University of Denver Fall 2022

Images courtesy of the Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art

Just south of downtown, in a neighborhood known as the Golden Triangle, art lovers can revel in a museum devoted, in large part, to the works and legacy of Vance Kirkland (1904–1981), founding director of DU’s School of Art and Art History. The Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art intro duces visitors to the many facets of Kirkland’s career. Never satisfied with his previous works, the artist always pushed the boundaries of art, developing three unique painting

methods over his five artistic periods. As his methods evolved, Kirkland’s watercolor landscapes of the American West transitioned to abstract explosions of texture and color, and finally, in his famous dot paintings, depictions of far away nebulae. “He was an innovator,” says DU alumna Maya Wright (MA ’13), director of interpretation at the Kirkland. “He wanted to make every painting better than the last.”

FALL 2022 • UNIVERSITY of DENVER MAGAZINE | 31