BREAKTHROUGH
Sixty Years of Texas Abstraction August 26 - September 17, 2011
Schorre, White Water - White Cloud, 1981
Preusser, Germination, 1946 Stout, Passion, 1957
Wray, Untitled, 2007
Claudia BETTI Jack BOYNTON Lamar BRIGGS Ben CULWELL Don EDELMAN Kelly FEARING Michael FRARY Dorothy HOOD Otis HUBAND Lucas JOHNSON Leila MCCONNELL Robert PREUSSER Bill REILY Robert ROGAN Charles SCHORRE Ary STILLMAN Richard STOUT Stella SULLIVAN McKie TROTTER Dick WRAY
BREAKTHROUGH Sixty Years of Texas Abstraction William Reaves Fine Art rolls out the red carpet for a fabulous fifth season in a powerful survey exhibition featuring some of the best Texas abstract painters of the twentieth century. The Houston gallery, which has gained acclaim for its offerings of strong historical art, presents local patrons with yet another consequential show examining the advent of abstract art in Texas. The exhibition combines 50 paintings by 20 artists, giving patrons a luscious overview of the development of Texas-made abstraction.
duration of his life. His wartime paintings were shown by Jerry Bywaters at the Dallas Museum of Art, and subsequently exhibited in New York in the Museum of Modern Art’s Fourteen Americans exhibition (1946) with the likes of Robert Motherwell, Arshile Gorky, Mark Tobey and others. His thickly imbued oils are absolutely distinctive in their style and composition, and a pleasure to engage.
True to its name, BREAKTHROUGH is an impressive assemblage of dramatic and fresh material by pioneer Highlighting the show are new-to-the-market works ing expressionists in the Houston community. The works by two groundbreaking Houstonians, Robert Preusser and include major paintings by Lamar Briggs, Leila McConnell Ben Culwell. This pair is generally acknowledged as the and Richard Stout (his Passion, 1957 is a must see for all first Texans to produce and show non-objective paintings serious art connoisseurs), as well as a fabulous collection of of note within the bounds of the Lone Star State. He was early works on paper by Dorothy Hood and Jack Boynton. active locally during the late 1930s until his departure to The show also features fine abstract paintings of the 1970s, 25. Preusser, Nucleus, 1937 Harvard and later MIT in the mid 1950s. In addition to serv1980s and 1990s, including hard-edge compositions by Stella Suling as an instructor at the Museum School and the University of Houston, livan and Don Edelman, strong examples of Otis Huband oils of the period Preusser was one of the primary forces in the creation of the Contempoand majestic, show-stoppers by Charles Schorre and Lucas Johnson. rary Arts Association – later to become the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. Culwell left Houston at an early age but continued to paint Beyond the Houston scene, there are prime examples by pioneerwhile pursuing business opportunities in his family’s insurance firm for the ing modernists active in university art departments throughout the state,
including Texas Christian University’s (Fort Worth) McKie Trotter, University of the Incarnate Word’s (San Antonio) Bill Reily, Lamar University’s (Beaumont) Robert Rogan and University of Texas’s (Austin) Michael Frary and Kelly Fearing. Making a prominent reintroduction in this exhibition is North Texas artist Claudia Webb Betti. Now deceased, the Chicago-trained artist (Art Institute of Chicago), was active in the latter half of the twentieth century and a longtime art instructor at The University of North Texas in Denton. The sample of Betti’s works presented in this exhibition include rich, geometric color fields from her Mexican Pyramid Series of the mid 1060s, as well as examples of the artist’s African inspired abstractions.
The inimitable Dick Wray, of course, requires no introduction. Whether in oil or watercolor, his frenetic, richly-colored expressions are legendary, fabulous compositions. In BREAKTHROUGH, viewers gain an overview of Wray’s stylistic maneuvers beginning in the 1980s until just a few years back (2007). Wray’s introduction to the Reaves gallery, showing in the context of other “greats” of Texas abstraction, is a genuine cause for celebration, and yet another reason that this exhibition is a MUST for Houston and Texas art goers. Take a long look at this show. Enjoy it to the max. It is an encounter destined to offer a few breakthrough moments for lovers of Texas art, and is our way of welcoming folks back for a fabulous fifth season. Cheers!
BREAKTHROUGH also brings works by Houston notables Ary Stillman and Dick Wray to the gallery for the first time, foreshadowing the major one-man shows to come later in the WRFA season for each of these laudable artists. Stillman, an important international figure in the early to midtwentieth century art scene, migrated to Houston later in his career during the 1960s. In 1972, The Museum of Fine Arts, 2. Betti, Mexico Series: Untitled, c. 1965 Houston mounted a major, posthumous retrospective of his works. Stillman’s work has been the subject of more than 180 exhibitions, and his paintings have entered the collections of over 48 museums in the country. The stunning paintings presented in this exhibition are accompanied by a selection of contemporary gouaches and drawings by the artist that are equally stellar and significant to Stillman’s artistic career.
