"In and around Seattle in the 1930s and 1940s, there emerged a group of artists who came to be known informally as the Northwest School. With no manifesto and no sense of group identity, they had little in common beyond poverty and the drive to make art in a way that was true to their inner being and their environment.

Despite their denial that they constituted a school, their response to Northwest light and to the world around them created a distinctive style that continued to evolve over the next sixty years.".

"In Iridescent Light, the distinguished art critic Deloris Tarzan Ament profiles twenty-one of these artists who lived and worked in Washington State during formative periods in their careers. The author blends discussion of their work with commentary on the obstacles they faced and the influences they brought to bear on one another, showing not only how artistic visions were shaped but also how encouragement from a few farseeing patrons enabled the very survival of these artists.

Essays are illustrated by Mary Randlett's photographs, taken over half a century."--BOOK JACKET.