The Petrie Institute of Western American Art at the Denver Art Museum is dedicating its annual symposium to the ongoing museum exhibition Southwest Impressions,featuring prints from the Barbara J. Thompson Collection. The symposium and its panelists will explore Western-inspired works on paper.
C.A. Seward (1884-1939), Sunshine and Shower, 1928, lithograph on paper; 12 7⁄8 x 14 ½ in. Denver Art Museum: Gift of Barbara J. Thompson in Memory of C.A. Seward, 2024.94. © Estate of C.A. Seward.
“Southwest Impressions acknowledges the important role of printmaking in Western American art, particularly during the first half of the 20th century,” says the museum of the exhibition. “Presented in two rotations of around 50 prints each, visitors will be guided through a range of print processes including intaglio, block printing, lithography and serigraphy.”
Attendees with find impressive works like the woodblock print Big John (Taos Indian John Lujan), 1927, by Howard Cook (1901-1980), depicting a seated Native American figure in compelling black-and-white contrast. Also presented in black and white is the lithograph Sunshine and Shower, 1928, by C.A. Seward (1884-1939). A bit of color is found in the serigraph Taos Mission,1946, by Anna Barry (1907-2001), featuring a nocturne scene and figures with the mission as the backdrop.
Anna Barry (1907-2001), Taos Mission, 1946, serigraph on paper; 5 x 6 7⁄8 in. Denver Art Museum: Gift of Barbara J. Thompson in memory of C. A. Seward. 2023.554.
As for the symposium, guests can expect to hear about the “multi-faceted stories of inspiration, exchange and artistic excellence,” the museum shares. “In conjunction, this symposium will consider an array of American printmakers’ stories and techniques from the late 1800s into the mid-1900s as they sought to capture and express their impressions of the region.”
Speakers include Emily Friedman, Allen and Kelli Questrom assistant curator of prints and drawings, Coreen Mary Spellman and the Dallas Printmaker’s Guild; Clare Kobasa, associate curator of prints, drawings and photographs, Art to Share: WPA Printmaking in the Southwest; Erin Maynes, associate curator, prints and drawings and Rifkind Center for German expressionist studies, Carving a Place: Women and the Color Woodcut Movement in the American West; and Steve Stoops, gallerist, The Prairie Printmakers Venture West.
Howard Cook (1901-1980), Big John (Taos Indian John Lujan), 1927, woodblock print on paper; 13 1⁄8 x 11 7⁄8 in. Denver Art Museum: Gift of Barbara J. Thompson in Memory of C.A. Seward. 2024.26.
Visit the Denver Art Museum’s Sharp Auditorium on January 16 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to take part in the symposium. The exhibition remains on view at the Denver Art Museum throughout 2026. —
Southwest Impressions: A Broader Perspective
January 16, 2026, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Denver Art Museum
100 W. 14th Avenue Parkway
Denver, CO 80204, (720) 865-5000
www.denverartmuseum.org
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