The Reductive Landscape:
Paintings & Drawings by Jack Boynton and McKie Trotter February 6-28, 2015
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE: PAINTINGS & DRAWINGS BY JACK BOYNTON AND M C KIE TROTTER SPRING 2015 EXHIBITION CATALOGUE BY WILLIAM REAVES FINE ART
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
The Reductive Landscape: Paintings & Drawings by McKie Trotter and Jack Boynton Beginning in the early 1950s, McKie Trotter (1918-1999) and Jack Boynton (1928-2010) forged a professional relationship at TCU, first as teacher and student and subsequently as professional colleagues, which literally changed the dynamics of landscape painting in the state. Informed and inspired by the inventive output of the other, they introduced and perfected a reductive form of landscape painting. By reducing Texas light, land and atmosphere to its simplest terms in paint, they produced mystical, highly-charged renditions which lent an expressionist vision to the Lone Star landscape for the first time. Their efforts received the highest acclaim of their time, enabling both artists to achieve formidable exhibition records among their peers. Their mid-century Texas work embraced the walls of such premier institutions as The Guggenheim, MoMA, The Whitney and the National Academy of Design. This exhibition reconsiders their ground-breaking landscapes of the 50s and 60s, which Trotter continued from his faculty base at TCU, and Boynton perfected in his at Houston and eventually at St. Thomas University. Bill Reaves William Reaves Fine Art
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
The Reductive Landscape | Exhibition Checklist
JACK BOYNTON
Image Title
Date
Medium
Dimensions
1
Drawing Five
1959
pencil on paper
10x7 inches
2
Same Old 7 and 6
1959
graphite
5.5x12 inches
3
Untitled (4)
1959
pencil on paper
9.5x14.5 inches
4
Untitled (5)
1964
pencil on paper
10x10 inches
5
Untitled Drawing 1
1959
graphite
7.75x6.5 inches
6
Untitled Drawing 2
1959
graphite
8.75x6 inches
7
Untitled Drawing 9
1957
mixed media
11x6 inches
8
Blind Beast
1959
oil on canvas
70x80 inches
9
Dissection
1960
oil on canvas
80.25x69.75 inches
10
Reflections
1959
oil on canvas
39.5x32 inches
11
Tehatchapie Pass
1968
acrylic on canvas
64x64 inches
12
Untitled (Purple Landscape)
c. 1968
acrylic on canvas
64x64 inches
13
Untitled
1959
oil on canvas
30x26 inches
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
The Reductive Landscape | Exhibition Checklist
M C KIE TROT TER
Image Title
Date
Medium
Dimensions
14
Big Sky
1955
drawing on paper
17x27 inches
15
Cactus Garden
c.1956
graphite
14x18 inches
16
Four Bushes
c. 1959
collage
4x16 inches
17
Arcadian V
1963
casein on board
32x49 inches
18
Earthscape
1963
casein on board
32x48 inches
19
Earthscape #14
c. 1959
oil on canvas
38x30 inches
20
Earthscape with Sea
1963-64
oil on canvas
46x50 inches
21
Earthscape with Sea and Fields
1963-64
mixed media on masonite
32x48 inches
22
Landscape Southwest
1957
vinyl emulsion
10x12 inches
23
Sea III
1959
oil on canvas
40x63 inches
24
Spring S'West #2
1958
oil on masonite
12x41 inches
25
Untitled (blue horizons)
1955
casein on masonite
25.5x48 inches
26
Untitled (green horizon)
c.1959
hyplar on board
4x8.5 inches
27
Untitled (red, white, green, yellow)
c.1959
oil on board
5.62x20 inches
28
Southwestern Landscape
1955
graphite on paper
5.5x22 inches
29
Untitled Landscape
1952
oil on masonite
26x16 inches
30
Winterscape, 11/12
no date
silkscreen
20x15.5 inches
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
JACK BOYNTON THE ARTIST & HIS WORK
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
JACK BOYNTON (1928-2010)
Boynton was a key figure in the post-World War II Houston arts scene. According to a Houston Chronicle article written by Douglas Britt, Boynton garnered national attention in the 1950’s and 1960’s for his modernist, largely abstract paintings. His work is owned by the MFAH, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney and Guggenheim Museums, Dallas Museum of Art, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Amon Carter Museum and the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut.
Selected Exhibitions • 1954, Younger American Painters, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York • 1957, Young America, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York • 1957-58, 1 of 17 artists representing USA at the Brussels World’s Fair • 1959, Dallas Museum of Contemporary Art • 1962, Recent Painting: The Figure, Museum of Modern Art, New York • 1976-86, Betty Moody Gallery, Houston • 1980, Retrospectrum, Amarillo Art Center, circulating to Tyler Museum of Art, Art Center of Waco, Abilene Fine Arts Museum, and Beaumont Art Museum • 1985, Fresh Paint: The Houston School, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston • 2007, Texas Modern, Martin Museum of Art, Baylor University
Selected Biographical and Career Highlights • 1928, Born in Fort Worth, Texas • 1949, BFA, Texas Christian University • 1955, MFA, Texas Christian University • 1955-57, Instructor, University of Houston • 1960-62, Instructor, San Francisco Art Institute • 1967-69, Artist Fellowship, Tamarind Lithograph Workshop, Los Angeles • 1969-85, Professor, University of St. Thomas, Houston • 2010, Dies in Houston, Texas
Selected Public Collections • Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas • Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, Texas • Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas • Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas • The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas • Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York • Museum of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana • Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, New York • Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut
Jack Boynton was born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1928. He earned his bachelor and master degrees from Texas Christian University and began exhibiting his paintings in 1950. He has been included in numerous group exhibitions, nationally and internationally and became recognized for his contemporary paintings and prints. Boynton was instrumental in creating the studio arts program at the University of St. Thomas; he joined the faculty in 1969 and served as professor until 1985. He was well respected by his colleagues, one of whom mentioned that he could look at a piece of paper and see a dozen possibilities.
