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Joe Dudley Downing 2000 Art Exhibit

The Kentucky Museum collection includes more than 25 examples of art by Joe Downing. For more information about these works or about the artist, go to KenCat, our online catalog, or contact the Kentucky Museum Registrar/Collections Curator.

The art featured on the following pages is part of a private collection and was displayed at the Kentucky Museum in 2000.

1999 Governor's Awards in the Arts
National Award Recipient Joe Downing
Program Statement

"Joe Downing is a visual artist who has taken his Kentucky roots and shared them not only with the rest of the nation but with the world. His years growing up on a tobacco farm near Horse Cave continue to inspire his work as a painter and sculptor even though he has made his home in France since 1950, dividing his time between Paris and the southern village of Menerbes. His art has been exhibited in France, Sweden, Italy, Canada, Mexico, Germany, and other counties, and yet he never forgets his native Kentucky roots. He has had exhibitions in Owensboro, Bowling Green, Louisville and Horse Cave, as well as Cincinnati, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Charleston, West Virginia and Seattle. His work can be found in the permanent collections of museums in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Israel, Canada, Australia and the U.S.

Joe Downing holds the distinction of being one of three Americans to exhibit work at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France; the other two artists being Whistler and Tobey. Downing is also a writer, having published two books of poetry as well as articles about the art world."