Skip to main content
Artwork of the Week

Artwork of the Day: August 2018 (Week 35)

Mabel Pearl Frazer, “Desert Grandeur

Mabel Pearl Frazer (1887-1981), Desert Grandeur, c.1940, oil, 36 ½ x 53 inches. Brigham Young University Museum of Art, 1984.

This week we celebrate the birthday of Mabel Frazer, born August 28, 1887. Desert Grandeur is a powerful summation of the monumental rhythm and bold colors of the Southwest landscape that Frazer loved. She traveled throughout the Utah and Arizona deserts, creating dynamic paintings that one New York critic praised for capturing “the very mood and texture of the country itself.” Raised in the southern Utah town of Beaver, Frazer studied at the University of Utah and then the Art Students’ League in New York City. She was a significant presence in the Utah art world, particularly in her role as a professor at the University of Utah from 1921-1953.