Ogden Museum of Southern Art
925 Camp St
New Orleans, LA 70130
504.539.9650 | HOURS
925 Camp St
New Orleans, LA 70130
504.539.9650 | HOURS
Dorothy Hood, Untitled, c. 1982, Oil on canvas, 90 x 70 inches, Roger Houston Ogden Collection
Dorothy Hood (1919-2000) was a notable figure of Southern Abstraction, Surrealism and Modernism. Her work primarily consists of drawings, collages and oil on large canvases, where geometry, color and spatial depth mix.
Born in Bryan, Texas, Hood endured a rather turbulent family environment. Her father divorced and was distant, while her mother suffered from a bout of tuberculosis. Hood left the South to enroll in The Rhode Island School of Design and briefly lived in New York. A trip to Mexico City with friends, however, would quickly change the trajectory of her life.
The young artist made note of the current artistic and intellectual climate of the time, stating, “The Mexican Revolution was only twenty years old—its fires, illusions and memories were still alive in the air. It was an era of action for artists and intellectuals.” Hood would quickly befriend numerous artists in the area, putting roots down for twenty years.
During this time, she would move between Mexico, the American South and the New York art world. Hood often struggled with where she fit in – her identity as an American artist in Mexico created work which differed from the paradigms of New York.
Eventually, she settled in Houston, Texas during a pivotal time in the city’s modernization. Her work became prominent in the rapidly urbanizing environment, often in the newly built office buildings downtown.
Hood’s work touches on topics she experienced throughout her life. Her childhood familiarity with isolation and hardships led to a distinctive, dream-like approach infused with mysticism and spirituality. Her travel led to incorporating the nature and culture of each location into her work. Her blend of artistic traditions from the United States and Latin America allowed Hood to stand out from other artists.
Some of Hood’s accolades include numerous solo exhibitions in New York, Philadelphia, Mexico City and Houston. In addition, her work reached domestic and international audiences through group exhibitions in the aforementioned cities such as Washington DC and Nairobi. Hood was also recognized formally by the city of Houston, the Women’s National Caucus for Art and the Italian Art Academy of Art and Labour.
Ogden Museum of Southern Art has the privilege of housing several works of Hood including the painting above, which is currently on view in the Museum’s atrium.
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