates paintings that are not only full of life and movement but are emotionally charged.

A recent gift to the UW Art Museum, the works in “Jon Schueler: Paintings” represent the largest single representation of his work in a public collection.

abstract painting with red and orange
Jon Schueler’s “The Sea is Red,” 1958, 67 x 72 inches, oil on canvas (o/c 58-44) from “Jon Schueler: Paintings” is on view through Sept. 9 at the UW Art Museum. (Collection: University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie (c) Jon Schueler Estate)

“The addition of 18 paintings by Jon Schueler to our collection significantly expands our holdings in abstract expressionism,” says Susan Moldenhauer, UW Art Museum director and chief curator. “In addition to using these works in this and future exhibitions, we look forward to making the paintings accessible to students and faculty through scheduled class visits and use in the Pat Guthrie Teaching Gallery.”

For more information about the Art Museum, call (307) 766-6622, visit the website at www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum, or follow the museum on Facebook.

Through its “Museum as Classroom” approach, the UW Art Museum places art at the center of learning for all ages. Located in the Centennial Complex at 2111 Willett Drive in Laramie, the museum is open Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday hours are extended to 7 p.m. February through April and September through November. Admission is free.

About Jon Schueler

Schueler was a second-generation abstract expressionist. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisc., in 1916 and received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Following World War II, when he flew missions over France and Germany as a B-17 navigator, he attended the California School of Fine Arts (1948-1951), where he was surrounded by a group of historically important artists whose work led to the development of the Bay Area Figurative Movement of painting.

In 1951, Schueler moved to New York, which became his base until his death in 1992. However, these years were punctuated by visits to Mallaig, Scotland, where the light and weather of the area became the hallmark for his signature style.

 

 

Contact Us

Institutional Communications
Bureau of Mines Building, Room 137
Laramie, WY 82071
Phone: (307) 766-2929
Email: cbaldwin@uwyo.edu


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