Lush: Prolific Nature

A framed landscape painting depicting trees and overgrowth on top of the ruins of an old building.

Jasper Cropsey, North America, United States (1823 - 1900), Solitude, The Pontine Marshes, Italy, 1850, oil on canvas, 53 x 69”. Gift of Robert L. Stearns, CU Art Museum, University of Colorado Boulder, 60.261. Photo by Jeff Wells, © CU Art Museum.

A Persian tile featuring green and yellow floral designs and part of a white horse on a vibrant blue background.

Unidentified artist, Persia, Architectural tile, 17th - 18th century, glazed ceramic tile, 9 3/8 x 9 7/8”. Gift of John D. Hoag, CU Art Museum, University of Colorado Boulder, 95.04.06. Photo by Wes Magyar, © CU Art Museum.

A pastel painterly print depicting a garden box with yellow and pink roses, and a trellis in the background.

Sandra Kaplan, North America, United States b. 1943, Pool, 1987, mono print on paper, 35 x 36”. Purchased as part of The Sharkive, with funds from over 200 donors, CU Art Museum, University of Colorado Boulder, S2019.443. Photo by Wes Magyar, © CU Art Museum."

On view mid July 27, 2023–June 2024.

Drawn from the museum’s collections, Lush: Prolific Nature brings together artworks that picture the natural world. Dense botanicals and landscapes--both real and imagined--speak to the ways artists in different time periods and geographies have turned to nature to envision paradise, grapple with environmental change and describe interdependencies of our ecosystems.