American (1934)
About the artist:
Mumford's thematic development of the seasonal cycle is filled with expressions of mystery and lyricism reminiscent of Greek mythology. Her female figures assemble in forest glades to celebrate the rites of the season. Her figures merge silently with nature in a symphony of questioning coolness. Mumford expresses the primal relationship of mother love by enclosing her figures in a space that holds the body much like the mother holds the child. Mumford uses the environment of a forest or a given space to express her need to understand the cycle of birth, death, decay and rebirth. Her canvasses become a stage where the drama of evolution take place. All of Mumford's pieces have a fairy tale quality rich in illusionary ideas which give her myths a concrete form. Her sights transcend time and space producing a state of being suspended in limbo. In Mumford's work, one is reminded of 14th and 15th century Italian frescoes in which the stylized architecture is not merely background, but an element of the painting almost as important as the figures. Yet Mumford's environments never conflict with her figures but rather underscore their movement. The figures too, though easily recognizable as individuals, have the impersonal, archetypical quality found in pre-Renaissance Art. Mumford defines her image through color and composition. Her dreams are of a utopia where she redesigns life's passages through the fantasy she envisions of transcendence. Her exuberance and her stimulation derive from the thought of new possibilities, new visual conquests and continual growth. Daphne Mumford has a rich internal world that is sure and original. Education Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, Maine, (purchase Award, 1952) Chelsea School of Art, London, England 1952-53 Brooklyn Museum School of Art, Brooklyn, New York, 1953-54 Solo Exhibitions 1989 “Skeleton Series”, Anne Weber Gallery, Georgetown, Maine 1989 Seraphim Gallery, Englewood, New Jersey 1987 Caldbeck Gallery, Rockland, Maine 1982 “DeathDream Series”, (drawings), Landmark Gallery, NYC 1981 Galleri Cassandra, (Silkscreens), Oslo, Norway 1981 Galleri Finsrud, (Painting), Oslo, Norway 1975 and 1973 Landmark Gallery, New York City 1980 “Watercolor” Landmark Gallery, New York City 1978 “Drawings” Landmark Gallery, New York City 1976 Carlson Gallery, Arnold Bernhard Arts and Humanities Center, Bridgeport, Connecticut 1976 “A Show of Hands” Landmark Gallery, New York City 1959,1958 Area Gallery, New York City Group Exhibitions 1989 Frick Gallery, (2-person show), Belfast, Maine 1988 Bell Gallery, (watercolors, 2-person show), Woodstock, NY 1988 “New Acquisitions”, Everson Museum, Ithaca, New York 1987 “Figures in Landscape”, Mast Cove Gallery, Kennebunkport, Maine 1987, 1986, 1985 and 1984 “Artfellows Invitational”, Belfast, Maine 1986 Anne Weber Gallery, Georgetown, Maine 1986 “Mirrored Images”, Women’s Caucus Exhibition, New York University Graduate School of Business Administration, NYC 1985 “A Family of Portraits”, Caldbeck Gallery, Rockland, Maine 1985 “The Gathering of Avant Garde” – Artists of the Fifties, Kenkelba House Inc., New York City 1984 4 Portraiturists, Suzanne Gross Gallery, Philadelphia, Pa. 1983 “Images and Imagists”, Pace Gallery, New York City 1982 “Nature: Image and Metaphor”, The women’s Caucus, Greene Space, New York City 1981 “Tenth Street Days”, The Co-ops of the 50’s, Pleiades Gallery, New York City 1982-1981 “The Chair”, Thorpe Intermedia Gallery, Sparkhill, NY 1982 “Tenth Anniversary Exhibition”, Landmark Gallery, NYC 1982-1972 “Drawings”, Landmark Gallery, New York City 1981-1972 “118 Artists Exhibition” Landmark Gallery, New York City 1980 “The Language of Symbols”, Landmark Gallery, New York City 1978 “Painting and Drawing, 1978”, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana 1978 Butler Institute, Youngstown, Ohio 1978 “The Figure, 13 Ways”, Landmark Gallery, New York City 1977 Cape Split Gallery, Addison, Maine 1977-1973 Maine Coast Artists, Rockport, Maine 1977 “10th Street, Now”, Landmark Gallery, New York City 1977 “10th Street – Co-ops of the 50’s”, NoHo Gallery, New York City 1976 “Ouvrez la fenetre”, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Indiana 1976 Verle #2, Hartford, Connecticut 1975 The Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York City 1975 “Landscapes”, Landmark Gallery, New York City 1974 “63rd Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting”, Randolph Macon Women’s College, Virginia 1974 “The Figure, Eight Artists”, Landmark Gallery, New York City 1971 5-Man Show, Maine Coast Artists, Rockport, Maine 1970 2-Man Show, (Silkscreens), Horizon Gallery, New York City 1960 Hicks Street Gallery, New York City 1960, 1959, 1958 “Christmas Invitational”, Area Gallery, New York City 1960, 1959, 1958 “Members Group Show”, Area Gallery, New York City 1960 “Collage”, Area Gallery, New York City 1959 Wiscasset Art Gallery, Wiscasset, Maine 1952 Bowdoin College, Maine Public Collections Everson Museum, Ithaca, New York Museum of Arts & Sciences, Daytona Beach, Florida Vassar College Museum of Art, Massachusetts Ciba/Geigy Corporation, Ardsley, New York Boston Mutual Life Insurance Co., Canton, Massachusetts Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C. Mitchell Hutchins, Paine Weber, New York City U.S. Embassy, South Africa
Mumford's thematic development of the seasonal cycle is filled with expressions of mystery and lyricism reminiscent of Greek mythology. Her female figures assemble in forest glades to celebrate the rites of the season. Her figures merge silently