Robert Sudlow, Road to the Sky, 1991, oil on canvas, 50 x 42 inches; courtesy the artist  

Robert Sudlow has long been considered the preeminent landscape painter of Kansas and one of the most important artists to emerge from the American Midwest. His transcendent depictions of land, sky, light, and atmospheric effects—indeed, the very essence of the eastern Kansas landscape—have earned him an enthusiastic following among collectors, artists, and former students from the University of Kansas, where Sudlow was a long-time professor of studio art.

Spiritual Journeys: The Art of Robert Sudlow features a select group of 13 paintings and 11 works on paper from Sudlow's long and distinguished career, including lithographs and oil sketches. These works, which date from 1955 to 2002, provide nearly five decades of work to trace the artist's growth and development.

Born in the town of Holton, Kansas, in 1920, Sudlow connected deeply with the prairie landscape during his boyhood. He attended the University of Kansas with the intention of becoming a biological illustrator, but he became increasingly engaged by his studio art classes. Instructor Albert Bloch gave Sudlow the praise and encouragement he needed to pursue his calling, and Karl Mattern, another instructor, influenced Sudlow to paint nature directly while outdoors.

Sudlow has painted in California and overseas, but he has been irresistibly drawn back to the wide-open spaces and intimate corners of his home state. Since the early 1970s he has painted outdoors, striving not just to see, but to "participate" in the landscape. As a result, Sudlow does not merely record outdoor scenes, but he interprets and transforms nature on canvas.

Spiritual Journeys: The Art of Robert Sudlow is touring in conjunction with a new book of the same title to be published by ExhibitsUSA. Sudlow will be available for lectures and book signings at venues hosting the exhibition of works by this classic regional artist.