DOLORES, Colo. - An exhibit featuring paintings by beloved Four Corners artist Stanton Englehart will open at the Anasazi Heritage Center on Sunday, May 12.
Englehart is best known for his huge, luminous landscapes with vivid colors that evoke the inner spirit of the Colorado Plateau.
The current exhibition, titled “Arches,” features paintings from the private collection of the Englehart Family Trust. The show focuses on the recurring form of arches in Englehart’s work, and it is curated by his daughter Sharon Englehart of Mancos, a painter in her own right.
“The title references a characteristic form in our local landscape, but also the internal feminine support that nourishes and supports us,” said Sharon Englehart.
The collection includes large oils and mixed-media paintings, which are being shown to the public for the first time.
“Ours is an epoch when many people want to move away from a polarized, aggressive energy toward a balanced, more expansive energy,” she said. “In the paintings I selected, profound strength meets the delicate moment-to-moment reality of our existence. That encounter was interpreted in line and color by my father, a master painter, who spent a lifetime studying both.”
Stanton Englehart grew up in Lewis, and passed away in 2009. As a young man he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Colorado in Boulder, but returned to the Four Corners to live and paint. He founded the art department at Fort Lewis College and retired in 1991 after 30 years on the faculty there.
The book, Stanton Englehart: A Life on Canvas, will be available for sale in the museum’s gift shop. A short film featuring the artist and his work accompanies the exhibit.
A reception and celebration will begin at 1 p.m. and feature remarks by guest curator Sharon Englehart and light refreshments. All art lovers are invited to attend, and admission to the Anasazi Heritage Center is free throughout the day.
The BLM Anasazi Heritage Center is located three miles west of Dolores, Colo., on Highway 184. The museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information, call 970-882-5600 or go to www.co.blm.gov/ahc.
