University of Iowa Museum of Art--"New Forms"

The University of Iowa Museum of Art (UIMA) was established in 1969 and is considered one of the best university art museums in the country. It has a collection of over 15,000 objects which includes the Stanley Collection of African Art and Jackson Pollock's Mural (1943). Although the UIMA lost access to its building in the 2008 flood, its collection can be seen at the following temporary locations: Black Box Theater and Visual Classroom at the Iowa Memorial Union, Old Capitol Museum, the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, and throughout the state of Iowa through its Legacies for Iowa Collections Sharing Project.

The Daily Palette is celebrating "New Forms: The Avant-Garde Meets the American Scene, 1934-1949", the UIMA's current exhibition at the Black Box Theater in the Iowa Memorial Union. The show, which is on view September 14, 2013 through December 4, 2013, presents works of art from the museum's collection of 20th century American art. The exhibition explores the complicated relationship between American Scene painting and avant-garde art, with a special focus on Iowa as "a hotbed of controversy and innovation."

This week the Daily Palette is celebrating "New Forms" by featuring four paintings by Iowa-affiliated artists that are included in the exhibition. Stay tuned for next month's week-long feature on this exciting show!

WILLIAM ASHBY MCCLOY
Spirit of Self Sacrifice, oil on masonite, 17" x 11 1/2", 1943

Gift of the Slater Museum, 2007.55

Image courtesy of University of Iowa Museum of Art

Although William Ashby McCloy (1913-2000) was not raised in Iowa, he spent much of his adult life in Iowa as both a student and a professor.  He studied at the University of Iowa where he earned a BA in Art in 1933, an MA in the Psychology of Art in 1936, an MFA in Painting in 1949, and a PhD in Art History in 1958.  He also worked as Assistant Professor of Art at Drake University in Des Moines from 1937-39.  McCloy is not a well-known painter, but he worked with many prominent artists during his career, including Iowa's own Mauricio Lasansky and Grant Wood.