Mabel Pearl Frazer (1887-1982), Desert Grandeur, c.1940, oil on canvas, 36 ½ x 53 inches. Brigham Young University Museum of Art, 1984.
Mabel Frazer, born August 28, 1887. Desert Grandeur is a powerful summation of the monument al 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. Frazer’s work was an audience favorite in the recent A Studio of Her Own Exhibition.