Edythe Wallach Kidd Expressionist Mexican Church Landscape, C. 1944, Oil Painting

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Atmospheric Expressionist oil painting by American artist Edythe Wallach Kidd (1909–1999), depicting a Mexican church set against a dramatic mountainous … Read more Atmospheric Expressionist oil painting by American artist Edythe Wallach Kidd (1909–1999), depicting a Mexican church set against a dramatic mountainous landscape.

Kidd spent an important period painting in Mexico during the 1940s. In a 1965 oral-history interview now held by the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, she recalled living and painting in the Lake Chapala region around 1944, where she worked under the name Edythe Wall. She described her work from this period as belonging to the Expressionist school, “probably Romantic,” and noted that she worked in both oil and casein.

The painting is particularly striking for its vigorous brushwork and saturated palette. Deep greens, blues and earth tones define the mountainous landscape, while the pale architecture of the church emerges dramatically from its surroundings. Rather than treating the scene as a conventional topographical landscape, Kidd uses color, texture and simplified forms to convey the atmosphere and emotional character of the setting.

Kidd also recalled having a one-woman exhibition in Mexico during this period, with an introduction by influential American artist and critic Walter Pach.

The precise church and location depicted in this painting have not been identified. Given Kidd's documented presence and artistic activity in Mexico during the mid-1940s, the work is conservatively described as a Mexican church landscape, circa 1944 rather than assigning it to a specific location.

A compelling and extensively researched example from a fascinating period in the career of an underrecognized American woman artist.

Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: Circa 1944
Artist: Edythe Wallach Kidd (Edythe Wall)
Dimensions: Approximately 17" × 21" framed

Smithsonian Archives of American Art — Oral History Interview with Edythe Kidd See less