Clyfford Still played a key role in the rise of abstract expression, a 1940s and ’50s movement that unequivocally established the United States as the center of the art world.
Alarmed in the 1970s by the rampant development and commercialism that was transforming Colorado, Robert Adams began creating quietly subversive images of the West that reshaped American photography and earned him a towering place in the state’s art history.
Shaped by the social and cultural upheavals of the 1960s, Clark Richert has gone on to become Colorado’s most important living painter, creating large-scale canvases that innovatively merge the worlds of art and science.
All three artists will be the focus of major showcases of their work this fall in Denver.
Although Still has no direct connection to Denver, officials were able to persuade his wife, Patricia, to deed his estate to the city in 2004 on the condition that it build a museum for the artist’s holdings.
The resulting 28,500-square- foot institution, located on Bannock Street just west of the Denver Art Museum’s Hamilton Building, will house more than 2,400 works by the still-enigmatic painter — about 94 percent of everything he created. It is set to open Nov. 18. (720-865-4317 or )
Adams, a 1955 graduate of Wheat Ridge High School, will be featured in “The Place We Live,” a traveling retrospective that will make its first stop at the Denver Art Museum from Sept. 25 through Jan. 2. (720-865-5000 or )
Organized by the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Conn., which owns a complete holding of his life’s work, the exhibition will comprise more than 200 black- and-white photographs spanning Adams’ 45-year career.
Richert will have a prominent place in “West of Center: Art and the Counterculture Experiment in America, 1965-77,” an ambitious look at this tumultuous era organized by the Museum of Contemporary Denver. It will be on view Nov. 10-Feb. 19 (303-298- 7554 or )
In conjunction with that offering, Rule Gallery will present “Five Zone System,” a solo show of Richert’s most recent works from Nov. 4 through Jan. 7. (303-777-9473 or )
Here is an overview of 10 other art offerings worth visiting this fall:
“Altered Nature: Notable Interpretations From South America,” through Nov. 5, Metropolitan State College of Denver, Center for Visual Art. (303-294-5207 or metrostate ) The eight artists featured in this show, including Ana Maria Hernando of Argentina and Luzia Ornelas of Brazil, respond in widely varying ways to patterns and rhythms in nature.
“New Feminisms, Revolutions Per Minute,” through Sept. 29, Emmanuel Gallery, Auraria Campus. (303-556- 8337 or ) No one talks much about feminism these days, but the movement’s ideals live on in new ways, as this six-artist exhibition makes evident.
“Prestige, Wealth and Strength: The Power of African Metal,” through Dec. 16, University Art Museum, Colorado State University, Fort Collins. (970-491-1989 or art ) This exhibition offers a wide sampling of African metalworking, which has a long and multifaceted history dating back some 2000 years.
“Points of View: Selections From Seven Colorado Collections,” Thursday through Dec. 17, University of Colorado at Boulder Art Museum. (303-492-8300 or cuart ) Viewers will have a rare opportunity to view little-exhibited acquisitions by top private art collectors along the Front Range.
“Through Soviet Jewish Eyes: Photography, War and the Holocaust,” Thursday through Oct. 22, CU Art Museum. (303-492-8300 or cuart ) Based on a book by CU professor David Schneer, this show explores World War II through the lenses of the former Soviet Union’s mostly Jewish and still little-known photojournalists.
Chuck Forsman, Sept. 15- Oct. 29, Robischon Gallery. (303-298-7788 or robischon ) Forsman, a longtime art professor at CU-Boulder, confronts an array of sociopolitical themes in his paintings, including his “Vietnamerican” series.
“A Couple of Ways of Doing Something,” Oct. 1-Jan. 1, Loveland Museum/Gallery. (970-962-2410 or ci.loveland ) This traveling exhibition features a selection of the celebrated figurative artist’s photographs of friends that he used to create now-celebrated works in a variety of media.
“Sandzen in Colorado,” Oct. 1-Jan. 8, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. (719-634- 5581 or ) Swedish-born artist Birger Sandzen spent nearly every summer from 1908 through 1952 in Colorado, creating colorful, impressionistic views of the state that continue to grow in popularity.
Jill Hadley Hooper, Oct. 21- Dec. 3, Goodwin/Fine Art. (303-573-1255 or goodwin ) Although nationally known as an illustrator, Hooper is also a compelling painter known for her hermetic, enigmatic compositions.
“Xu Beihong: Pioneer of Modern Chinese Painting,” Oct. 30-Jan. 29, Denver Art Museum. (720-865-5000 or ) One of the first Chinese artists to study in the West, Xu revolutionized painting in his country by combining Western and Eastern influences.
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
