Hill Country Love Affair: Interpretations of a Texas Heartland

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Hill Country Love Affair: Interpretations of a Texas Heartland W i l l i a m R e a v e s F i n e Ar t • O c t o b e r 1 8 – No v e m b e r 1 6 , 2 0 1 3

P l e a s i n g H ill C o u n t r y V i e w s b y Ov e r 3 0 T e x a s A r ti s t s , Spa n n i n g 8 5 Y e a r s Randy Bacon • Mary Baxter • Joy Carrington • Emma Richardson Cherry • Margie Crisp • Keith Davis • Ruth Duncan • Santa Duran • Jon Flaming • Henri Gadbois • Robert Harrison • Alexander Hogue • Carl Hoppe • Lee Jamison • Laura Lewis • William Montgomery • Ancel Nunn • George Demont Otis • Noe Perez • Harold Roney • Porfirio Salinas • Jeri Salter • William Slaughter • Debbie Stevens • Bob Stuth-Wade • Rolla Taylor • Robert Wood • among others •


Hill COuntry Love Affair: Interpretations of a Texas Heartland October 18 – November 16, 2013

Opening Reception: Saturday, October 26, 2013 5 - 8pm

Noe Perez, Evening Colors, 2013


Devotion to Place: Texas Artists and the Texas Hill Country As the exhibition title implies, A Hill Country Love Affair is an art exhibition celebrating the glories of the Texas Hill Country. Here for the viewing is a fine selection vintage and contemporary paintings by over thirty Texas artists, all of which feature this beloved sector of the state in one form or fashion. The works shown have been executed by their respective artists over a period of roughly eighty-five years. It is a lovely assemblage of artworks featuring the grand mix of wildflowers, wildlife, rivers, lakes and vistas which characterize in the Hill Country environs. A visit is certain to bring pleasant viewing for all who attend, as this is a worthy exhibition simply based on the beauty of the works alone.

Texas in the 1850s, Texas painters have been inclined to give romantic interpretations to the lofty hills and rocky riverbeds endemic to the area. The twentieth century ensued with impressionist painters such as the Onderdonks, notably Robert and Julian, and “Papa” José Arpa achieving popular acclaim by virtue of their stunning canvases of verdant Texas hills and scrubby South Texas countryside that surrounded their San Antonio homes. Their painterly output, coupled with their notable prowess as art teachers, helped to inspire a popular movement of “bluebonnet painters” and set dozens of would-be protégées scouring about the Texas hills in search of flower-covered vistas to paint.

However, beyond being merely a collection of pretty paintings, this exhibition underscores that most fundamental quality of true Texas art - a profound “sense of place”. It has been noted that the best of Texas paintings marvel us because they connect to the archetypical spirit and instinctive nature of place which looms quietly (and sometimes not-soquietly) within the collective consciousness of all Texans. Perhaps no other spot within the bounds of the Great State is more evocative of genuine “Texas place” than the Texas Hill Country, and as the paintings on the walls attest, the region has beckoned to Texas painters since art first blossomed in the State. Indeed, Texas artists have been engaged in a mad love affair with the Texas Hill Country since the very beginning, and the masterworks in art which have resulted from their enduring romance are at least part of the reason that this rugged Texas heartland is revered today as one of the state’s most identifiable environmental treasures.

By the end of the Roaring Twenties, Texas and San Antonio had evolved as the epicenter of the arts for the South and Southwest. San Antonio’s energetic Art League, underwritten by its “patron-in-chief”, Edgar B. Davis, boldly offered a heralded national painting competition which encouraged both Texas painters, as well as American counterparts from other states, to capture farming, ranching and other scenic landscape of the Texas Hill Country and its adjacent territories. Several of the artists who actively participated in these San Antonio Competitive Exhibitions, as these events were formally titled, are shown in this particular exhibition, including Emma Richardson Cherry, Alexander Hogue, Peter Hohnstedt, Eloise Polk McGill, Gilbert Neumann, Harold Roney, Rolla Taylor and others. Other notable exhibitors include Oscar E. Berninghaus, Adrian Bewer Dawson Dawson-Watson, W. Herbert Dunton, Edward G. Eisenlohr, Frank Tenney Johnson, Audley Dean Nicols, and Ella K. Mewhinney.

