Survey of Painting in Texas exhibition [Dallas Museum of Art]

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* A SURVEY OF TEXAS PAINTINQ

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ON THE COVER: Texans look at oil wells Left , "OF OIL IV," Wilfred Higgins, Dallas.

Right, "OIL DERRICKS AT NIGHT," George Grammer, Fort Worth.

A SURVEY

OF TEXAS PAINTINQ

assembled b4 the DALLAS MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS 1957

Foreword

JERRY BYWATERS,

Director

In 194 4 a similar survey exhibition, titled "Texas Panorama," also assembled by the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and circulated by the American Federation of Arts, was sprinkled with a few harbingers of abstraction and expressionism, but most of the paintings had the look of Texas, however well-composed and competent they were. It is of interest to note that some of the strongest talents of that show -

Spruce, Dozier, Lester -

retain their position in the current

exhibit, but now we find many younger contenders, then unknown, pressing

THE MATSYENDRA.

Kelly Fearing, A ustin.

their elders with brilliant and inventive technical performances, equal to the best contemporary American art.

During the thirteen years between these two exhibitions there has been a noteworthy increase in the very number of capable painters -

such an abun-

dance tha t it becomes an embarrassing act to limit the selection of topflight artists to the restricted number required for a circulating exhibition. For more than three decades the general quality of painting in Texas has been excellent and, by now, all vestiges of subjective insularity have been overcome by a catholicity of approach worthy of the times.

The present satisfactory estate of Texas painting is built on a substantial yet adventurous tradition. Where other regions have enjoyed two or three centuries in which to develop their artistic chronology, Texas has been able to per form the same feat in only one century (of course! ) .

Soon after the Revolution and Independence, the dramatic doings of this fabled region impelled its painters to record unique historical events or to celebrate heroic deeds. German and French colonial artists performed skillful documentary services as first class landscape and genre painters. Later, American-born and Texas resident painters were galvanized into patriotic creations of noble proportions and historical accuracy. Two huge and action-filled canvases, "D awn at the Alamo" (The Moral Victory) and "The Battle of San ] acinto" (Retributive]ustice ) are unforgettable reminders for those at work in the Senate Chamber of the State Capitol. Also in the same building is the Texas-style classic, "Surrender of Santa Anna," as well as definitive portraits of Davy Crockett and Sam Houston, and lifesize images in white marble of Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston, carved by an audacious German-born woman sculptor. These paintings and "statues" have become the patriotic icons of Texas history -

and properly so.

After the dominance of these pioneer artists, the patterns for present-day Texas art were established between 1900 and 1925. Many art associations, museums and art schools were founded as a broad base for the modern era.

Annual exhibits were launched in most cities to honor the older artists and encourage the young ones on their way. One bizarre event, more in keeping with what is expected today of oil-rich Texas, occurred in 1927 and the two years following. Under the name of the Davis Wild Flower Contest, a total of $53,000 in cash prizes was distributed to American artists in unmatched but short-lived largesse by Edgar B. Davis, a Luling, Texas, oil operator. In the final year of the contest cash prizes soared above $31,000 and a painting of prickly pear cactus garnered a $5,000 prize -

all this in the year 1929! Fortu-

nately, such unbalancing handouts were replaced by more logical if less bountiful continuous competitions, sponsored by museums offering prizes after judgment by professional juries. Of even more consequence to the artists, permanent collections were started through carefully expended purchase funds.

Probably the most influential element affecting both the direction and quality of contemporary art production in Texas has been the fast growth of good university art departments and museum schools in the region. Immediately before and after 1900, a few "professors" taught privately. They were followed by classes or schools founded around individual painters with a following of admirers, but these classes were limited in resources and exposed to financial ailments. In the past twenty years at least a dozen important art departments have evolved. The stability of a teaching-painting connection with a university or museum school has enabled many of the best Texas artists to remain near their home environment; the same condition has encouraged the residence of many out-of-state artists.

It is important to note that there is a three-way division, almost equal,

among the artis ts included in this exh ibition: the native sons who, through choice or circumstance, rem ained at home to mature without benefit of cosmopolitan experiences, yet have achieved stature through sheer will to paint and improve; the nati ves who studied in the East or in Europe and eventually returned to make their permanent residence; and, finally, the non-Texans, trained in various centers over this country or Europe, who have taught for several years in this region . That these three diverse approaches in thoughts, technique and training rest easily together in this exhibition speaks well for the condition of contemporary painting in Texas .

