March 3, 2022 – July 10, 2022

A legendary figure in Northwest art history, Sherrill Van Cott (1913-1942) produced a small but important body of work during his brief lifetime.

Van Cott attended the University of Washington after graduating from Sedro Wooley High School in 1931 but was largely a self-taught artist. He first began exhibiting in the Northwest Annuals at the Seattle Art Museum in 1935 around the time he met artist Morris Graves who became his lover and mentor.

Van Cott developed a personal style using tempera and watercolor on mulberry paper to produce moody, atmospheric visual poems of the Northwest landscape and the human figure.

The artist died at the age of twenty-nine of heart failure from contracting scarlet fever in his childhood.

This important collection represents a promised gift from Seattle collectors Merch and Alice Pease having originated from Morris Graves’ own personal collection. This is a rare opportunity to view a wide selection of this artists work which has never been seen before  by the public.

Image Credit:

Sherrill Van Cott (1913-1952), Untitled, circa 1940-42. Tempera on mulberry. Collection of Merch and Alice Pease, promised gift to Cascadia Art Museum.