Wisconsin Pastorale: The Early Paintings of Lois Ireland

Wisconsin Pastorale: The Early Paintings of Lois Ireland

State Street Gallery: May 16 through July 19, 2015

A confident line and deft handling of color distinguish the work of Lois Ireland, a child prodigy who became an accomplished painter early in life. Wisconsin Pastorale: The Early Paintings of Lois Ireland presents a selection of Lois Ireland’s Wisconsin landscape paintings. Ireland embraced American Regionalism, a revival of Realism that took place around World War II. This movement celebrated national identity and offered the beauty and simplicity of the countryside as an antidote to the rigors of the modern age. Ireland’s work, when she was just fourteen, caught the attention of John Steuart Curry, the famed American Regionalist painter who quickly became her mentor. She produced her most important regionalist work over the next decade, through her teens and early 20s, continuing the tradition of such well-known artists as Curry, Thomas Hart Benton, and Grant Wood. Wisconsin Pastorale: The Early Paintings of Lois Ireland, presents over twenty of Ireland’s paintings from this period.

Friday, June 5 ·  6–9 pm ·  Main Galleries and Rooftop                MMoCA Nights

Come to MMoCA on the first Friday in June to enjoy the openings of three summer exhibitions: Coordinates, Warrington Colescott’s portfolio, Death in Venice, and regionalist works in Wisconsin Pastorale: The Early Paintings of Lois Ireland. View the works in the exhibitions throughout the evening, and hear a compelling gallery talk on Lois Ireland’s early works at 6:30 pm with MMoCA’s curator, Richard H. Axsom. The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra will perform live music in the Rooftop Sculpture Garden, and Fresco will serve seasonal hors d’oeuvres. Members free/$10 MMoCA Nights admission.