Inside Out Landscape

Date1972

Label TextIn the 1970s, Mason gained national attention for his Burpee Garden series. Inside Out Landscape is a significant example from this body of work: large-scale canvases originating from several watercolors the artist had completed earlier. Named for seed packets sold by the Pennsylvania seed company, Burpee, Mason created images that are colorful abstractions which suggest amorphous and visually intoxicating landscapes. It is in these works that we see Mason's dialogue with a generation of artists who preceded him, such as the American color field painters Morris Louis and Helen Frankenthaler, who were working in New York in the 1950s and 1960s.

Object number83.167

Provenance[Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle, Wash.]; purchased by Herschel and Caryl Roman, Seattle, Wash.; gifted to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Wash., Dec. 5, 1983

Photo CreditPhoto: Susan Cole

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Alden Mason, Nov. 6, 2010 - July 17, 2011.Published ReferencesHull, Roger, et al. Alden Mason Paintings. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2021; p. 105, reproduced pl. 22.

Credit LineGift of Herschel and Caryl Roman in honor of the museum's 50th year

Dimensions70 x 80 in. (177.8 x 203.2 cm)

MediumOil on canvas