FORREST MOSES THE ARTFUL HEART
L 10/12, 2010
monotype, 15.75 x 15.50 in
Carolina Grasslands
oil on canvas, 40 x 42 in
Wood 2005, oil on board, 32 x 32 in
Winter
FORREST MOSES: THE ARTFUL HEART
Both the artist and the man, Forrest Moses (1934-2021), is the epitome of living artfully. He was ever-present in the moment, experiencing and discovering beauty in whatever was before him no matter how large or small. Whether in a priceless ancient Chinese ceramic or a broken shard of indeterminate origin, Moses would see meaning and find joy. And so it is with his art. It was in the land that he discovered inspiration for art making. Whether in lush sylvan woods or arid desert mesas, he experienced moments of great exaltation and, in embracing them, he translated that feeling into his art.
This spiritual approach to landscape painting manifests in the extraordinary finesse Moses came to possess in coordination between mind, eye, and hand, giving the resulting brush strokes on his canvases and in his monotypes their remarkable spontaneity, strength and beauty. Moses painted as much with his heart as he did with his mind and that made all the difference.
He was influenced too by post-World War II Abstract Expressionism that was prevalent in New York during the early stages of his career. He was impressed by the power of gesture, marks, and abstraction to create imagery that could have transformative effects on viewers. He sensed a congruence between aspects of this genre and his own appreciation for the inherent benefits of reduction and simplification of observed elements in the way he was intuiting his experience of the land in art. Combined with his increasing affinity for the Japanese aesthetic ideas of wabi-sabi – that materials become more complex and beautiful in transition as they age by decay and transformation – this technique of becoming “mindless of the brush” to allow it to flow directly from his intuitive sensibility, became Moses’ principal mode of creating.
Taking account of his approach to experiencing and making art and, in light now of the years following his passing, the work of Forrest Moses invites a deeper, reflective contemplation of his singular contribution to abstracted landscape painting in America. Far from being mere visual depictions of scenery, Moses’ canvases and monotypes stand as profound meditations— visual articulations of an especially active and thoughtful appreciation of being in nature, filtered through a refined artistic sensibility and a deeply spiritual philosophical practice. His work consistently represents a uniquely expressionistic response to a figurative subject, transforming the landscape from a literal object of representation into an evocative imprint of the artist’s intuitive truth and essential experience of a place. Even his work that features recognizable elements of landscape transcends mere visual depiction, translating the sensory totality of a locale—the cool touch of a mountain breeze, the scent of the morning, the echo of birdsong—into an experience that has the capacity to transport the viewer. Defined by a commitment to the rhythmic and complex deployment of color and line, his work powerfully conveys the sublime, immersive quality of the natural world.
The foundational impulse in Moses’ oeuvre is one akin to surrender and immersed in deep contemplation. Moses’ creative process is an act of reverence for the natural world. He approached his materials with a concept he called “an open heart,” creating works separate from his ego. This disciplined, meditative approach often inspired by an Eastern aesthetic and emulating the discipline of the craftsman, resulted in paintings that let go of preoccupation
Mountain Water 2008, oil on canvas, 50 x 60 in
Winter Pond 2005, oil on canvas, 78 x 50 in
with process and instead replaced it with mindfulness of the moment. His graceful images come from a place that he described as conceding his own individual consciousness to intuitive reactions to nature’s currents. The resulting images of quiescent tranquility are drawn from solitary moments of substantive experience in the landscape, where his heart leads his mind in a vision that unfolds without intention.
Moses’ paintings, therefore, function as responses to being in places, not as representations of place. He sought to convey the aliveness of the world we inhabit, channeling the “rhythms and pulses” and “up-swelling harmonies of color” with a loving honesty into his painting. His goal was not to capture the landscape with verisimilitude, but to manifest images that are more the imprint of nature’s beauty than its mere replica. Over a career spanning 50 years, this resolute vision has created a dynamic tension between abstraction and the recognizable, distilling the essential forms of nature with a reductive elegance and simple grace.
Moses’ philosophy which he once expressed as “beauty is truth and truth is beauty,” is powerfully echoed in his use of mediums such as the monotype, which, in his hands, became a tool for greater freedom of looser line and subtlety of hue to express poetically his intuitive understanding of the essences of nature. The works in both oil and monotype are the byproduct of his lifelong engagement with the experience of a place. The canvas becomes a surface for memory of being in a space filtered through the sensibilities of the artist, moving beyond mere description to a sublime, almost transcendent engagement with it.
