- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
De Grazia Gallery In the Sun
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
5 reviews for De Grazia Gallery In the Sun
The greatest work DeGrazia created, in my opinion, was his home. Never finished, always changing, the artist built his combination work space/gallery/home from materials found in the desert and continued to build and improve on it until his death.
The main buildings now house a free museum of DeGrazia's work, including a "for-sale" room of art as well as a gift shop.
Nestled in the upper desert of Tucson, the property feels like sacred ground. DeGrazia was very devout and built a chapel near the house which can also be viewed and which has become a sort of shrine to the artist.
This is well worth a visit, from the soda cans turned into flowers to the hand made detailing including cactus inlays and shell borders of the rooms to the rambling gardens. Truly a unique experience.
Take your family and go here instead of Tucson Studios. An honest cultural experience at the home of a reigning Tucson cultural icon.
Walking up the path we were struck by the sight of potted prickly pear cacti in a shade of purple neither of us had ever seen before. Entering the gallery, the first impressions are the the metalwork doors and the walls of large, color-splashed rocks held back by timbers. To the right is the gift shop, which is predominated by inexpensive reproductions of his paintings of children. I was frankly underwhelmed by these, which seemed a Southwest version of the big-eyed Keane paintings of the 60s, but fortunately there is more to his work than that. Walking out into the garden I was charmed by the quirky statuary and I walked into the gallery at the back of the garden where bullfighting paintings were displayed. When I walked into the main gallery building I became aware of the evolution of his painting from decade to decade, that of the 40s more representational w/ sharp, clear outlines, the 50s to 60s w/ more use of the palette knife, adding texture and blurring outlines a bit. I think that was the style that drew me most. There are originals from all periods for sale in one room and the prices go from $2,000 to $65,000 and more. In another room was showing a locally made NPR program about DeGrazia, following him around to various activities and allowing him to expound on his inspirations, thoughts and feelings. That was very enlightening and made me understand and appreciate his work more, which was the point of it: information for the uninitiated. Interestingly, when discussing his paintings of children, he was pretty offhand, essentially saying, "People like them, they buy them, I paint them.". That's what I was responding to in the gift shop.
In 1976, in anger at the Uof A declining his proffered donation of his paintings and at the IRS which would have taxed his heirs at the assessed value of his paintings upon his death, he publicly burned 100 of the paintings. According to the newspaper article on one of the gallery walls, there was an outcry and he declared if he burned any more of them it would be privately. He never painted again after that.
The gallery is very extensive and seemed to go on forever. The architecture was fascinating, w/ varied textures including areas of the floors made of 4" pieces of jumping cholla cactus set on end in concrete w/ the ends highly polished and some stained, some inlaid w/ stones. It's well worth a wander and I'm glad I went beyond the gift shop. His work is not restricted to painting and drawing, but extends to stained glass and sculpture and ceramics and even some firescreens decorated w/ beads. I'm sure I didn't see everything, but what I saw engaged me.
Really an amazing place! I visited last weekend. The museum and galleries are free, and open to the public. You get to see an extensive collection of De Grazia's work, some of his wife's work, their home, the chapel that De Grazia built, and marvel at the gallery buildings themselves (also built by De Grazia). The courtyards are decorated in a whimsical fashion, also all built by De Grazia. Some pieces in one of the galleries are for sale, however, the artist passed away in 1982, so they are relatively pricey.
The Gallery in the Sun is on the National Register of Historical places. You should plan on spending a couple of hours. Don' t miss the "Cactus Corral."
For out of town guests or for Tucsonans, a nice place to visit. It is the artist's studio and home in his later years. The grounds are a fun place to walk and you can get a sense of the man that went into the superstition mountains and burned his art to save his family from taxes.