The Portland Art Museum has created an exhibition of works of art from 1845 to the present as a tribute to Mount St. Helens. As you might expect, much of the exhibition is about the eruption of 1980, but there's much, much more.
The Portland Art Museum proudly presents this tribute to Mount St. Helens on the fortieth anniversary of the eruptions of 1980. Spanning the period from 1845 to the present, this exhibition is the first survey of works of art inspired by the mountain. Although 175 years is barely a blip in geologic time, the art bears witness to an extraordinary era in the long, cyclical life of the volcano.
The beauty of Mount St. Helens has ranged from bucolic to savage. Before the eruptions, painters delighted in depicting its pleasing conical shape rising high above the verdant landscape. The 1980 eruptions challenged artists to capture the thrilling and terrifying displays of nature’s sublime power. When the smoke cleared, the new apocalyptic face of Mount St. Helens compelled the depiction of its haunting majesty. Since then, the rapid return of life to the mountain has captured the attention of photographers as well as scientists from many fields. Although the volcano seems to have reclaimed its serenity, some artists have begun to look to the future. Mount St. Helens will erupt again.
I'm not a big fan of online art exhibitions; most of the ones that I've seen don't provide enough details about the art. This one is an exception. It's logically organized and beautifully presented with introductions to each section and details for each work of art. I was glad to see that there is much photography in the exhibition, most of it unknown to me.
The painting below from the Royal Ontario Museum is by Paul Kane from around 1850.
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