Oregon Painters

Since the first edition of Oregon Painters was published in 1999, it has served as an invaluable reference to the early history of Northwest art. The original volume was an encyclopedia and index of Oregon painters, with historical data about the evolution of painting styles, educational institutions, and exhibition venues in the Northwest. Oregon Painters: Landscape to Modernism, 1859–1959 expands the focus on the history of painting in Oregon while using more and better visual examples to illustrate the strength of the state’s early painters.
 
Concise essays address Indigenous art, the Lewis and Clark Exposition, the Impressionist and Modernist movements, and the Federal Art Projects in Oregon. The biographical section is now fully illustrated with color images of many of the 630 painters’ works. A list of 4,000 additional artists supplements the biographies.
 
Little has been written about the early history of Northwest art. This volume serves as a valuable resource for discovering artists who remain largely unknown but whose works continue to gain in reputation and value. Filled with faithful full-color reproductions from institutional and private collections, Oregon Painters will be treasured by art students, scholars, teachers, gallery owners, museumgoers, collectors, and art lovers everywhere.

Ginny Allen is an art historian. She received a BA in French and art history from Willamette University and has been an active docent at the Portland Art Museum for thirty-five years. She coauthored the first edition of Oregon Painters and has published articles in the Oregon Historical Quarterly and American Art Review.

Jody Klevit received a BS in education from Temple University. She was an active member of the docent program of the Portland Art Museum for forty years and was a cofounder of the Native American Art Council of the Portland Art Museum. She coauthored the first edition of Oregon Painters and served as a consultant for the exhibition of the Saward Art Collection, one of the premier corporate collections of work by Northwest artists from the 1950s to the 1970s.