I don't think I've ever posted any photos of paintings by Philip C Curtis on my blog before. I'm surprised that I haven't because I have a special fondness for his work. Curtis was born in 1907 in Michigan and he studied law before enrolling in a the fine arts school at Yale University. He went to work for the Works Progress Administration (WPA), part of President Roosevelt's New Deal law.
In 1937 he was sent to Arizona to organize the state's first Art Center in Phoenix. That art center later became the Phoenix Art Museum. In 1947, he made Arizona his permanent home. He lived in Scottsdale until his death in 2000.
As you can see from the paintings I've chosen for this post, he was a surrealist painter. I think the museum's description of his style is perfect:
"Drawing inspiration from the Arizona Desert and through the lens of magic realism, he created landscapes and figural compositions that often included Victorian-style subjects to complete his surrealist fantasies about human life and relationships."
The newly remodeled wing of the Phoenix Art Museum has a gallery dedicated to the works of Philip C Curtis. Many of the paintings in that gallery I had seen before in different locations but it also had some new ones that I hadn't seen before.
So let me tell you the names of the paintings I've shown here starting from the first photo.
1. Two Way Parade
2. The Band Concert
3. The Farewell
4. After Dinner Speakers
5. Casino
I really enjoy seeing Curtis' work so it was great to see so many all together in one place.
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