Through wabi-sabi, Moses finds beauty in the honesty of nature, embracing
the weathered, the broken, the bare, and the ephemeral. This affirmation of beauty in truth – even though it be imperfect— is central to his vision. His distinctive calligraphic brushstrokes, so reminiscent of Japanese or Chinese brush painting, deconstruct the landscape into abstracted patches of color, transforming saplings and branches into graceful marks that embody the poetry of nature. His later period, post-2000s, shows an elegant transition toward a liberated spirit and deeply refined maturity. The more distinct, visually recognizable elements dissolve into the emotionally evocative and serenely contemplative. The change from a crisp narrative verse to the light, spare lines of haiku illustrates this distillation into essentials and intensification of artistic response.
To live among an abstracted landscape painting today is to invite an act of sustained, calm contemplation into one’s life. The painting functions as an anchor—a constant counterpoint to the modern world. It moves beyond mere decoration to become the imprint of an artist’s creative impression and experience of nature. In a life that intrudes distraction, the painting provides an oasis of comfort, stillness and solitude, embodying an everlasting experience for its owner of quiescent tranquility.
The lasting power of Forrest Moses’ work resides in its genius for extracting the sublime from the simple. His landscapes transcend mere geography to become spiritual records—not of where he was, but of how he was present in nature. This deep affirmation of tranquil, ephemeral beauty is the legacy that continues to resonate, ensuring that his art will forever remain enduringly engaging. It is the iconic example of what it is to live artfully and to share with others in his art the objects of that life well-lived.
Deep Wood Water 2006, oil on panel, 32 x 32 in
Beaver Pond
oil on board, 32 x 32 in
Meadow Pond at New Hope 1996, oil on canvas, 40 x 60 in
A Bit of Stream
2012, oil on canvas, 50 x 52 in
Tesuque Watershed, Detail #16 1980, oil on canvas, 30 x 32 in
Summer: Water Run - Sangre de Cristo #3 1982, oil on canvas, 40 x 60 in
River Bottomland at Galisteo, New Mexico, 1983, oil on linen, 40 x 42 in
Chama Meadow 1970, oil on canvas, 32 x 36 in
Desert Water at Abiquiu #2, ca. 1979, oil on linen, 36 x 50 in
Untitled (7439, Santa Fe) ca. 1973, oil on canvas, 20 x 26 in
November, Rocks & Leaves
oil on canvas, 50 x 60 in
Morning Light October 1991, oil on canvas, 72 x 48 in
F 02/02, 2002, monotype, 33.50 x 21.25 in
Iris II
1991, monotype23.25 x 8.75 in
Iris, 1993, monotype, 29.75 x 10.50in
F 02/10
2002, monotype, 10 x 9.75 in
Field of Beauty 1994, monotype, 22.75 x 34 in
FORREST MOSES: CV
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2019 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2016 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2012 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2011 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2010 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2009 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, New York, NY
2008 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2007 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
Edenhurst Gallery, Palm Desert, CA
2006 Meredith Long Gallery, Houston, TX
LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2005 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2004 Susan Duval Gallery, Aspen, CO
LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2003 Meredith Long Gallery, Houston, TX
LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2002 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2001 Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery, New York, NY
2000 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
1999 Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery, New York, NY
1998 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
1997 Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery, New York, NY
1996 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
1994 I. Wolk Gallery, St. Helena, CA
1993 Munson Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1989 Munson Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Gump’s Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1987 Munson Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1986 Munson Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Peregrine Press, Dallas, TX
Sheldon Memorial Museum Gallery, Lincoln, NE
Watson Gallery, Houston, TX
1984 Watson/de Nagy Gallery, Houston, TX
Egrets Gallery, Pasadena, CA
St. John’s College, Santa Fe, NM
1983 Watson/de Nagy Gallery, Houston, TX
Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, NY
Carson-Sapiro Gallery, Denver, CO
Eason Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Wildline Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
1982 Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, NY
1981 Spoleto Festival USA, Charleston, SC
1980 Watson/de Nagy & Company, Houston, TX
The Art Center, Waco, TX
1979 Hills’ Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Illinois State University, Normal, IL
Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM
Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, NY
1978 Museum of Fine Arts, Danville, VA
Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, WA
Watson/de Nagy & Company, Houston, TX
1977 Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, NY
