Moonlight on the Mississippi

Nancy Purington was born in Scott County, Iowa, where the Mississippi river meets the Wapsipinicon and the channel shifts from north/south to east/west before resuming its meandering course to the gulf. The resulting latitudinal platform expands the radiance of sun and moonlight above myriad reflections and patterns of change. Lock and Dam No. 15, the world’s largest roller dam, resists the forces of nature competing to rule the way of water. Opposing wills and alluvial harmonies are illuminated in plane geometry and fluid atmospheres. Purington’s aesthetic sensibilities combine medieval perspective and modern art intention with traditional and experimental methods. Indigo, lapis, cobalt, cadmium, gold, silver, palladium, sticks, stones, shells, pearls, and digital photographs express the transformational nature of the Mississippi River experience. When Purington puts color and form to paper, using oil, watercolor, pastel, gouache, and gold leaf to render the countless shapes and shades of a wave ebbing and swelling in the Mississippi, she brings the macrocosm of the river into focus. She helps us to see the endless beauty of the river and to contemplate the mystery of a moment, encouraging us to live, to look closer, again and again. —Jane Milosch, Director, Provenance Research Initiative, Smithsonian institution, Washington, D.C.; former chief curator, Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian America Art Museum As an artist, Nancy Purington’s very being is centered on the need to create and make order out the emotions engendered by her passion for the beauty of the natural world. Sky, clouds, water, rocks, shells — objects and images gathered, rendered both elemental and elegant. I have always been impressed with Nancy’s integrity as an artist. She does not rely on formula, instead relentlessly exploring an idea until it reaches its natural conclusion, sometimes revisiting a work over a period of years. Moonlight on the Mississippi is the culmination of thousands of hours of living by, observing, remembering, dreaming, and otherwise being inspired by the Mississippi River. If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere. ––Vincent van Gogh —Barbara Christensen Kamp, Director (1989–2012), Muscatine Art Center Moonlight on the Mississippi features over 140 pieces of Nancy Purington's artwork on 125 pages.