- Bill Reaves, Sarah Beth Wilson, and Leslie Thompson
BREAKTHROUGH Sixty Years of Texas Abstraction Exhibition Checklist
Artist
Title
Date
Medium
Size (Inches)
1. Claudia Betti 2. Claudia Betti 3. Claudia Betti 4. Jack Boynton 5. Jack Boynton 6. Jack Boynton 7. Lamar Briggs 8. Ben Culwell
Mexico Series: Quelzcoatl Mexico Series: Untitled Series (5): Modality Drawing Five Untitled Untitled Ibiza / Windsong XXXI No 55-2
1965 c. 1965 1970 1959 1959 1964 1981 1955-61
oil/canvas oil/canvas oil/canvas pencil/paper pencil/paper pencil/paper acrylic/canvas mixed media/board
36x50 50x40 20x28 10x7 9 1/2x14 1/2 10x10 60x84 24x43
9. Ben Culwell 10. Don Edelman 11.Kelly Fearing 12. Michael Frary 13. Michael Frary 14. Dorothy Hood
Untitled (with Grey Background) Geometric Progression from Llama to Pegasus Fishes Below #1 Inside the Wall Pertaining to Still Life Untitled
1954-55 1998 1947 1964 c.1956? n/d
mixed media/board oil/board oil/board oil/collage/board oil/board pen/ink
15x22 1/2 46 1/2x35 7 1/2x8 23 1/2x29 1/2 22x30 26x20
Artist
15. Dorothy Hood 16. Otis Huband 17. Otis Huband 18. Otis Huband 19. Lucas Johnson 20. Leila McConnell 21. Leila McConnell 22. Leila McConnell 23. Robert Preusser 24. Robert Preusser 25. Robert Preusser 26. Bill Reily 27. Bill Reily 28. Bill Reily 29. Robert Rogan 30. Robert Rogan 31. Charles Schorre 32. Ary Stillman 33. Ary Stillman 34. Richard Stout
Title
Date
Medium
Size (Inches)
Untitled Crookshank Mead Sleeping In Sleeping Saint- Variation II Untitled Rolling Hills The Next Step The Sign Germination Line Woven Forms Nucleus Daedalus & Icarus Engulfed Cathedral Untitled (1951) Red Roof Untitled Abstract White Water - White Cloud Arabesque No. 1 Arabesque No. 2 Passion
n/d 1994 c.1980 1980 1970-80 1988 1988 1975 1946 1947 1937 n/d n/d 1951 1967 n/d 1981 n/d n/d 1957
oil/board oil/canvas oil/canvas oil/canvas oil/canvas oil/canvas oil/canvas oil/canvas oil/board oil/board oil/board mixed media oil/board mixed media oil/board duco/board oil/canvas gouache/paper gouache/paper oil/canvas
8x7 1/2 56x40 50 1/2 x40 40x70 92x47 24x36 48x36 50x30 16x20 14 1/2 x22 1/2 20x16 23x17 48x36 20x14 24x38 18x24 48x60 17 1/2 x13 17x12 71x74
Artist
Title
Date
Medium
Size (Inches)
35. Richard Stout 36. Richard Stout 37. Richard Stout 38. Stella Sullivan 39. Stella Sullivan 40. Stella Sullivan 41. McKie Trotter 42. McKie Trotter 43. McKie Trotter 44. Dick Wray 45. Dick Wray 46. Dick Wray 47. Dick Wray 48. Dick Wray
Remembrance Seiche #2 Untitled God’s Eye Jerusalem Eye Birds of a Feather Red Wall #6 Sea III Two Levels #6 Untitled Untitled Untitled Untitled 3 Untitled 4
1961 1956 1961 1978 1978 1980 1955 1959 1964-68 1993 1995 2007 c. 2000 c. 2000
oil/canvas oil/canvas oil/canvas oil/canvas acrylic/canvas oil/canvas oil/board oil/canvas acrylic/canvas oil/canvas oil/canvas oil/canvas watercolor watercolor
66x48 40x50 18x24 20x16 24x24 16x20 42x25 40x63 50x46 24x36 24x36 40x30 11x15 11x15
