Ethel Magafan, Springtime in the Mountains, c. 1961. Tempera paint on board; 40 x 50 in. Denver Art Museum: Julie and Robert Lewis Collection at the Denver Art Museum, 2018.656.

height: 40 in, 101.6 cm; width: 50 in, 127 cm

Petrie Institute of Western American Art

Petrie Institute of Western American Art

This object is currently on view

Ethel Magafan grew up in Colorado and studied with Frank Mechau, who taught her the technique of mural painting. She won numerous government-funded mural commissions before relocating to Woodstock, New York. There, Magafan established a long and successful career as an artist. This painting reflects her embrace of abstraction combined with her love of the Colorado Rockies, to which she regularly returned for inspiration. 

Ethel Magafan se crió en Colorado y estudió con Frank Mechau, de quien aprendió la técnica de la pintura mural. Ganó numerosas comisiones de murales financiada por el gobierno antes de reubicarse en Woodstock, Nueva York. Allí, Magafan gozó de una larga y exitosa carrera como artista. Esta pintura evidencia su adopción de la abstracción, además de su amor por las montañas Rocosas de Colorado, a las que regresaba regularmente para inspirarse.

Artist; By descent to her daughter Jenne Currie; Rob Lewis, 2015; Gift to the Denver Art Museum, 2018