NASHVILLE, TN.- The Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art presents the exhibit From Grooms to Wildner: Artists from Tennessee through December 31. Tennessee Artists are an important part of Cheekwood’s permanent collection. This exhibition presents almost twenty works by thirteen different artists with strong roots in Tennessee. Chronologically, the selection ranges from Clarence Stagg in the early twentieth century to Marilyn Murphy in the late twentieth century. It is always difficult to determine how much of the local environment defines an artist’s career. Many of these artists easily moved between different worlds. A.C. Webb’s exploration of abstract form demonstrates his exposure to international modernism while living in Europe and New York City. Red Grooms’ early experiments with cartoons and other popular images happened in the context of a vibrant New York art scene. German-born Werner Wildner brought his idiosyncratic vision of European art to Nashville.

Work by other Tennessee artists is currently on view in Cheekwood’s Museum of Art as part of the exhibition Portraiture: Private Lives/Public Faces.