49. Dick Wray 50. Dick Wray
Untitled 5 Untitled 6
c. 2000 c. 2000
watercolor watercolor
11x15 11x15
1. Claudia Betti Mexico Series: Quelzcoatl, 1965 Oil on canvas 36x50 in.
2. Claudia Betti Mexico Series: Untitled, c.1965 Oil on canvas 50x40 in.
3. Claudia Betti Series (5): Modality, 1970 Oil on canvas 20x28 in.
4. Jack Boynton Drawing Five, 1959 Pencil on paper 10x7 in.
5. Jack Boynton Untitled, 1959 Pencil on paper 9 1/2x14 1/2 in.
6. Jack Boynton Untitled, 1964 Pencil on paper 10x10 in.
7. Lamar Briggs Ibiza / Windsong XXXI, 1981 Acrylic on canvas 60x84 in.
8. Ben Culwell No 55-2, 1955-61 Mixed media on board 24x43 in.
9. Ben Culwell Untitled (with Grey Background), 1954-55 Mixed media on board 15x22 1/2 in.
10. Don Edelman Geometric Progression from Llama to Pegasus, 1998 Oil on board 46 1/2x35 in.
11. Kelly Fearing Fishes Below #1, 1947 Oil on board 7 1/2x8 in.
12. Michael Frary Inside the Wall, 1964 Oil on collage on board 23 1/2x29 1/2 in.
13. Michael Frary Petaining to Still Life, c.1956? Oil on board 22x30 in.
14. Dorothy Hood Untitled, n/d Pen and ink 26x20 in.
15. Dorothy Hood Untitled, n/d Oil and board 8x7 1/2 in.
16. Otis Huband Crookshank Mead, 1994 Oil on canvas 56x40 in.
17. Otis Huband Sleeping In, c.1980 Oil on canvas 50 1/2x40 in.
18. Otis Huband Sleeping Saint, 1980 Oil on canvas 40x70 in.
19. Lucas Johnson Untitled, c.1970-80 Oil on canvas 92x47 in.
20. Leila McConnell Rolling Hills, 1988 Oil on canvas 24x36 in.
21. Leila McConnell The Next Step, 1988 Oil on canvas 48x36 in.
22. Leila McConnell The Sign, 1975 Oil on canvas 50x30 in.
23. Robert Preusser Germination, 1946 Oil on board 16x20 in.
24. Robert Preusser Line Woven Forms, 1947 Oil on board 14 1/2x22 1/2 in.
25. Robert Preusser Nucleus, 1937 Oil on board 20x16 in.
26. Bill Reily Daedalus & Icarus, n/d Mixed media 23x17 in.
27. Bill Reily Engulfed Cathedral, n/d Oil on board 48x36 in.
28. Bill Reily Untitled (1951), 1951 Mixed media 20x14 in.
29. Robert Rogan Red Roof, 1967 Oil on board 24x38 in.
30. Robert Rogan Untitled Abstract, n/d Duco on board 18x24 in.
31. Charles Schorre White Water - White Cloud, 1981 Oil on canvas 48x60 in.
32. Ary Stillman Arabesque No. 1, n/d Gouache on paper 17 1/2x13 in.
33. Ary Stillman Arabesque No. 2, n/d Gouache on paper 17x12 in.
34. Richard Stout Passion, 1957 Oil on canvas 71x74 in.
35. RIchard Stout Remembrance, 1961 Oil on canvas 66x48 in.
36. Richard Stout Seiche #2, 1956 Oil on canvas 40x50 in.
37. Richard Stout Untitled, 1961 Oil on canvas board 18x24 in.
38. Stella Sullivan Birds of a Feather, 1980 Oil on canvas 16x20 in.
39. Stella Sullivan God’s Eye, 1978 Oil on canvas 20x16 in.
40. Stella Sullivan Jerusalem Eye, 1978 Acrylic on canvas 24x24 in.
41. McKie Trotter Red Wall #6, 1955 Oil on board 42x25 in.
42. McKie Trotter Sea III, 1998 Oil on canvas 40x63 in.
43. McKie Trotter Two Levels #6, 1964-68 Acrylic on canvas 50x46 in.
44. Dick Wray Untitled, 1993 Oil on canvas 24x36 in.
45. Dick Wray Untitled, 1995 Oil on canvas 24x36 in.
46. Dick Wray Untitled, 2007 Oil on canvas 40x30 in.
47. Dick Wray Untitled 3, c.2000 Watercolor on paper 11x15 in.
48. Dick Wray Untitled 4, c.2000 Watercolor on paper 11x15 in.
49. Dick Wray Untitled 5, c.2000 Watercolor on paper 11x15 in.
50. Dick Wray Untitled 6, c.2000 Watercolor on paper 11x15 in.