PE COS RI VER.

Everett Spruce, A ustin.

Introduction

JERRY HARWELL,

Curator

With little more than a backward glance at their artistic inheritance from the past, the would-be painters in the twenties began reaching outside Texas toward movements and forces that would spark creativity, implement expression.

Many students packed off to metropolitan art schools; a few travelled in Europe; some stayed at home . This pattern has continued almost constant except for the fact that stay-at-homes have had an increasingly richer advantage of education and inspiration hinged on expansion of museum programs, new galleries, higher standards of teaching and the necessary complement of an enlarging buying public.

On the other hand, the travellers have increased in number in proportion to opportunity; for most it came through service in the armed forces; others earned scholarships or became exchange students; while a flood of tour ism carried many on its tide.

Off-setting the influx of non -native artists into the state are the emigrant Texans who went away to become successful ex-patriots, who fan ned out across the country to distinguish themselves as teacher-painters.

Somehow, the homing instin ct persists; the majority of adventurers returned to join forces with the sedentary, thus reinforcing with experience the slightly vicarious advancement carefully braked and tempered by native caution.

Exceptions are valuable to a survey, but no particular look is due them because it is remarkable how carefully the groping painter has chosen his extraneous material and how well he has used it with sense and sensibility.

Some few have picked guideposts that led to blind alleys from which there is

CONVOY CONTROL.

Don ald W eismann , Austin .

no escape and from which no beginner can develop; but in the main, choices have left outlet for progress and foundation for future effort.

Within pure painting concepts it may be observed that, like their fraternity everywhere, texture is often obtained by use of foreign matter; that spatula, steel straight edge and the rubber roller are employed for certain effects.

Fortunately, a comforting number of art ists seem capable at traditional use of brush and palette knife to gain impasto and textural interest. Metallic leaf, synthetic mixed media are not unpleasant and demand to be admitted.

Light, an ever present problem in the Southwest, curiously enough is frequently solved by historical precedent. Mainly from the 17th and 18th centuries come rudiments that serve well today; the method of hard form swimming in atmospheric, high-keyed nebulous color or the alternate formula that brightly lights an object existing in a void of gloom.

Perhaps with more dependence on the past than might at first appear, th e arti sts have never foregone the contemporary but have kept abreast of current tre nds. For instance, during the thirties it was possible to remark in T exas a pr evailing tendency of artists toward continuance at the traditional stream of art with its American and European tenor; but at the same time, in two different places in th e state , violent reaction could be found in two opposed schools : championship of American Regionalism and that of International Non-Objectivity. The latter, step-child of cubism, persists its noted form unto this day.

Thus it is that a survey of local painting reveals contrast, paradox and conflict. Tendencies isolate themselves but apply in specific instances: magic realism, academ ic abstractions, watere d-down expressionism, ch ronic romanticism and astringent experime nta tion. Most of these factors are to be found in this coll ection -

here deb ilitated, there enric hed but truly assimi lated in most

instances and deftly played down which is not a qualification generally ascribed to T exans. Viril ity, wh oleheartedness and delicacy are terms seldom used nowadays but th ey seem to apply to some of th e most competent, sensitive works ga thered here. Such words as honest and forthright seem inv ested in the stature of paintings from th e sophisticated to the untutored.

Examination reveals th at cubism is still the dominant influence in art istic vision and expression. Often it is appl ied, locall y, to visual experience in such manner th at actuality is approxima ted with subj ect matter being faintl y or fully recognizable, consequently fitting into a common frame of reference for the viewer or else retiring into th e maz e that renders visual objects remote, undefined and so briefly described that the selfsame onlooker cannot participate

in the creative act of art. He must resort to the line of defense which relies on qualities existing in every painting of quality -

irrespective of style or date -

namely fundamentals of line, form, color, massing and sheer handling of paint.

In other words, the calisthentics of painting survives.

In this survey it seems apparent that even the most fanciful flights of abstraction have a positive measure of from here to there, so that for the gallery goer there is a point of departure and a definite destination clearly set out and comprehensible.

More than that, we find that busy shoring up the embattled position of the realist are capable artists. They manage to take factual circumstance, seize upon the mystery of being and abstract it emotionally, if not visually, then underline the elements that evoke poetry and spirituality in things otherwise commonplace.