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
2. Same Old 7 and 6, 1959 Graphite on paper 5.5x12 inches
1. Drawing Five, 1959 Pencil on paper 10x7 inches
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
3. Untitled (4), 1959
4. Untitled (5), 1964
Pencil on paper 9.5x14.5 inches
Pencil on paper 10x10 inches
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
5. Untitled Drawing 1, 1959 Graphite on paper 7.75x6.5 inches
7. Untitled Drawing 9, 1957 6. Untitled Drawing 2, 1959 Graphite on paper 8.75x6 inches
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
Mixed media on paper 11x6 inches
8. Blind Beast, 1959 Oil on canvas 70x80 inches
9. Dissection, 1960 Oil on canvas 80.25x69.75 inches
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
10. Reflections, 1959 Oil on canvas 39.5x32 inches
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
11. Tehatchapie Pass, 1968 Acrylic on canvas 64x64 inches
12. Untitled (Purple Landscape), c. 1968 Acrylic on canvas 64x64 inches
13. Untitled, 1959 Oil on canvas 30x26 inches
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
M C KIE TROTTER THE ARTIST & HIS WORK
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
M C KIE TROTTER (1918-1999) McKie Trotter was born in 1918 in Manchester, Georgia. He pursued his growing interest in art, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg Virginia. Drafted into the war, Trotter served as infantry captain in 1943 and found himself as a prisoner of war until 1945. After the war, he returned to Georgia and earned his Master’s at the University of Georgia, Athens. Later, a teaching position in Fort Worth prompted him to relocate to Texas. Trotter eventually settled in Austin, affiliating himself with Dickson Reeder and the group of modernist printmakers, who had come to be known as the Fort Worth Circle. He also took on an active role at the Reeder School, designing sets and creating costumes. Trotter continued to exhibit and his work was included in the 1957 Dallas Museum of Fine Arts exhibition A Survey of Texas Painting, mounted under the direction of Jerry Bywaters, and in the 1971 exhibition Texas Painting 6 Sculpture: 20th Century which traveled to Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth and Lubbock. He exhibited widely, and his work is found in numerous private collections. Selected Biographical and Career Highlights • 1918, Born in Manchester, Georgia • 1940, BA, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia • 1943-45, Infantry Captain and P.O.W. • 1950, MFA, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia • 1948-53, Instructor and Professor, Texas Wesleyan College, Fort Worth, Texas • 1953-88, Professor of Art, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas • 1999, Dies at Fort Worth residence
Selected Exhibitions • 1946-47, Pepsi-Cola Company’s Third Annual Exhibition: Paintings of the Year, New York, National Academy of Design • 1949-55, Fort Worth Art Association Local Artists’ Exhibition, Fort Worth, Texas • 1950-58, Annual Texas Painting and Sculpture Exhibition, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas • 1951-53, Texas Fine Arts Association General Exhibition, Austin, Texas • 1954, Young American Paintings, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, New York • 1960, Southwestern Art: A Sampling of Contemporary Painting and Sculpture, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas • 1961-67, Annual Exhibition of Artists of Fort Worth, Fort Worth Art Center, Fort Worth, Texas Selected Public Collections • Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas • Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas • Murray State College, Tishomingo, Oklahoma • Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth • Old Jail Art Center, Albany, Texas • Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
14. Big Sky, 1955 Drawing on paper 17x27 inches
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
15. Cactus Garden, c. 1956 Graphite on paper 14x17 inches
16. Four Bushes, 1959 Pencil on paper 9.5x14.5 inches
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
17. Arcadian V, 1963 Casein on board 32x49 inches
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
18. Earthscape, 1963 Casein on board 32x48 inches
19. Earthscape #14, c. 1959 Oil on canvas 38x30 inches
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
20. Earthscape with Sea, 1963 Oil on canvas 46x50 inches
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
21. Earthscape with Sea and Fields, 1963-64 Mixed media on masonite 32x48 inches
22. Landscape Southwest, 1957 Vinyl emulsion 10x12 inches
23. Untitled, 1959 Oil on canvas 40x63 inches
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
24. Spring S’West #2, 1958 Oil on masonite 12x41 inches
25. Untitled (blue horizons), 1955 Casein on masonite 25.5x48 inches
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
26. Untitled (green horizon), c. 1959 Hyplar on board 4x8.5 inches
27. Untitled (red, white, green, yellow), c. 1959 Oil on board 5.62x20 inches
28. Southwestern Landscape, 1955 Graphite on paper 5.5x22 inches
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
29. Untitled Landscape, 1955 Oil on masonite 26x16 inches
THE REDUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
30. Winterscape, no date Silkscreen 20x15.5 inches
WILLIAM REAVES FINE ART 2143 WESTHEIMER ROAD • HOUSTON, TEXAS • 77098 TEL: 713.521.7500 • EMAIL: INFO@REAVESART.COM WWW.REAVESART.COM CATALOGUE DESIGNED BY ELIZABETH O’DOWD.