The luminous watercolor medium is very different from other kinds of painting. As

artists apply water-soluble pigments to paper, they create transparent washes that only partially conceal the surfaces underneath. Bare paper represents sunlit skies and highlights on form, while colored washes portray atmosphere, shadows and haze. Undiluted pigment outlines objects and suggests mass, while paint mixed with white (gouache) creates the opaque illusion of solidity.

This exhibition reflects the marvelous versatility of watercolorists with a wide variety of images from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. From intimate interiors to monumental abstractions, the artworks on display illustrate the flexibility of this marvelous medium.

David Roberts (British, 1796–1864)Monastery of the Carmelites, Burgos, 1832Watercolor on gray paperAcquired with funds donated by Dr. and Mrs. Arthur Witt in memory of their sons, Eric and David (99.7)

The English watercolorist David Roberts established his reputation as a painter of architectural scenes. In 1832 and 1833 he traveled through France, Spain, and Morocco in search of romantic foreign subjects. At the time, British audiences perceived Spain and Morocco as exotic places. In mid-December 1832, Roberts spent a week in Burgos, Spain, and painted this watercolor of a ruined monastery seen through an archway, as well as several other studies.

Louise Rayner (British, 1832–1924)Banqueting Hall at Haddon Hall, 1869 or earlierWatercolor and gouache on cardboardGift of Roger and Mary Bumgarner (2005.6)

Louise Rayner took up drawing at the age of fifteen, hoping to become one of the few female artists of the nineteenth century to support herself financially. Her father was her principal instructor, and she never received any formal education. Rayner first exhibited her oil paintings at the Royal Academy in London in 1852. It was not long before she began working in watercolor, exploiting the versatility of this medium, which allowed her to use both opaque gouaches and transparent washes.

In Banqueting Hall at Haddon Hall, Rayner depicts a group of figures emptying their game from a bag within an interior of Haddon Hall, a spectacular country house in Derbyshire with architecture dating to the late Gothic/early Renaissance period. Rayner’s family lived in Derbyshire for several years, and she frequently depicted Haddon Hall in her watercolors.

Prior to 1860, Rayner did not include figures in her paintings. Eventually, however, she realized that the inclusion of people made her pictures more marketable, and she became skilled in representing human activities in a quaint, picturesque manner.

Louise Rayner (British, 1832–1924)Belfry-Church of St. Nicholas near Canterbury, 1869 or earlierWatercolor and gouache on cardboardGift of Roger and Mary Bumgarner (2005.7)

During her most active period, British artist Louise Rayner painted a large number of church interiors and exteriors. In this painting, she presents a baptismal font as her primary subject. She uses opaque gouache to represent the cobblestone floor and the texture of the stone wall.

Although Rayner’s interior scenes were quite popular, she was best known in the nineteenth century for her renditions of the ancient streets of England and France. These paintings were exhibited at the Royal Academy in London, and Rayner was a frequent contributor to many important exhibitions in the capital over the course of her fifty-year career.

P. Guidetti (Italian, 19th to early 20th century?)Cordove, 19th to early 20th centuryWatercolorGift of Mr. E. J. Kahn (65.240)

Throughout the ages, the architectural ruins left behind by past cultures have intrigued generations of travelers and artists. Inspired by the aesthetic beauty of these remains, many nineteenth-century artists projected their personal interests and fantasies onto these ruins, creating nostalgic and exotic paintings, prints, and drawings. In this painting, the artist emphasizes the grandeur of architecture by placing a human figure in front of the ruin.

Cordove is an excellent example of a nineteenth to early twentieth-century landscape watercolor. The image may have been painted in the open air, as layers of washes create the illusion of light-infused atmosphere. Passages of blended color delineate form, and the white of the paper represents surface highlights.

Abraham Walkowitz (American, 1878–1965)Cityscape Abstraction, 1913–1917Watercolor, charcoal, and pencilGift of the artist (60.2)

Abraham Walkowitz emigrated from Russia to New York City in 1889, and five years later, he began to study drawing at the Educational Alliance. In 1912 he had a one-man show at the avant-garde 291 gallery of Alfred Stieglitz. During this “291 period,” Walkowitz explored many different styles in his search for a bridge between sound and color, sequential movement, and form. He was influenced by the writings of Wassily Kandinsky and intrigued by the work of the Orphic Cubist/Synchronists, Stanton Macdonald-Wright and Morgan Russell. Eleven of Walkowitz’s works were included in the pivotal Armory Show of 1913, and Cityscape Abstraction relates closely to the artist’s “improvisations” of this period, giving visual form to sensory experience and movement.

Lyonel Feininger (American, 1871–1956)Sachsenhausen, 1924WatercolorGift of the MU Student Fee Capital Improvements Committee (85.18)

Lyonel Feininger began his artistic career in 1887 as a student in the Berlin Academy of Art. In 1919 he was appointed the first Master of Form at the Bauhaus, a progressive art school that advocated modernist principals and the equality of artists. In the 1920s, the power of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialists threatened the Bauhaus’ existence, and news of this threat first reached Feininger at his summer retreat in August of 1924. The following day, the artist painted the modernist watercolor, Sachsenhausen, an image of a medieval village in East Germany. This town would become the site of a Nazi concentration camp twelve years later.