William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1976 Delahunty Gallery, Dallas, TX
1975 Janus Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1974 Smither Gallery, Dallas, TX
Watson/de Nagy & Company, Houston, TX
1973 Janus Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1972 Wichita Falls Museum & Art Center, TX
1971 Janus Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1969 David Gallery, Houston, TX
1968 Stratford College, Danville, VA
1967 David Gallery, Houston, TX
1966 David Gallery, Houston, TX
1965 David Gallery, Houston, TX
1961 Washington & Lee University, Lexington, VA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2018 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2015 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2013 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2007 Los Angeles Art Show (exhibited by LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM) at Barker Hangar, Santa Monica, CA
2006 Painting – Alive and Well! Eight Master Artists, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
Diptychs, LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM,
2001 I. Wolk Gallery, St. Helena, CA
1996 Lizardi-Harp Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1995 Susan Duval Gallery, Aspen, CO
1994 Art Thomas Gallery, Charleston, SC
1992 Traveling Exhibition, Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai, Japan
1991 Damian Art, Sapporo, Japan
Damian Art, Tokyo, Japan
World Collection, Yokohama, Japan
Galerie Miyabe, Okinawa, Japan
Galerie Miyabe, Fukuoka, Japan
Crane Art, Nagoya, Japan
Crane Art, Ikebukuro, Japan
Crane Art, Tokyo, Japan
Art Dumonde, Tokyo, Japan
1987 Paper Works II, McNay Art Museum, Austin, TX,
1985 Contemporary American Monotypes, Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA,
Egypt, Munson Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1984 Contemporary Western Landscape, Museum of Art of the American West, Houston, TX
1983 American Artists as Printmakers, 23rd National Print Exhibit, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY, Print Invitational, Connecticut College, New London, CT
Abilene Fine Arts Museum, Abilene, TX
Sioux City Arts Center, Sioux City, IA
Salina Arts Center, Salina, KS
Wyoming State Museum, Cheyenne, WY
Spiva Art Center, Joplin, MO
1982 Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Lincoln, NE
1981 San Antonio Museum of Art, TX University of Houston, TX
1980 Monotypes, Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, NY
New York Realists ’80, Thorpe Intermedia Gallery, Sparkhill, NY
1979 Art of Paper ’79, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Greensboro, NC
1978 The Landscape: Different Points of View, Wave Hill, New York, NY
1976 Arco Center for Visual Arts, Los Angeles, CA Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM Roswell Museum, Roswell, NM
1975 Contemporary Landscape Painting, Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, OK
1974 Abilene Fine Arts Museum, Abilene, TX
Twelve from New Mexico (traveling exhibition)
Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio, TX; Beaumont Art Museum, Beaumont, TX; Tyler Museum, Tyler, TX
Wichita Falls Museum & Art Center, Wichita Falls, TX
1972 Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM
1966 Monterey Peninsula Museum, CA
1964 Beaumont Art Museum, Beaumont, TX Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
1961 Pratt Institute, New York, NY
Selected Collections
Amerada Hess Corporation, New York, NY
American Telephone & Telegraph, New York, NY
Ana Hotel, Tokyo, Japan
Beatrice Foods, Chicago, IL
Chicopee Manufacturing Company, Nautcenswick, NJ
Citibank, New York, NY
Deloitte Touche, Washington, DC
CRS Design Associates, Houston, TX
Dallas Arboretum, Dallas, TX
Diamond Shamrock Corporation, Dallas, TX
First National Bank of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ
General Electric, Fairfield, CT
W.R. Grace & Company, Dallas, TX
Grand Hyatt, Washington, DC
Gulf Oil Company, Houston, TX
Hilton Hotel, Chicago, IL
Houstonian Hotel, Houston, TX
Hughes Aircraft, GA
Huntington Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, TX
IBM, Tucson, AZ
Illinois State University, Normal, IL
InterFirst Bank, Dallas, TX
Jundt Art Museum, Spokane, WA
Kaiser-Permanente, Denver, CO
Keisey Seybold Clinic, Houston, TX
Kimberly Clark, Dallas, TX
La Paloma Hotel, Tucson, AZ
Little Neil, Aspen, CO
LTV Corporation, Dallas, TX
Mellon Bank, Pittsburgh, PA
Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX
Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC
Mobil Oil Company, Dallas, TX
Mountain Bell, Denver, CO
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM
Oppenheimer Management, New York, NY
Owens Corning Fiberglass, Toledo, OH
Pfizer, Inc., New York, NY
Phillips Petroleum, Denver, CO
The Phoenician Hotel, Phoenix, AZ
Princeton University
Prudential Insurance Company of America, Newark, NJ
RCA, New York, NY
Rainer Bank, Seattle, WA
Roswell Museum of Art, Roswell, NM
Simpson Timber Company, Seattle, WA
Spanish Bay Resort, Pebble Beach, CA
Sunwest Bank, Albuquerque, NM
Tesoro Petroleum, San Antonio, TX
Texas Instruments, Dallas, TX
Tobin Group, San Antonio, TX
Touche-Ross, San Francisco, CA
United Airlines, Denver, CO
US Tobacco Company, Greenwich, CT
Westin Hotel, Dallas, TX
Whitney Museum of Art, New York, NY
Wilson Industries, Houston, TX
Education
1956 BFA, Washington & Lee University, Lexington, VA 1960-62 Studied at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