THE CITY.

Seymour Fogel, A ustin.

In this collection a lack of figure painting is noticeable; nor are there often figures in a landscape. Although no man is present, most pictures seem frequented by humans lately departed or they are full of indication of the nearness of people about to appear on the scene. These invisible humans link themselves magically with the viewer so that the inhuman landscape view becomes a means of sharing some remembered spot, or some forgotten place recalled from the storehouse of visual memory. It is personal.

The homing instinct mentioned earlier, the love of the land, may dictate first choice for landscape -

either natural or manmade. No doubt but what

the structure of nature lends strength and architectural design to the well built, strongly composed paintings turned out.

In the normal way countryside, other physical matter conditions artistic vision, feeding grist and inspiration so that rich variety necessarily invokes claim on the artist.

Endowed with swamp and marshy coastline, prairie, caprock and canyon, creeks, tumultous rivers, farm land and piney woods, the state provides diversity and plentirude to satisfy any painter.

Above all, there is the sky with its infinity of space, its cloud forms unsurpassed by the Mediterranean and its pour of light that challenges the color-key of any artist. This natural beauty is of some account and significance because of its reflection in painting.

It is sad that much young talent of promise and many established artists could not be included in this survey. What new talent seemed practical was seeded into the body of painting produced by established artists whose development, ability to assimilate new impulses, reinvigorate their powers and mature fruitfully make them the mainstay -

the backbone of Texas art.

TH E SUITOR.

Hiram Williams, A ustin.

In recent years a galaxy of art experts have journeyed to Dallas to judge the yearly painting competition for the state or simpl y to inquire into the condition that painting obtains. Critics for newspapers , magazines, museum directors , eminent artists have formed that tra in. With due respect to all let these two quotations, recently made , suffice for general approbation.

Lloyd Goodrich : "It is refreshing to find in T exas much art that seems to spring naturally from the soil and climate and character of the state that has the virtues that -}

come from the artist's identification with his surroundings and that at the same time speaks in the universal language of form , color and design ."

- Catalogue, 17th Texa s Annual 1955

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INDIAN BLANKET.

Otis Dozier, Dallas.

Francis Henry Taylor: "Vitality, an intense curiosity to experiment and the violent sunlight and color of Texas, the nostalgia for landscape, and the clarity and simplicity of vision, as well as utterance ... promise well for the future . . . ."

-Catalogue, 18th Texas Annual 1956

Such opinions bolster the belief of the local museum staff, of writers on the scene and most encouraging of all, they back the acumen of collectors who buy Texas art.

\ I THIRD FLOOR.

Peter Vatsur es, Dallas.

\.,.

GREE N CACT US.

D eforre st Judd, Dallas.

FALLEN FEATHERS.

Ethel Brodnax, Dallas.

MOIST LANDSCAPE.

Dan Wingren, D allas.

GET ALONG LITTLE DOGIES .

LIBATION.

Clara Williamson, Dallas.

Bror Utter, Fort Worth.

CIUDAD.

David Brownl ow, Fort Worth.

FLOWERS NEAR A WI NDOW.

Cynt hia Branrs, Fort Worth.

TWO LEVELS .

VENICE.

McKie Trotter, Fort Worth.

Lowell Collins, Houston.

THREE TIERED FORMATION.

NEON:

H enri Gadb ois, H ouston.

1956. James Boynton , H ouston.

BACK STRE ET.

THE BEETLE.

Keith Mcintyre, San Antonio.

Cecil Lang Casebier, San Antoni o.

LANDSCAPE.

Jesse Medellin , San Antonio.

SHI P YARD. Bill

Reily, San Antonio.

WAR DANCE.

Raymond Fletcher, San Antonio.

THE EXHIBITION ...

Dimensions are given in inches, height preceding width. A dagger (t) indicates the work is illustrated; an asterisk (*) indicates the work is owned by the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. Works are loaned by artists unless otherwise indicated.

