Simple Pleasures: The Art of Doris Lee

Simple Pleasures: The Art of Doris Lee presents the first major critical assessment of works by the artist Doris Lee (1904 – 1983). Lee was one of the most recognized artists in the country during the 1930s and 40s and a leading figure in the Woodstock Artist’s Colony. In response to the rise of Abstract Expressionism in the decades after World War II, Lee deftly absorbed these innovations into a continuation of her own visual style. Lee’s body of work reveals a remarkable ability to merge the reduction of abstraction with the appeal of the everyday and offers a coherent visual identity that successfully bridged various artistic “camps” that arose in the post-World War II era.

Co-curated by Barbara L. Jones and Melissa Wolfe, Curator of American Art, Saint Louis Art Museum, Simple Pleasures will include over 70 works by the artist spanning from the 1930s through the 1960s from both public and private collections and be comprised of paintings, drawings, prints, and commissioned commercial designs in fabric and pottery.  There will also be a small group of ephemera, such as advertisements by companies that commissioned images from Lee. A fully illustrated, full-color catalogue with four essays will accompany the exhibition, and is available for sale now in The Westmoreland’s Museum Shop and online.

The exhibition will travel to three additional venues: Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA (February 5 – May 8, 2022), Vero Beach Museum of Art, FL (June 5 – September 18, 2022), and Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, TN (October 30, 2022 – January 15, 2023).

Barbara Jones, Chief Curator of The Westmoreland and co-curator of this exhibition, invites you to come experience Simple Pleasures: The Art of Doris Lee, even if you only have 30 minutes or less to visit!

Find out the top 10 works Barbara recommends viewing by clicking here to read the short blog 30 Minutes with Doris Lee: Top 10 Works to See.

Laurel Highlands Heritage Happenings Radio Show Podcast:
Hear our Chief Curator Barbara Jones discuss the creation of Simple Pleasures on the Laurel Highlands Heritage Happenings Radio Show Podcast!

Simple Pleasures: The Art of Doris Lee is generously supported by The Henry Luce Foundation, The Barrie A. and Deedee Wigmore Foundation, The Richard C. von Hess Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, The Fine Foundation, and the Hillman Exhibition Fund of The Westmoreland Museum of American Art.