Artwork copyright Alden Mason. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Fetish Bouquet, 1993

Alden Mason
(American, born 1919, died 2013)

Location: Hamblen Elementary, Spokane

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Fetish Bouquet is a stylized figurative painting by Alden Mason. This piece is part of a body of bouquet paintings. It references Mason’s childhood growing up on a farm in the Skagit Valley and his early interest in nature. He noted, “I have traveled extensively to tropical and primitive areas such as New Guinea, the Upper Amazon, and Africa. My paintings are personal symbols derived from my travels and experiences which as artist and shaman I struggle to present as relevant and universal… The bouquet is a symbol with various meanings: weddings, funerals, fertility, rebirth, etc.”

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Spokane School District.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Northwest artist and teacher Alden Mason (1919-2013) created paintings and murals characterized by their inventive figures and expressive forms. During his life, his style moved from abstract to figurative and back again.

Born in Everett, Northwestern Washington, Mason received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Washington in Seattle. He went on to teach painting at the University of Washington from 1949 until 1981. His paintings are in many museums, including the Seattle Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, Museum of Northwest Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), and Milwaukee Art Museum. He had solo shows at the Seattle Art Museum in 1986 and 2011, as well as a solo exhibition "Alden Mason: Fly Your Own Thing" at the Bellevue Arts Museum in 2021.