DAVID P. ADICKES (1927- ), Austin MUSICIANS OF THE BLUE ANGELS (1956), oil, 35 x 28 BILL BOMAR (1919- ), Fort Worth KITE LOST IN MONEY PLANT (1956), oil, 40 x 17

JAMES BOYNTON (1928- ), Houston tNEON: 1956 (1956),oil, 33Y2x60 CYNTHIA BRANTS (1924- ) , Fort Worth tFLOWERS NEAR A WINDOW (1956), oil, 24 x 30 ETHEL BRODNAX (1904- ), Dallas t*FALLEN FEATHERS (1956), oil, 23Y2 x 31Y2 DAVID BROWNLOW (1915 - ), Fort Worth tCIUDAD (1956), oil, 26 x 46 MAX BUTLER (1920- ), Fort Worth PHILOSOPHERS AND A PAPER GARDEN (1956), oil, 38 x 48 CECIL LANG CASEBIER (1922- ), San Antonio tTHE BEETLE (1957), oil, 23 x 35Y2 LOWELL COLLINS (1924- ) , Houston tVENICE (1957), oil, 31 Y2 x 51 BEN CULWELL (1918- ), Dallas CROWD (1956), mixed media, 24x38 OTIS DOZIER (1904- ), Dallas tINDIAN BLANKET (1952), oil, 30 x 40 LUIS EADES (1923- ), Austin * SUMMER GARDEN ( 1955), oil, 42 x 31Y2 KELLY FEARING (1918- ), Austin tTHE MATSYENDRA (1955) , oil, 34 x 24 RAYMOND FLETCHER (1922- ), San Antonio t*WAR DANCE (1954), mixed media, 38 x 25 SEYMOUR FOGEL (1911- ), Austin t*THE CITY (1955), oil, 46 x 71 MICHAEL FRARY 路 (1918- ), Austin SEA WALL (1956), oil, 32 x 46 HENRI GADBOIS (1930- ), Houston tTHREE TIERED FORMATION (1956), oil, 36 x 30 GEORGE GRAMMER (1928- ), Fort Worth *OIL DERRICKS AT NIGHT (1952) , oil, 25 x 30 JOHN GUE RIN (1920- ), Austin FISHING PIER (1956), oil, 40 x 60 WILFRED HIGGINS (1919-), Dallas OF OIL IV (1957), oil, 35Y2 x23Y2

DEFORREST JUDD (1916- ), Dallas tGREEN CACTUS (195 4 ), oil, 23 x 29 Y2 CHAPMAN KELLY (1933- ) , San Antonio PORTRAIT OF JOAN (1954), oil, 19x 14 WALTER LENGEL ( 1916· i. Dallas TREESCAPE (195 4-55 ),oil, 16x 48 WILLIAM LESTER (1910- ), Austin TAWNY WOODS (195 6), oil, 29Y2 x 44 KEITH McINTYRE ( 1925- ) , San Antonio t *BACK STREET (1953 ) , oil, 24x 48 JESSE MEDELLIN (1921- ) , San Antonio t LAN DSCAP E (195 7) , oil, 23Y2 x 38 FRED MITCHAM ( 1917- ) , Dallas RED NUDE ( 1956), oil, 29 x 23 PERRY NICHOLS ( 1911- ) , Dallas "'THE RED QUEEN (195 3-54) , oil, 30 x 24 DOROTHY POULOS ( 1912- ), Dallas LAMPLIGHT ( 1955), oil, 39Y2 x 29Y2 ROBERT PREUSSER (1919- ), Houston ILLUMINATIVE ENERGY ( 1956 ) , oil and plastic, 18 x 30 BILL REILY (1 930- ), San Antonio tSHIP YARD (19 55), oil, 36 x 48 E. M. (BUCK ) SCHIWETZ (1898- ) , Houston SOUVENIR OF SAN SABA COUNTY (1956 ) , mixed media, 17Y2 x 25 EVERETT SPRUCE ( 1908- ), Austin tPE€OS RIVER ( 1956) , oil, 0 x 6 CHESTER TONEY (1925· ), San Ant onio ANGRY SEA (1956 ), oil, 41Y2 x 73Y2 McKIE TROTTER (19 18- ), Fort W orth t TW O LEVELS ( 1955), oil, 31 x 46 BROR UTTER (1913- ) , Fort Worth tLIBATION (1956 ) , oil, 30 x 44 PETER VATSURES ( 1930- ), Dallas tTHIRD FLOOR ( 1955), oil, 46Y2 x 47 DONALD WEISMANN (191 4- ), Austin tCONVOY CONTROL (1957), oil and gold, 34 x 50 RALPH WHITE (1921 - ), Austin LAKE IN THE T EX AS HILL COUN TRY ( 1956), oil, 32 x46 HIRAM WILLIAMS ( 1917- ), Austin tTHE SUITOR (1956) , oil, 48 x 66 CLARA WILLIAMSON (18 75- ), Dallas t * GET ALONG LITTLE DOGIES ( 1945), oil, 26Y2 x 39Y2 DAN WINGREN (1923- ) , Dallas tMOIST LANDSCAPE (1957) , oil, 19 x 26Y2

