Past Museum Exhibitions

Exhibition Details

• A Solid Green Mess: Howard Cook’s World War II Drawings
• November 6, 2015-February 1, 2016
• Horgan and Graphics Galleries

Exhibition Overview
“A solid green mess,” is how artist Taos artist Howard Cook (1901-1980) described the jungles of the South Pacific in a July 4, 1943 letter to his wife, fellow artist Barbara Latham. At the time, Cook was serving as a correspondent in the War Art Program, and had been assigned to document the daily lives of American soldiers in the South Solomon Islands.

This exhibit explores Cook’s tenure with the War Art Program through a selection of his South Pacific drawings and sketches. In addition to the RMAC’s holdings, paintings on loan from the New Mexico Military Institute are on view. Visitors will also find quotations from Cook’s letters to Latham throughout the label text, allowing the artist to convey his experiences in his own words.