Starting with the likes of Hermann Lungkwitz or Friedrich Richard Petri, notables among a first wave of immigrant artists settling in Central

The 30s and 40s introduced yet another wave of hill-country painters onto the Texas scene. Foremost among these were Robert Wood and


Porfirio Salinas, and strong examples of their works are found here as well. These artists extended the landscape traditions started by Onderdonk, Arpa and others, turning out exquisite canvases populated with their own fields of flowers, dusty roads, spreading live oaks and blooming cacti. Their works resonated with Texans of the era and found homes among the most prominent of Lone Star families.

strong brushwork and careful overlay of paint to capture the unique light and texture of the land they paint. Artists such as Jeri Salter, Erik Sprohge and Hunter George bring Hill Country settings to life through exquisite works on paper, while Jon Flaming and Keith Davis prefer more whimsical, colorful abstractions (and in Davis’ case—found objects and carved wood) to convey the distinctive qualities of the vicinity.

The allure of the Texas hills did not escape the attention of the artists/ instructors of the newly formed University of Texas art department either. These professors, along with a bevy of talented students, sketched and painted the Austin countryside prolifically, albeit with more abstracted, avant-garde style then their San Antonio-based contemporaries. In this show, examples by Constance Forsyth, William Lester and Everett Spruce speak to their affinity for the hard-scrabble farms and rocky streams which dotted the vicinity.

And so on it goes. A long and continuous line of Texas painters inspired by this glorious place, moved to capture its beauties and character in paint. The paintings here constitute a tribute to both subject and artists, and attest to the instinctive draw which this ground has held for Texas painters over time. Through A Hill Country Love Affair we invite you to experience your own personal journey to this special Texas place. We have little doubt you’ll enjoy it, and that you will concur with us in affirming: Long live Texas, long live Texas art, and God bless the Texas hills!

Returning to studios after the war, Salinas and other Texas painters continued to pursue their fascination with Hill Country subject matter, painting wonderful examples throughout the middle and latter scores of the twentieth century. Others, such as William Slaughter followed their lead. One of the grand artists to emerge in Texas after the war was Ancel Nunn, whose painting here of the German-engineered Sisterdale School House offers a sensitive tribute to the elegant legacy of indigenous structures which stand as monuments in time in these Texas Hills. Texas painters of the present century have been likewise smitten by this storied landscape, finding new and inventive ways to paint and preserve the timeless qualities of the Texas Hill Country. Artists such as Mary Baxter, Noe Perez, Robert Harrison, Lee Jamison and Laura Lewis lend their respective forms of impressionism to this classic subject matter. Randy Bacon, Bob Stuth-Wade and Debbie Stevens use measured, yet

Bill Reaves President, William Reaves Fine Art


Hill Country Love Affair: Interpretations of a Texas Heartland October 18 - November 16, 2013 Artist

Title of Work

Date

Medium

Dimensions (inches)

1

Randy Bacon

Fort McKavett #1

2013

oil on canvas

18 x 24

2

Randy Bacon

Fort McKavett #2

2013

oil on canvas

18 x 24

3

Randy Bacon

San Saba River at the Presidio

2013

oil on canvas

18 x 24

4

Randy Bacon

Llano River

2013

oil on canvas

18 x 24

5

Randy Bacon

Pecans (Menard)

2013

oil on canvas

10 x 14

6

Mary Baxter

Cattle Near Quihi

2013

oil on canvas

30 x 42

7

Mary Baxter

Ducks in the Rain

2013

oil on canvas

30 x 24

8

Mary Baxter

Two Cattle Egrets on a Rocky Point

2013

oil on canvas

30 x 36

9

Joy Carrington

Basket of Cactus

no date

oil on canvas

24 x 18

10

Joy Carrington

Hill Country Bluebonnets

no date

oil on board

10 x 16

11

Joy Carrington

Trees & Lake

no date

oil on canvas

24 x 36

12

Emma Richardson Cherry

Blue Bonnets & Indian Blankets

no date

oil on board

17 x 11½

13

Margie Crisp

Righteous

2013

egg tempera on panel, 24k gold, water gilded

8½ x 7½

14

Margie Crisp

Endangered Species Icon: Black-capped Vireo

2013

egg tempera on panel, 24k gold, oil gilded

11 x 14

15

Keith Davis

Woodpeckers and Cactus

2013

acrylic on wood

26½ x 17 x 9

16

Keith Davis

A Window on Texas: Spring in the Hill Country

2013

acrylic on wood

36 x 31 x 8

17

Keith Davis

A Window on Texas: Crows in the Kitchen

2013

acrylic on wood

29 x 26 x 9½

18

Keith Davis

A Window on Texas: Evening Song

2013

acrylic on wood

26 x 26 x 6

19

Keith Davis

Rabbit and Cactus

2010-13

acrylic on wood

21 x 13 x 5.5

20

Ruth Duncan

Landmark Inn at Castorville from the River Road

no date

oil on board

11½ x 15½

21

Santa Duran

Los Helotes Creek

1964

oil on canvas board

16 x 20

22

Stella Texas Elmendorf

Untitled (Barn)