t

THE DALLAS EXHIBITION OF SURVEY OF TEXAS PA INTI NG (The following i t ems are in add i t i on t o t hose i n th e AFh circuit catal ogue of this exhi biti on )

WAYMAN ADAMS, Aust in "Mexican Man and Roos ter "

*

STEPHEN MAGADA, Aus t i n "Spectator s" oil

oi l

DAVID P. ADI CKES , Aus t i n § "In At t endance " ca s ein

PAUL MA ~H E LL , Houston "Red Field" oil

REID BEYER, Dalla s "The -Quest" oi-1

LOREN MOZLEY, Austin "ShadoWBox" oil

CYNTHI A BRANTS, For t Wor t h §* "Land sc ape at Boerne , Texa s"

oi l

HARRY CARNAHAN, Da l las "Texa s Landsc ap e" oi l

PERRY NICHOLS , Da l l a s §* "Wes t Texas Snow" tempera ROBERT PREUSSER, Houston § "New Engl and Landscape" oil Lent by Dr . & Mr s . Harold Wood

*

GENE CHARLTON, Hou s t on " Arrangement" oi l Lent anonymou sl y

DICKSON REEDER , For t Wor t h "Por trai t of Geor ge " oil Lent by Mr . & Mr s. George Works, Jr.

BILL CONDON, Hous ton "Overpass Det ail" oil

MARJORIE von ROSENBERG, Houston "Red Pi ne " oil

ANN CUSHI NG, Dall as "Folk Song" oil

FRANCES ROYSTON, Houston "Market Da y" collage

BARNEY DELABANO, Dall as "Paper Tre e" oil Lent by Mr s . Ma r imet Mc Ne i l l

EDWIN RUDA, Au s t i n "Bouquet" oil

OTIS DOZIER, Dalla s § " p, Short Ride" oil

MARY ELLEN SHIPNES, Houston "Bro adwa y, Galveston" oil

*

E.G. EISENLOHR, Da lla s "Spri ng Thaw" oi l

FRANCES SKINNER, Houston "The Searc h f or Bejar" oil

J ANET RASER FAU NCE, Dall a s "Por t r ai t" oil Lent by Mr . Loui s He xt er

*

KENNETH B. FISKE, Aust in "The VIi sh i ng Tre e" oil

THOMAS STELL, Dallas "Por trai t of Da l e Hear d" oJ. 1 Lent by Mrs . Da l e Heard Lambert

MI CHAEL FRARY, Austin § "The Town" oi l

RUTH TEARS, Da l la s "Ves sels" oil

J OHN GUER I N, Aus t i n § "Tidal Bas i n" oil Len t by Mr. Wi l l i am Scott

J ACK TINKLE, San Ant oni o "Injun Country" oil

ALEXANDRE HOGUE, Da l la s "*. "Drouth Stri cke n Ar ea "

EMI LY GUTHRIE SMI TH, Fort Worth "Young Mul atto" oil

__CHESTER_TONEY, San Antonio, § "Port O'Conor " casein

__

oi 1 OLI N TRAVI S, Dall a s "Lak eside" oil

EDMUND KI NZI NGER, Waco * "Mexi can Family" oil

DOUTHI T WI LSON, San Antonio "Landscape" oi l

WILLIAM C. KORTLANDER , Aus t i n "Boat s , Roc ks and Gulls " oil KENNETH LCCMIS, Dent on "St r eet Scen e , Guaymas Sonora "

BETTY WI NN, Dalla s "Magnol i a s" oi l oi l

§ Alter na te has been substitut ed for t hi s painting in t he AFA circuit exhibition.

*

Owned by the Da l l a s Museum of Fi ne Ar t s .

Ot her s l ent by.artist except where noted.