A singular figure in American art who experienced significant recognition and painful isolation during his life — and whose fame has waxed and waned since his death — Forrest Bess (1911-77) is the subject of keen new interest.  

The first museum retrospective devoted to Bess in more than 20, Forrest Bess: Seeing Things Invisible will present 48 of the artist's visionary paintings, dating from 1946 to 1970. Organized by the Menil Collection and curated by Clare Elliott, the exhibition will also include an expanded version of the Robert Gober installation.

Works in the exhibition will come from the Menil's own holdings, private lenders in the United States and Europe and such major institutions as the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Forrest Bess: Seeing Things Invisible will be on view at the Menil through Aug. 19.