1928

oil on canvas on board

12 x 16

23

Jon Flaming

Along the Road (Number 1)

2013

oil on canvas

18 x 24


Hill Country Love Affair: Interpretations of a Texas Heartland October 18 - November 16, 2013

24

Jon Flaming

Cattle, Cotton, Cactus 2

2013

oil on canvas

48 x 60

34

Constance Forsyth

Turkey and Rooster (Stand-off)

1956

litho crayon on paper

15 x 21

35

Henri Gadbois

Ann's Trees

2009

oil on canvas

9 x 12

36

Henri Gadbois

From the Terrace, Ingram

1978

oil on canvas

24 x 30

37

Henri Gadbois

Gray Day on the Guadalupe

2012

oil on canvas

6½ x 8½

38

Robert Harrison

Hill Country Verbena

2013

oil on canvas

23½ x 29½

39

Robert Harrison

Springtime in May

2013

oil on canvas

18 x 24

40

Alexander Hogue

Texas Snow

1925

oil on canvas on board

12 x 16

41

Peter Lanz Hohnstedt

Landscape

no date

oil on board

18 x 24

42

Carl Thomas Hoppe

Untitled (Bluebonnets)

no date

oil on canvas

12 x 16

43

Carl Thomas Hoppe

Landscape of Pinks

1954

oil on canvas

19½ x 23½

44

Lee Jamison

A Blue Heron

2013

oil on canvas

12 x 48

45

Lee Jamison

Morning and Evening and Night

2013

oil on canvas

30 x 40

46

Lee Jamison

First Light

2013

oil on canvas

36 x 60

47

Laura Lewis

Good Night

2005/2013

oil on panel

25 x 48

48

Laura Lewis

Hilltop

2009

oil on panel

40 x 24

49

Laura Lewis

Rhapsody in Blue (Martin Ranch)

2013

oil on panel

20 x 48

50

William Lester

Dry Pastures

1943

watercolor

18 x 20

51

William Lester

Farm

c.1944

oil on masonite

20½ x 26

52

Eloise Polk McGill

Untitled (Bluebonnets)

no date

oil on canvas board

16 x 26

53

William Montgomery

Nueces River: Rio Grande Leopard Frog and Coppery Dancer

2013

oil on canvas

30 x 42

54

William Montgomery

Tropical Parulas on Hackberry Creek

2013

oil on canvas

20 x 16

55

Gilbert Franz Neumann

Hill of Bandero

1927

oil on panel

9 x 12

56

Ancel Nunn

Sisterdale Schoolhouse

1972

acrylic on panel

31 x 23½

57

George Demont Otis

Untitled (Laundry Day)

no date

oil on canvas

16 x 20


Hill Country Love Affair: Interpretations of a Texas Heartland October 18 - November 16, 2013

58

Noe Perez

Evening Colors

2013

oil on canvas

20 x 30

59

Noe Perez

Hilltop Blooms

2013

oil on canvas

30 x 24

60

Ernst Raba

San Antonio, Texas

1925

oil on canvas

16⅛ x 20⅛

61

Harold Roney

Shimmering Sunlight

1926

oil on canvas board

12 x 13½

62

Porfirio Salinas

Road to Utopia

c.1950

oil on canvas

20 x 24

63

Porfirio Salinas

Untitled (Landscape)

no date

oil on board

6x8

64

Jeri Salter

Finding a Way Though the Fog

2013

pastel

12 x 21

65

Jeri Salter

Patchwork Barn

2013

pastel

12 x 21

66

Jeri Salter

Reflections

2011

pastel on panel

30 x 38

67

William Slaughter

Untitled (Winterscape)

