DENVER, CO.- The Denver Art Museum (DAM) celebrates nearly 20 years of collecting contemporary western art in the new exhibition, Western Horizons: Landscapes from the Contemporary Realism Collection. Currently on view, Western Horizons looks at the American West through the eyes of artists working today.

Revealing the unique landscapes and scenery that still exist, the show features a selection of 25 paintings, purchased with funds raised by the museum’s Contemporary Realism Group. The exhibition will be on view through the summer of 2011 in the Hamilton Building’s Dietler Gallery of Western American Art.

“The diverse landscapes of the American West continue to inspire artists today as they choose many different ways to depict both its grandeur and intimacy,” said Thomas Smith, the exhibition’s curator and director of the DAM’s Petrie Institute of Western American Art. “We’re celebrating the subject of landscapes and acknowledging the new ideas, styles and themes contemporary artists bring to the topic.”

Visitors can experience contemporary landscapes like the stunning wide-open spaces in Keith Jacobshagen’s By June the Light Begins to Breathe, settings touched by man in Daniel Morper’s Fog and man and nature together in harmony in T. Allen Lawson’s Hibernation. The diverse selection of works highlights the importance of the landscape today and how artists choose to interpret the subject.

“The Contemporary Realism group has assisted the museum in collecting works by contemporary artists in the realist tradition for nearly 20 years,” said Christoph Heinrich, Frederick and Jan Mayer Director of the DAM. “Presenting works by today’s artists turns a creative eye on what is happening in the Western community now.”

Western Horizons: Landscapes from the Contemporary Realism Collection is funded by the generous donors of the Denver Art Museum’s Contemporary Realism Group, the Annual Fund Leadership Campaign and the citizens who support the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District. Promotional support is provided by 5280 Magazine and The Denver Post.