The great variety of structures shown in the Mormon Moderne exhibition reflects the Church's search for appropriate new images of itself as it emerged from the isolation of its pioneer past into the mainstream of early 20th-century American life. Utah scenes evoking feelings of rest, peace, and nostalgia. Many include pastures, barns, and farm animals, while some are peaceful slices of nature. None of the paintings depict the deserts, canyons, red cliffs, or wilderness famous in Utah. The selected images provoke questions about the portrayal of pastoral scenes in an area of the country that is a desert.
Recent scholarship explores the appeal of the pastoral as an innate search for pastoral iconography.
Plans One hundred years ago, in the summer of 1900, Maynard Dixon journeyed into the Southwest from his native California. It was the first of many trips he would take during his lifetime to sketch and paint in the remote western regions of the country. Throughout his life, Dixon would visit and paint among the Navajo, Hopi, Nez Perce, and Kootenai tribes. The horrors of W.W.I only served to exacerbate his rejection of the modern world. His trips produced not only landscapes but images of North Americans often depicted in contemplative poses within a natural setting.