no date

oil on canvas

23½ x 35½

68

Erik Sprohge

Hope: Hilltop, Guadalupe Ranch Estates

2013

watercolor

21¼ x 14

69

Erik Sprohge

River Rock: North Fork, Guadalupe

2013

watercolor

19¼ x27

70

Erik Sprohge

Cliff Face: North Fork Guadalupe

2013

watercolor

21½ x 29½

71

Debbie Stevens

Longhorns of Willow Creek

2013

oil on canvas

24 x 48

72

Debbie Stevens

80% Chance

2013

oil on panel

24 x 24

73

Bob Stuth-Wade

Early Afternoon, Sulphur Springs

2013

acrylic on paper mounted on panel

15⅝ x 19⅝

74

Bob Stuth-Wade

Buck Point, Dry Years

2013

acrylic on paper mounted on panel

19⅝ x 15⅝

75

Bob Stuth-Wade

Cathedrals on the Colorado

2012

acrylic on canvas

32 x 19

76

Rolla Taylor

Cactus

1901

oil on canvas

9½ x 13¼

77

Rolla Taylor

Privilege Creek, Bandera Road

no date

oil on canvas board

16 x 20

78

Rolla Taylor

San Jose Mission, S.A.

no date

oil on canvas board

11½ x 15½

79

Robert Wood

Untitled (Cactus)

no date

oil on board

12 x 16

80

Robert Wood (attributed)

Hill Country Road

no date

oil on canvas

25 x 30


1. Randy Bacon, Fort McKavett #1, 2013, oil on canvas, 18x24 inches

2. Randy Bacon, Fort McKavett #2, 2013, oil on canvas, 18x24 inches


2. Randy Bacon, Llano River, 2013, oil on canvas, 18x24 inches

4. Randy Bacon, Pecans (Menard), 2013, oil on canvas, 10x14 inches


5. Randy Bacon, San Saba River at the Presidio, 2013, oil on canas, 18x24 inches

6. Mary Baxter, Cattle Near Quihi, oil on canvas, 30x42 inches


7. Mary Baxter, Ducks in the Rain, 2013, oil on canvas, 30x24 inches

8. Mary Baxter, Two Herons on a Rocky Point, 2013, oil on canvas, 30x36 inches


9. Joy Carrington, Trees and Lake, no date, oil on canvas, 24x30 inches

10. Joy Carrington, Basket of Cactus, no date, oil on canvas, 18x24 inches


11. Joy Carrington, Hill Country Bluebonnets, no date, oil on board, 10x16 inches


12. Emma Richardson Cherry, Blue Bonnets & Indian Blankets, no date, oil on canvas, 17x11.5 inches


13. Margie Crisp, Endangered Species Icon: Black-capped Vireo, 2013, egg tempera on panel, 24k gold, oil gilded, 11 x 14 inches

14. Margie Crisp, Righteous, 2013, egg tempera on panel, 24k gold, water gilded, 8.5x7.5 inches


15. Keith Davis, Rabbit, 2010-2013, acrylic on wood, 21x13x5.5 inches


16. Keith Davis, A Window on Texas: Spring in the Hill Country, 2013, acrylic on wood, 36 x 31 x 8 inches

17. Keith Davis, A Window on Texas: Crows in the Kitchen, 2013, acrylic on wood, 29 x 26 x 9½ inches


18. Keith Davis, A Window on Texas: Evening Song, 2013, acrylic on wood, 26 x 26 x 6 inches

19. Keith Davis, Woodpeckers and Cactus, 2013, acrylic on wood, 26½ x 17 x 9 inches


20. Ruth Duncan, Landmark Inn at Castroville from the River Road, no date, oil on canvas, 12x16 inches

21. Santa Duran, Los Helotes Creek, 1964, oil on canvas board, 16x20 inches


22. Stella Texas Elmendorf, Untitled (Barn), no date, oil on canvas, 12x16 inches


23. Jon Flaming, Along the Road (number 1), 2013, oil on canvas, 18x24 inches

24. Jon Flaming, Cattle, Cotton, Cactus 2, 2013, oil on canvas, 48x60 inches


25. Constance Forsyth, Turkey and Rooster (Stand-off), 1956, litho crayon on paper, 15x21 inches


26. Henri Gadbois, Ann’s Trees, 2009, oil on canvas, 9x12inches 27. Henri Gadbois, From the Terrace, Ingram, 1978, oil on canvas, 24x30 inches 28. Henri Gadbois, Gray Day on the Guadalupe, 2012, oil on canvas, 6½ x 8½ inches


