About this Artist
Born in Wilson, Oklahoma, Myron Wood abandoned a career as a classical pianist in 1946, attended The Progressive School of Photography in New Haven, CT for two years and then moved to Colorado Springs, CO. He spent the remaining 53 years of his life in Colorado as an independent photographer.
Known for his lyrical interpretations of the cultures and landscapes of the Southwest, diverse geographic subjects and Weston-inspired straight photography recur throughout the history of his work.
ARTIST STATEMENT
“Writers taught me how to see. Painters and photographers didn’t teach me how to see. Writers taught me how to observe. Bach taught me how to think through his music. Every time you think you know what he’s going to do next, he does something brilliant and unbelievable. It’s a constant working on a theme, which he expands and uses. Pure genius. I learned about design from painters, musicians and writers.
So, I became a photographer after an early life as a musician and found to my surprise that I hadn’t wasted a minute. The same words are used – tone, line, ensemble, balance – and all the things I thought about and used in music were, across the board, related to photography. I also discovered becoming well equipped in a number of art forms is very important. It allows you to more easily move in your own art form.” Myron Wood, 1993
from an interview with Journeys Magazine, Colorado Springs, CO, Fall 1993
Resume
MYRON WOOD
1921 Born Myron Gilmore Wood, Wilson, Oklahoma
1999 Died Colorado Springs, Colorado
1932 First darkroom at age eleven, purchased by his father
1943 BFA in Music, Oklahoma State University
1946 Admitted to Yale Graduate School of Music.
1946 Enrolls in the Progressive School of Photography, New Haven, CT
1947 Moves to Colorado Springs, Colorado
1949 Spends time with Edward Weston in Carmel, California
1951 Assistant Curator of Photography, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Ctr
1959 Receives Ford Foundation Grant for Rocky Mountain Area Project
1963 Begins close friendship with Roy Stryker until Stryker’s death in 1973
1973 Begins a seven year project for the Pueblo Library District
1978 Exhibition at International Museum of Photography
1979 Begins project with Georgia O’Keeffe at her home in Abiquiu, NM
1980 National Endowment for the Humanities grant for exhibitions
1989 Suffers from the first of two strokes and retires from photography.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth, Texas
The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Denver Museum of Art, Denver, Colorado
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, Austin, Texas
International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House, Rochester, NY
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Museum of Modern Art, New York
The Penrose Public Library, Colorado Springs, Colorado
The Pueblo Public Library, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California
Sheldon Memorial Art Center, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Nebraska
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
CENTRAL CITY, A BALLAD OF THE WEST; Chaparrel Press, Colorado, 1963
DURANGO; Chaparrel Press, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1964
LITTLE WRANGLER; Doubleday and Company, Inc, New York, 1966
COLORADO, BIG MOUNTAIN COUNTRY; Doubleday and Company, Inc, NY, 1969
HOLLORING SUN; Simon and Schuster, New York, 1972
COLORADO/NEW MEXICO; International Museum of Photography, NY, 1979
THE WEST SIDE; AN INTRODUCTION TO IT’S HISTORY AND ARCHITECTURE, 1983
O’KEEFFE AT ABIQUIU; Harry N. Abrams, Inc, New York, 1995
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
1957 COLORADO SPRINGS: A PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY, Taylor Museum, Colorado Springs
1962 ROCKY MOUNTAIN AREA PROJECT FOR SMALL HIGH SCHOOLS, Stanford University
1967 THE CAMERA AS WITNESS, Expo ’67, Toronto, Canada, international group exhibition
1969 VISION AND EXPRESSION, International Museum of Photography
1974 NINETY PRINTS FROM THIRTY YEARS, Colorado Springs Art Center
1977 SOUTHERN COLORADO, Colorado Springs Art Center
1978 COLORADO/NEW MEXICO, International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House
1979 COLORADO/NEW MEXICO, Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, FW, TX
1980 WACO, The Waco Arts Center, Waco, Texas
1983 TIME AND AGAIN, The Pioneer’s Museum, Colorado Springs, Colorado
1984 RANCHO DE TAOS, Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM, group exhibition
1985 MYRON WOOD PHOTOGRAPHS, Texas Photographic Society
1986 AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHERS, Andrew Smith Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1987 PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE WEST, The Rockwell Museum, Corning, NY
1988 VISIONS, Camera Obscura Gallery, Denver, Colorado
1989 MYRON WOOD, Scheinbaum & Russek, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1994 PAST AS PROLOGUE, The Aurora History Museum, Aurora, Colorado
1995 O’KEEFFE AT ABIQUIU, Photographic Archives Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1997 MYRON WOOD; INNER LIGHT, Photographic Archives Gallery, Dallas, TX
MAJOR BODIES OF WORK
THE PIKES PEAK REGION [1948-1988]
PENITENTES, LOS HERMANOS DE NUESTRO PADRE JESUS NAZARENO [1950’S-1980’S]
RANCHING [1954-1980’S]
COLORADO MOUNTAIN / MINING TOWNS [1954-1982]
NEW YORK CITY [1956-1976]
THIRTY SMALL COLORADO TOWNS [1959-1961]
MEXICO [1960’s]
TAOS PUEBLO [1961-1971]
UTE MOUNTAIN UTES [1967]
SOUTHERN COLORADO and NORTHERN NEW MEXICO [1973-1980]
O’KEEFFE AT ABIQUIU [1979-1981]
Download the complete Curriculum Vitae under “More About the Artist”