American 1927 - 2009

Considered one of the West's most exciting and dynamic painters, V. Douglas Snow ranks among the most significant influencers of the Utah modernist school. His work is described both as Abstract Expressionism—with the stipulation that it is not the typical avant-garde abstract expressionism—and as Academic Abstract Impressionionism. Whatever one chooses to label his works, it is clear that his paintings are a successful marriage of several styles, and the resultant art works are both powerful and individualistic.

Snow studied at the University of Utah from 1943-1945, majoring in theater. He later attended New York's American Art School, Columbia University, and the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. At Cranbrook, Snow rapidly finished a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Fine Arts in 1949 and 1950.

Snow's works are in many public and private collections throughout the United States, including the New York Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, the Springville Museum of Art, and the Museum of Art at Brigham Young University.

He is best known in Utah for his murals at the Salt Lake Public Library, the University of Utah Graduate School of Social Work building, the Pioneer Theatre, the Salt Lake International Airport, and Iron Blossom Lodge, Snowbird. In 1976, Snow became the Director of Art at the University of Utah/Snowbird Summer Arts Institute.

Biography adapted from The Springville Museum of Art.