Talk:Northwest School (art)

Skagit

I would really like to see a citation for the movement having been "based in small-town Skagit County, Washington". All of these artists spent considerable time in Seattle, where Tobey, for one, taught classes and had a studio; Callahan did murals there at the Marine Hospital. I don't doubt that they were influenced by the Skagit landscape, but that is a different matter than being based there.

Also, I wonder at the singling out of Tony Angell for mention beyond the "big four". I like his work, and it certainly has an affinity with some aspects of the Northwest School, but not as much so as James Washington, Jr., who I'd also consider a more important figure. - Jmabel | Talk 06:41, 18 March 2008 (UTC)

Response: I agree. Kenneth Callahan had a limited relationship to the Skagit Valley; in the years from the mid 1930s until the early 1950s he had curatorial responsibilities at the Seattle Art Museum. Mark Tobey spent a good part of the 1930s outside of Washington State. The assertion of a relationship to the Skagit Valley is most meaningful for Graves and Morris. Further, as soon as one widens the term "Northwest School" beyond the "big four," then one mostly talks about Seattle artists. The beginning of this article should be revised to be more inclusive. Chesterct (talk) 00:22, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

If no one weighs in to the contrary in the next few days, I will probably feel free to edit accordingly (or anyone else is welcome to). - Jmabel | Talk 04:23, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

Response Cite added to support claim of whoever wrote that first paragraph. La Conner was a swingin' art town in the 30's and 40's. Sctechlaw (talk) 10:40, 21 April 2010 (UTC)

New revisions have been added which point to a long established commercial gallery with definite associations to the subject of the article. Nothing specifically objectionable in my mind except it does not allude to other galleries with equally valid association- and seems to take the article in a commercial direction. Not sure that is consistent with neutrality policy. Any thoughts? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wild salmon (talk • contribs) 05:40, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

Removed Alfred Currier. A contemporary plein are painter who happens to live in the northwest is not by their own reference and a single article, a northwest school artist... or if they are, so are 10,000 other artists. GFS — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.104.169.68 (talk) 06:49, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

Callahan spent many summers between 1939 and 1961 painting at two different studios near Granite Falls, which (to get technical here) is actually in Snohomish County, but physically on the edge of the Skagit Valley. So you could say 22 years of painting there lends some credence to the idea that he was "based" there..... sometimes, anyhow. I think including Skagit in the intro is legit, but stylistically, saying something is "based" in two different places is a little awkward to begin with. Somebody think up a creative re-phrase! (I'll try) Agree regarding Alfred Currier - a perfectly good artist w/ deeper Skagit roots than any of 'em...... but clearly in a different category. And.... once again..... a Northwest School article bypasses the important, influential interactions the "Big Four" had with Nomura, Tokita, Fujii, and various other Japantown artists. Am I overrating their importance? I think they merit a mention.Tomseattle (talk) 10:23, 27 October 2013 (UTC)

The images used in this article are all a bit deceiving. Although they are all fine examples of the various artists work, none of them could really be considered prime examples of the artists paintings and certainly not what the public should be given as examples. The Ambrose Patterson painting for example is such an early example of his work that later got much more interesting. Is anyone going to object if I try to track down some better examples? Thanks...Lumpytrout (talk) 14:06, 13 January 2014 (UTC)