FORREST MOSES Obituary

FORREST MOSES

LewAllen Galleries is deeply saddened by the passing of Forrest Moses, one of America's most celebrated painters of abstracted landscape and, for more than 25 years, a leading figure among our represented artists. Moses passed away peacefully on January 22 in Palm Springs, California. He was 86.
Moses will be remembered as a visionary artist whose continuous zeal to express the ineffable resulted in masterful paintings and monotypes that uniquely abstracted the pulses, vibrations, lines, and colors of nature's beauty. He possessed a remarkable ability to express in his work the emotional experience of being in a place rather than its mere visual image. His work is known for its quiet meditative quality, intimating at the forms of landscape rather than replicating them.
Born in 1934 in Danville, Virginia, Forrest Moses earned a BFA from Washington and Lee University. He was drafted into the Navy, becoming an air intelligence officer in Southeast Asia. This allowed him the opportunity to experience and learn about the artistic and cultural traditions of Japan that were to play important roles in the development of his widely-admired aesthetic and art making.
After completing his service with the Navy, Moses studied at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, then moving to Texas where he began a career making fine art that would span more than five decades. He settled in Santa Fe in 1969 and became a much-admired figure in the art world. His paintings and works on paper are included in the permanent holdings of museums and important private collections, and leave an indelible mark of excellence in the art world and an enduring legacy of joy for his many collectors.
Moses' art has been described as "quiescently tranquil adduced from his solitary moments of profound experience in nature, his heart leading his mind in a vision that unfolds without intention," the result of which is the unique mastery in his work of the sublimity of nature.
Throughout his career, Moses' paintings and works on paper evoked a vision that strove beyond the literal, often inclining towards abstracted orchestrations of elegant color and line. As Pasatiempo art critic Michael Abatemarco wrote in 2019, "Essentially, [Moses'] paintings and monotypes are imagined landscapes not tied to any specific location. They are about mood and tone. But they conjure a feeling of place, often with a lightness of being."
Profoundly influenced by Japanese aesthetics, Moses embraced in his work the principles of wabi-sabi – the idea that beauty can lie in imperfection and transience. For Moses, painting was an act of reverence for the beauty inherent in the natural world, where the aesthetic of decay is as important as that of growth, and where he sought to convey its sense of the sacred and the sublime.
Plans for a memorial exhibition of Moses' work will be announced at a future time.
For a monograph on his work in 2004, Moses wrote, "Life has many transitions and transformations, perhaps like the development of the blooming rose or the emergence of the butterfly … a new journey begins." May this new journey now be a good one, Forrest!

Larry Brown
Robert Gardner
Kenneth Marvel
And the entire Staff of LewAllen Galleries

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Santa Fe New Mexican from Jan. 26 to Jan. 31, 2021.

Memories and Condolences
for FORREST MOSES

6 Entries

Mary Frances Reynolds Eggleston

September 25, 2021

Forrest or 'Pete' as the family knew him, was my first cousin; his mother and my mother delivered sons, 14 May 1934. Pete and Joe grew up together in Danville, Virginia. He was my childhood idol and my admiration of him never ceased. I too live with one of his large paintings and several other works done in his early childhood. One, documented when he was 9 years old. We will always miss the twinkle in his eye; the lilt of his speech, and the loss of his work.

Da vid Leonard

September 1, 2021

Forrest was a fellow Naval Officer who I first knew at Sangley Point Naval Air Station in the Philippines. We became friends, and, after we finished our service, took a six- month trip to Europe together, traveling together in a tomato-red VW. Great fun. We have remained friends. So sorry to lose him. God-speed, Forrest. Your old Navy pal, David Leonard, Austin, Tx.

Fay Abrams

February 4, 2021

Forrest was a dear friend. My late husband Jonathan and I spent lots of time with Forrest and introduced my parents to him. I live with one of his large landscapes and think of him with love often. Every one in my family has one of Forrest's iris monotypes.

Ben F. Hoffacker III

January 31, 2021

Forest was a kind friend & guide into the realm of art & sculpture.
He revealed his joy in gardening and cultivating Orchids with enthusiasm.
Forests encouragement will remain in my creative endeavors. With much joy in his friendship, Ben Hoffacker

Barbara Harrelson

January 26, 2021

I remember many occasions when Forrest would come into the Canyon Road gallery where I worked, often accompanied by his Corgi, Beau. Forrest's courtly manner and warm smile reflected not only his Southern origin, but also his appreciation for beauty. We are blessed to have his works and what they remind us about our transcendent world.

Matthew Higginbotham

January 26, 2021

His paintings live on, even more so now. Forrest was a real inspiration, going beyond the boundaries of composition and color and subject. He left an indelible mark on my own process as an artist. Yes, may your new journey Forrest be a good one!

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