Feininger’s depiction of Sachsenhausen’s historic vernacular architecture reflects his interest in cubism. His use of transparent watercolor washes allows him to create a delicate landscape in which light illuminates broken planes and crystalline forms.

Arthur Feudel (American 1857–1929)Fishing Boats on the Beach at Katwijk aan Zee, 1929Watercolor and gouache Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Donald N. Wilber (75.51)

Arthur Feudel began his career working in a porcelain factory as a flower painter in the city of Meissen. He later taught at the Dresden Academy for one year and the Munich Academy for four years, and eventually moved to Chicago, becoming a naturalized American citizen in 1892. In 1897 he moved to New York and continued to promote himself as a painter.

Feudal was a painter of portraits and genre scenes, and his depictions of rustic life were highly esteemed in the nineteenth century. This watercolor is typical of his seascapes, as the artist represents fishing boats on the beach at Katwijk aan Zee (a beach on the seacoast of Holland, ten miles north of The Hague). The artist exploits the transparent qualities of the watercolor medium to suggest the atmospheric quality of a cloudy, gray day on the coast.

William Sommer (American, 1867–1949)Girl in Blue, 1937Watercolor on heavy paperGift of William L. Hutton (93.27)

After visiting the groundbreaking Armory Show in New York City in 1913, American artist William Sommer began to apply the innovations of the European Modernists to his pictures representing the American Midwest. By the 1930s, children became one of his favorite subjects, and he employed the girls and boys from his rural Ohio neighborhood as models.

In Girl in Blue, the flat, geometric areas of color and the use of distortion as a means of expression reflect the influence of Paul Cézanne, whom Sommer revered. Sommer is also known for the psychological intensity of his images, a quality clearly evident in this powerful portrayal.

Miguel Covarrubias (American, 1904–1957)Dancer, mid-20th centuryWatercolor and inkGift of Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Small (69.1010)

Miguel Covarrubias was born in Mexico City in 1902. He moved to New York City in 1923 and soon gained recognition as an illustrator, stage designer, and caricature artist. His art deco illustrations appeared in issues of Vogue, The New Yorker, and Vanity Fair. Covarrubias was also a scholar (specializing in Mexican art and the culture of the Island of Bali) and a good friend of Mexican painter Diego Rivera. Covarrubias’ style reflects the influence of cubism, Mexican folk art, and the lyrical abstractions of Henri Matisse. Dancer represents a female figure simplified down to essential shapes. A rhythmic relationship is established between the curves of the dancer’s body and lines that surround the figure.

David Plank (American, b. 1934)Eastern Bluebirds, 1974WatercolorGift of Mr. Joseph O. Fischer in honor of Dr. Saul Weinberg (77.97)

David Plank, a self-taught watercolorist, bases his careful studies of birds entirely on his own observations and sketches from nature. He never “borrows” designs or compositions from previous painters of similar subjects, and his keen understanding of birds is reflected in the liveliness of the poses and the careful rendering of the forms.

In this watercolor representing Missouri’s state bird, the Eastern bluebird, Plank works in a conservative, traditional manner. He meticulously represents the texture of the feathers and the play of light across the form, creating an image that recalls the great ornithological paintings and prints of the nineteenth century.

Douglass Freed (American, b. 1944)Icon Study #2-84, 1984Watercolor and acrylic on paperGift of Don and Carole Patterson (91.293)

Missouri artist Douglass Freed became nationally known for his architectonic paintings built from geometrically shaped canvases that interlocked like pieces of a puzzle. Influenced by the great color-field painters of the 60s and 70s, his canvasses often exhibit chromatic planes that seem to be infused with light. In this painting, Freed combines transparent watercolor and opaque acrylic to create a complex study of color and form.

Freed continues to work as an artist and to exhibit his paintings nationally. His most recent work is representational, depicting light-filled landscapes in which luminous skies recall his earlier abstractions. Freed also applied his extensive knowledge of modern and contemporary art to his work as director of the Daum Museum in Sedalia, Missouri.

Keith Crown (American, 1918–2010)The Museum of Art and Archaeology and Overview, 1993Watercolor on paperCommissioned by the Museum from the artist (93.3)

Keith Crown was born in 1918 in Keokuk, Iowa. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, earning his BFA in 1946. Drafted into the army in 1941, he served in the Pacific during World War II and was awarded the bronze star. When he returned from combat, Crown became a professor of painting and drawing at the University of Southern California. He retired in 1983 and later moved to Columbia, Missouri, where he resided until his death.

The Museum of Art and Archaeology and Overview is an unusual example of a monumental watercolor. The composition is made up of two large sheets of paper: at the top is the profile of Pickard Hall, filled with examples of art from the Museum’s collection; at the bottom is the landscape around the quadrangle. Crown represents several views simultaneously in order to portray the temporal experience of seeing the Museum and its surroundings. When the Museum acquired the mural, Crown informed the staff that the painting could be displayed either horizontally or vertically. When hung vertically, viewers focus attention on Crown’s depiction of the Museum and its contents. When hung horizontally, viewers concentrate on the spectacular landscapes.