WICHITA, KS.- The Wichita Art Museum is proud to present the first retrospective exhibition of the work of one of the State’s pioneer abstract artists: Sue Jean Covacevich (born Wellington 1905, died Winfield 1998). Sue Jean Covacevich: Pioneer Kansas Abstract Artist is on view through January 14, 2007. Birger Sandzén, with whom she studied in 1927, was Sue Jean’s first artistic mentor and throughout her entire body of work there is a debt to Sandzén.

“That debt is not noticeable in her style, for she was not one of the many students of Sandzén who mimicked his particular style and palette,” explains Stephen Gleissner, Wichita Art Museum chief curator. “Rather, her debt is apparent in her expressive use of form and color, her dedication to the technique of block printing and her passionate belief that good art enhances life—even encourages a life well lived.”

Another artist of Sandzén’s generation who influenced Sue Jean is the great American modernist Marsden Hartley. Again, however, the relationship between the two artists goes beyond style: both looked to other cultures, such as Mexico or the American Southwest, to revitalize not only American painting but American culture as a whole.

In 1930 Sue Jean traveled to Mexico to see first-hand the new work that was reshaping and reinvigorating the tradition of mural painting. Foremost among these revolutionary artists was Diego Rivera, who critiqued Sue Jean’s work during her residency at the San Carlos Art School. Sue Jean lived in Mexico for 12 years, returning to Winfield in the 1940s. Her murals for the First National Bank in Winfield (1951) pay tribute to Diego Rivera through their broad and inclusive depiction of local society and industry.