Agnes Pelton

The spiritually inspired paintings of Agnes Pelton (1881–1961) are rooted in the California desert, near Cathedral City, a place where the artist settled in 1932 and lived until her death. Her paintings were described as "like small windows" that open a view into the inner self, the painter wrote about her highly symbolic works. In the 1920s, the American artist born in Stuttgart discovered abstract painting, as it offered the opportunity to translate esoteric themes, including numerology and Agni Yoga, into images, as well as to interpret earth and light spiritually. Although she repeatedly painted conventional landscapes and portraits, she was celebrated in the 1930s and 40s for her abstract compositions in numerous solo and group exhibitions in the USA and abroad. "… for the eye alone, it is an oasis of beauty," praised American Art News her work, while other reviewers admired the organic forms and lines that created metaphysical landscapes. Like her fellow artist Georgia O’Keeffe, Pelton withdrew from the hustle and bustle of the East Coast art scene to the desert, aiming to convey a message of light to the world through her works, beyond the mainstream. After her death, Pelton's work fell out of the public eye for a long time, but today her significant artistic contribution to American modernism is increasingly recognized.