Tucson, AZ
Tucson Museum of Art, through September 20
Tom Palmore, Texas Jack, 1988, acrylic, 72 x 96. Private collection New Mexico.
This story was featured in the June 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art June 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
FROM THE TIME she opened her first art gallery in Scottsdale, AZ, in 1973, until her death in 1991, Elaine Horwitch made a name for herself as a prominent art dealer, boldly championing contemporary art during an era when traditional and romanticized depictions of the West were the norm. “In those days, it was radical and almost irreverent,” says the Tucson Museum of Art’s chief curator, Julie Sasse, Ph.D., of the eclectic and often avant-garde artistic styles Horwitch espoused. “Some of it was playful, some of it was furious, and some of it was bigger, bolder, and assertive in a new kind of way.”
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- Mark McDowell, Blue Chair With Empty Ashtray, 1985, acrylic, 60 x 51. Courtesy of the artist.
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- Dick Jemison, Detritus Series IV, 2007, mixed media, 60 x 40. Collection of the Tucson Museum of Art.
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- Douglas Kent Hall, Mesquite Texas, 1973, silver gelatin print, 26 x 32. © Douglas Kent Hall Estate.
Horwitch’s influence on the western art world remains visible even now, nearly 30 years after her death. For evidence, one need look no further than a new exhibition curated by Sasse entitled Southwest Rising: Contemporary Art and the Legacy of Elaine Horwitch. Drawing from the museum’s own collection and from various other private and institutional collections, the show comprises paintings, photographs, and sculpture by about 100 artists Horwitch represented during her career, including such respected names as Billy Schenck, Joe Baker, John Fincher, Howard Post, Tom Palmore, Susan Hertel, and Fritz Scholder. Although the museum was closed at press time due to public health concerns, the show has been extended through September 20 in hopes that art lovers can visit the exhibition in person when the museum reopens.
Until then, virtual visitors can head to the museum’s website, where video tours hosted by Sasse provide a colorful peek into the exhibit. “Some of these pieces are like old friends of mine,” she says. “I remember selling some of them.” Sasse worked at Elaine Horwitch Galleries from 1980 until 1995 and remembers Horwitch herself as a tireless and confident dealer whose customary attire comprised cowboy boots, concho belts, prairie skirts, and aviator sunglasses. She also liked to tote a pearl-handled Smith & Wesson pistol that, to many who knew her, gave her the appearance of a modern-day Annie Oakley.
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- Joe Baker, Camp Horwitch, 1985, oil, 66 x 106. Courtesy of the artist.
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- Douglas Johnson, Alors on Danse, 2015, gouache, 5 x 9. Collection of the Tucson Museum of Art.
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- David Bradley, The Tradition Lives On, 2007, acrylic, 36 x 73. Heard Museum Collection, Gift of Alice J. Fleet Dickey.
Not surprisingly, her feisty self-assurance carried over to her maverick choices as an art dealer. Horwitch, who also opened galleries in Sedona, Santa Fe, and Palm Springs, promoted artistic styles ranging from cheeky, humorous portrayals of modern life in the Southwest to pure abstraction, and she played an instrumental role in the rise of Southwest pop. “Suddenly, it was okay to look at the Southwest of today instead of the Southwest of the 1800s,” says Sasse. “Elaine was a wacky character, but she knew what she was doing,” she adds. “She made an impact, and she always, always did it her way. That, to me, was a real education in how to be your own person.”
In a book that accompanies the exhibition, Sasse chronicles the contributions of Horwitch and other early contemporary gallerists in Arizona and New Mexico and the pivotal era during which they worked. The book—co-published by the Tucson Museum of Art and Cattle Track Arts & Preservation, and available for purchase on the museum’s website—captures what Sasse describes as a magical time. “It was like the Camelot of the art world in the Southwest,” she says. —Kim Agricola
contact information
520.624.2333
www.tucsonmuseumofart.org
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- John Fincher, West of Roswell, 2014, oil, 54 x 84. From the collection of Robin S. Black.
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- Howard Post, The Bull Pen, 1978, oil, 42 x 60. Collection of the Tucson Museum of Art. Gift of Lynn Taber.
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- Bob Wade, Cowgirls & Harleys, 2016, acrylic/digital canvas, 17 x 48. Collection of the Tucson Museum of Art.
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- Anne Coe, Getting Supplies, acrylic, 35 x 45. Private collection. Courtesy of the artist.
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- James Havard, Brahma Spread, 1980, acrylic, 72 x 60. Private collection. Courtesy of the artist.
This story was featured in the June 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art June 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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