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Artist + Muse: 24 woodcuts by Charles Beck from the Timothy Murphy Collection

Virtual Gallery Now Open!
Exhibit currently on view at the Moorhead Public Library

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Cathedral Forest
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Hay Bales 2
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Snow Geese
The Rourke Art Gallery + Museum is pleased to present Artist + Muse: woodcuts by Charles Beck from the Timothy Murphy Collection, an exhibition of woodcut prints by the late artist Charles Beck (1923 - 2017) from the collection of the late poet Timothy Murphy (1951 - 2018). This exhibit and collection had been on tour through west central Minnesota.

Murphy was an admirer and friend of Beck and derived both enjoyment and inspiration from his friend’s artwork. Murphy’s poem “Snowgeese” references and gives direct attribution to Beck’s iconic landscape of the same name:

Snowgeese
for Charles Beck


​The flock is whorled like a translucent shell
and intricate as the tubing of a horn,
its embouchure, the soft foot of a snail
lighting on sand, except the sand is corn,
chisel sloughed and left to build the soil
from which indebted farmers have been torn.

I catch one note—a wild, wayfaring cry
as snow geese splash into a glacial mere.
Framed by moraines under a nacreous sky,
they echo in the chambers of my ear.
How does an ear rival your artist's eye
that sees what I can only hope to hear?

Reproduced images of Beck woodcuts are also featured in most of Murphy’s published collections of poetry. The Timothy Murphy Collection includes 24 Beck woodcuts and will remain on semi-permanent loan to The Rourke Art Gallery + Museum.

Our thanks to the Murphy family for allowing the digital display of this exhibition. 


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   This activity is funded in part by
   a grant from the Lake Region Arts Council
   through a Minnesota state
​   legislative appropriation.

Charles Beck, Ghost Farm; woodcut, SP (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Ecce Homo; woodcut, 7/100 (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Canvas Backs; woodcut, SP (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Apple Orchard; woodcut, 2/150 (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Cathedral Forest; woodcut, 125/200 (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Early Snow; woodcut, 23/150 (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Marsh Grass; woodcut, 6/200 (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Northern Flight; woodcut, 18/150 (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Evening Chores; woodcut, 21/150 (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Gulls; woodcut, 44/150 (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Moon Shadows; woodcut, SP (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Man of Sorrows; woodcut, SP (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Prairie Flowers; woodcut, 46/200 (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Snow Geese; woodcut, 50/150 (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Spring Bluebills; woodcut, SP (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Survivor 2; woodcut, 31/150 (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Winter Woods; woodcut, 42/100 (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Sunflowers; woodcut, 12/150 (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Winter Geese; woodcut, SP (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Winter Oak; woodcut, 53/100 (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Winter Apples; woodcut, 19/150 (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Tumbleweed; woodcut, 32/40 (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Hay Bales 2; woodcut, 3/150 (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Charles Beck, Early Evening; woodcut, 48/100 (Collection of Timothy Murphy, 1951-2018)
Exhibitions and operations are supported in part by the generous support of the following regional, state, and local entities:
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This activity is funded by The Arts Partnership,
with support from the Cities of Fargo, Moorhead and West Fargo.
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This activity is funded in part by a grant from the Lake Region Arts Council through a Minnesota state legislative appropriation.
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This project is supported in part by a grant from the North Dakota Council on the Arts, which receives funding from the state legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Rourke Art Gallery + Museum
521 Main Avenue
​Moorhead, MN 56560
​

Tel. 218.236.8861
© 2020 The Rourke Art Gallery + Museum
  • Home
  • Exhibitions
    • Cyrus M. Running ...
    • Robert A. Nelson ...
    • Charles Beck ...
    • Thysell Linocuts
    • James T. O'Rourke ...
    • Artist + Muse
    • Calendar
    • Collections
  • About
    • History
    • Mission
    • Staff and Board
    • Rental >
      • Facility Rental
    • The Rourke Microprairie
  • Visit
  • Support
    • Membership
    • Anniversary Fund
    • The Rourke at Sixty
    • Our Partners
  • Learn
    • Intro to Abstraction - Virtual Class
    • Shape to Form - Virtual Class
    • Image Transfers - Virtual Class
    • Single-Layer Linoleum Cut - Virtual Class
    • Three-Layer Linoleum Cut - Virtual Class
    • Cardboard Prints - Virtual Class
    • Intro to Collage - Virtual Class
    • Wheat Paste - Virtual Class
    • Plexiglas Drypoint - Virtual Class
    • Instant Books - Virtual Class
    • Post and Screw Books - Virtual Class
    • The Sketchbook - Virtual Class
    • Glue Prints - Virtual Class
    • Pamphlet Stitch Books - Virtual Class
    • Monotypes - Virtual Class
  • Gallery Store
    • e-Gift Cards
  • e-News Signup
  • Artist Resources