The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 5, 2026

A horizontally oriented lithographic crayon drawing depicts a sun-bleached adobe mission in stark black and cream tones. The main structure features a curved, stepped roof with a small cross. To the left, a rectangular building sits low. Dark, grainy shading emphasizes recessed windows and heavy shadows on the uneven foreground. Broad, gestural strokes form the background. Two hole punches and yellowing stains are visible along the left edge.

Untitled (Mission San José de Laguna)

1926

Raymond Jonson

(American, 1891–1982)
America
lithographic crayon on paper
Matted: 40.6 x 51 cm (16 x 20 1/16 in.); Sheet: 29.2 x 41 cm (11 1/2 x 16 1/8 in.)
Gift from Gwen Fate and Kevin Henegar 2023.27
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Raymond Jonson was involved with the Transcendental Painting Group in New Mexico from 1938 until he dissolved the group in 1942.

Description

With roots in Chicago theater design, Raymond Jonson moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the 1920s, cofounding the Transcendental Painting Group, which was dedicated to expressing imaginative and spiritual realms through abstract art. Jonson made this drawing depicting an adobe church shortly after moving to the southwest, and before he turned entirely to abstraction. The spare, modernist aesthetic of Jonson’s style matches the austere adobe structure.
  • {{cite web|title=Untitled (Mission San José de Laguna)|url=false|author=Raymond Jonson|year=1926|access-date=05 June 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2023.27