- She is considered Mississippi’s first Abstract Expressionist painter and its first Modernist artist.
Dusti Bongé, whose real name was Eunice Lyle Swetman, was the youngest of three children born to a prominent Biloxi, Mississippi, banking family.
Always an artistic child, Bonge’ attended Blue Mountain College in northeastern Mississippi before graduating from the Lyceum Arts Conservatory in Chicago. While living in Chicago, she met and fell in love with Arch Bongé, a Nebraska “cowboy artist,” who was taking classes at the Art Institute of Chicago.
In 1924, she moved to New York where she worked as an actress, both on stage and in films. She and Arch married in 1928, and when she discovered they were having their first child, the couple moved to Biloxi, which they deemed a better place to raise a child. That was when Dusti began exploring painting as a career.
She painted from the 1930s through her death in 1993, and she is considered Mississippi’s first Abstract Expressionist painter and its first Modernist artist.
Today, Dusti is recognized as one of the foremost Southern modernist painters of the 20th century. Her artwork reflects her roots in the Gulf South, featuring the imagery of the region, morphing throughout her lifetime to reflect the expression of the artist’s experiences, dreams, and visions, which were all closely tied to the natural world. The artist experimented widely throughout her career – exploring the movements of Cubism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, and many others.
Her work is expressive and dynamic, encapsulating the viewer in the artist’s world.
A special exhibition of her work will be held at the Walter Anderson Museum of Art in Ocean Springs June 11 through November 25, with a grand opening reception to be held on the evening of June 26.
This exhibition also pays special attention to the relationship between Dusti Bongé and Walter Anderson, two artists who found themselves practicing art in an area that was at the time dramatically removed from the rest of the art world.
The Andersons and Bongés shared a deep friendship that lasted throughout their lifetimes. Walter Anderson and Dusti Bongé often created art together or based upon each other’s work.
Featured within this exhibition are several paintings showing direct ties to the Andersons and the connection between the two artists.
The Walter Anderson Museum of Art is proud to partner with the Dusti Bongé Art Foundation on this exhibition. Artworks featured in the exhibition come from public and private collections in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
Susan Marquez
