In July 1959, artist Ruth Todd stood front and center in more ways than one.
Not only was she at the forefront of the Denver art scene, with a gallery show the year before in New York City, she also was featured in a front-page story in The Denver Post.
Todd sparked a minor controversy in Littleton when a judge hung five of her mostly abstract works – apparently a little more avant-garde than what most people there were used to – in his courtroom.
“There’s nothing behind the times in District Court at Littleton, Colo.,” wrote Post reporter Dick Prouty. “It’s gone modern.”
Although Todd has not made headlines like that for decades and has not had a major show in Denver since a 1991 career survey at the Payton Rule Gallery, she is still creating paintings and collages at age 96.
To make sure she is not forgotten, longtime friend Craig Marshall Smith, another Denver painter, collaborated with the Sandra Phillips Gallery to organize a handsome and, in many ways, surprising mini-retrospective.
Several veteran Colorado artists, living and deceased, have been showcased in career surveys the past couple of years, including John David Rigsby, William Sanderson and Virginia Maitland.
Judging by some of the choice works in this small exhibition, which is far from comprehensive (a local institution should undertake such a project), Todd can hold her own with any of those artists.
More than anything, she impresses with her inventive and frequently innovative use of materials, such as a pair of collages from the 1980s incorporating asphalt shingles, the byproduct of a storm that damaged area roofs.
In “Birds Eye View,” an especially striking example, she created a strong, well-defined composition by affixing portions of shingles onto a wood panel and overlaying a chunk of bark onto one section. She allows the natural colors of the materials to speak for themselves, and the raw textures give the work a compelling tactile quality.
In a series of related collages from the same period, she created scenes using rough sections of wood. A good example is “Canyon” (1983), which depicts a mesa and a cloud partially covering the moon.
In the hands of a lesser artist, such assembled compositions could sink into kitsch. But because of her keen sense of materials and willingness to let the unrefined properties of the wood stand on their own, these pieces possess an honesty and directness.
Other examples of collage include a lively, multilayered diptych titled “Space Windows II (Outward Bound)” (1972), in which affixed sections of paper and raw canvas have been carefully combined with a variety of painted sections, ranging from a patch of lemon yellow to a floating, speckled rectangle.
As effective as many of those collages are, probably her most startling and imaginative use of materials can be found in “The Silences” (ca. 1960s), a 43-by-98-inch diptych in which she literally incorporated portions of a charred wooden wall.
The simple power of the unbroken field of blackness, which Todd has subtly highlighted, and the geometric repetition of the crackled surface is breathtaking. The work’s unusually evocative title goes far in expressing its lingering emotional impact.
All that would have been enough to establish Todd’s reputation, but she was equally well known for her paintings. In keeping with her experimental spirit, they were anything but traditional.
She added sawdust to the surfaces. It resulted in a strange yet appealing surface and gave the compositions a slightly blurred effect. The latter only enhances “A Little Cloud,” a soft-hued, impressionistic landscape reminiscent of Monet’s late, largely abstract works.
Also in this vein is another of the show’s key works – “Rising Magma,” with its angled, irregular strips of black, teal and a potent, eye-catching red-orange. It was featured in a 1955 exhibition at the May Co. department store and pictured in The Post.
Todd has played a small yet significant role in Colorado art history, and her contributions deserve to be remembered.
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-820-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
“Ruth Todd: A Tribute”
THROUGH APRIL 1|Mini-retrospective of paintings and collages|Sandra Phillips Gallery, 744 Santa Fe Drive|FREE|12:30-5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 12:30-4 p.m. Saturdays (303-573-5969 or sandraphillipsgallery.com)