29. Robert Harrison, Hill Country Verbena, 2013, oil on canvas, 23½ x 29½ inches

30. Robert Harrison, Springtime in May, 2013, oil on canvas, 18x24 inches


31. Alexander Hogue, Texas Snow, 1925, oil on canvas board, 12x15 inches


32. Peter Hohnstedt, Untitled (Landscape), no date, oil on board, 18x24 inches


33. Carl Hoppe, Landscape of Pinks, 1954, oil on canvas, 20x24 inches

34. Carl Hoppe, Untitled (Bluebonnet), no date, oil on canvas, 12x16 inches


35. Lee Jamison, A Blue Heron, 2013, oil on canvas, 12x48 inches

36. Lee Jamison, First Light, 2013, oil on canvas, 36x60 inches


37. Lee Jamison, Morning and Evening and Night, 2013, oil on canvas, 30x40 inches


38. William Lester, Dry Pastures, 1943, watercolor, 18x20 inches

39. William Lester, Farm, c.1944, oil on masonite,

20½ x 26 inches


40. Laura Lewis, Good Night, 2005-2013, oil on panel, 25x48 inches


41. Laura Lewis, Hilltop, 2009, oil on panel, 40x24 inches

42. Laura Lewis, Rhapsody in Blue (Martin Ranch), 2013, oil on panel, 20x48 inches


43. Eloise Polk McGill, Untitled (Bluebonnet), no date, oil on canvas board, 16x26 inches


44. William Montgomery, Nueces River Rio Grande - Leopard Frog and Coppery Dancer, 2013, oil on canvas, 30x42 inches

45. William Montgomery, Tropical Parulas on Pulliam Creek, 2013, oil on canvas, 26x20 inches


46. Gilbert Neumann, Hill of Bandero, 1927, oil on panel, 9x12 inches


47. Ancel Nunn, Sisterdale Schoolhouse, 1972, acrylic on panel, 31x23½ inches


48. George Demont Otis, Untitled (Laundry Day), no date, oil on canvas, 16x20 inches


49. Noe Perez, Evening Colors, 2013, oil on canvas, 20x30 inches

50. Noe Perez, Hilltop Blooms, 2013, oil on canvas, 30x24 inches


51. Ernst Raba, San Antonio, Texas, 1925, oil on canvas, 16⅛ x 20⅛ inches


52. Harold Roney, Shimmering Sunlight, 1926, oil on canvas board, 12 x 13½ inches

Shimmering Sunlight listed in the Third Annual Exhibition of Work by Houston Artists, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1927


53. Porfirio Salinas, Road to Utopia, c.1950, oil on canvas, 20x24 inches


53. Porfirio Salinas, Untitled (Landscape), no date, oil on board, 6x8 inches


54. Jeri Salter, Finding a Way Though the Fog, pastel on paper, 12x21 inches

55. Jeri Salter, Patchwork Barn, 2012, pastel on paper, 12x21 inches


56. William Slaughter, Untitled (Winterscape), no date, oil on canvas, 23½ x 35½ inches


57. Everett Spruce, Untitled (Landscape with Sun), no date, pen and ink, 10Âź x 13 inches


61. Debbie Stevens, Longhorns of Willow Creek, 2013, oil on canvas, 24x48 inches

62. Debbie Stevens, 80% Chance, 2013, oil on canvas, 24x24 inches


63. Bob Stuth-Wade, Cathedrals on the Colorado, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 32x19 inches


64. Bob Stuth-Wade, Buck Point, Dry Years, 2013, acrylic on paper mounted on panel, 19½x15½ inches

65. Bob Stuth-Wade, Early Afternoon, Sulphur Springs, 2013, acrylic on paper mounted on panel, 15½ x 19½ inches


left 66. Rolla Taylor, Cactus, 1901, oil on canvas, 9½ x 13¼ inches bottom left 67. Rolla Taylor, Privilege Creek, Bandera Road, no date, oil on canvas board, 16 x 20 inches bottom right 68. Rolla Taylor, San Jose Mission, S.A., no date, oil on canvas board, 11½ x 15½ inches


69. Robert Wood, Untitled (Landscape with Cactus), no date, oil on board, 12x16 inches

70. Attributed to Robert Wood, Hill Country Road, c. 1940, oil on canvas, 25x30 inches


WILLIAM REAVES FINE ART

Upcoming Fall 2013 Exhibition Schedule Hill Country Love Affair: Interpretations of a Texas Heartland October 18 – November 16, 2013

Opening Reception: October 26th, 5-8pm The Texas Watercolor Tradition November 22 – December 21, 2013

Opening Reception: November 23rd, 5-8pm Holidays at the Haley The Haley Memorial Library, Midland, Texas December 5 – 11, 2013 Opening Reception: December 5th, 5-8pm Lecture with Dr. Michael Grauer: December 7th, 1pm


William Reaves Fine Art 2313 Brun Street • Houston, Texas • 77019 Tel: 713.521.7500 Email: INFO@reavesart.com www.reavesart.com


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