Forrest Lee Moses

Forrest Moses was a Santa Fe–based artist whose paintings and monotypes are shaped by a lifelong passion for travel, landscape photography, and quiet observation of nature. He earned a BFA from Washington and Lee University in 1956 and served as a U.S. naval officer in the Philippines, Japan, and other Far East locations, experiences that left a lasting visual and philosophical imprint. A formative year in Europe sparked his interest in art and architecture, leading to graduate study at Pratt Institute in New York.

Moses worked as an interior, furniture, and ceramics designer in Houston before committing to painting full time. In 1965 he moved to California’s Monterey Peninsula, where land and sea became central subjects, and in 1969 he settled in Santa Fe. He held more than forty solo exhibitions nationwide and works in oil, monotype, and watercolor. His atmospheric landscapes, floral images, and figure studies reflect a contemplative approach to seeing and recording the natural world.