The Wilds of Texas: Capturing Flora and Fauna of the Lone Star State by Foltz Fine Art

Exhibition Events On View: March 25 - April 30, 2016 Opening Reception: Saturday, April 2, 6 - 8:30 PM

William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art | 2143 Westheimer Road | Houston, Texas 77098 | 713.521.7500 Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-5pm and by appointment, please call 713.521.7500 or email info@reavesart.com. COVER ART:

Debbie Stevens, On the Mark, 2014, oil on canvas, 24 x 48 inches.

Ar t from

T h e W i l d s o f Te x a s From its very inception, denizens and visitors alike have viewed Texas as a uniquely wild and robust land, possessed of majestic geography and rich in magnitude and diversity of its plant and animal life. Over the course of a long and colorful history, Texans have cultivated a strong sense of communal awe and appreciation for the vast trove of natural treasures which constitute and reinforce so much of the Lone Star mystique. This inherent regard for native flora and fauna remains quietly, yet broadly pervasive today; so that even in our present ultra-urbanized realm, most Texans keep a keen and sensitive eye for the life forms and natural environment that surround them.

This popular interest in nature and wildlife has also played out in the accords of Texas painting over time with the state nurturing a succession of notable landscape and wildlife artists. Even as the Republic was just establishing its presence, the new country of Texas played host to America’s foremost naturalist painter, John James Audubon, as early as 1837. Later, in the closing decades of the nineteenth century and opening scores of the twentieth, a more prosperous and maturing state lavished favorable support upon indigenous painters, such as Julian Onderdonk (1882-1922), Frank Reaugh (1860-1945), Edward Eisenlohr (1872-1961) and Emma Richardson Cherry (1859-1954). These artists and their contemporaries found the state to be literally fertile ground for their efforts to convey the natural glories of the Texas landscape in art. Their pioneering efforts to capture the wilds of Texas in art won the attention of an emergent class of art patrons, encouraging successive generations of artists to put down their own Texas visions on canvas as well. It was Reaugh, for instance, who taught and inspired a young Reveau Bassett (1898-1981), whose glorious waterfowl paintings now stand among the state’s earliest wildlife renditions, eventually winning him membership in the prestigious National Academy. Even in the challenging times of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s, Texas regionalists such as Otis Dozier (1904-1987), Everett Spruce (19082002), William Lester (1910-1991) and Alexandre Hogue (1898-1994) issued compelling, yet sobering landscape paintings underscoring the natural and man-made adversities facing the land and wildlife of the Lone Star state at that time. Portraying these deleterious effects upon native plant-life and wildlife in an avant-garde style, the

Regionalist painters received acclaim and may retrospectively be viewed among the state’s first environmental activists, churning out messianic narratives in paint which addressed man’s ominous relationship with his natural environment. Another mode of naturalistic painting, the sporting arts, proliferated during the 1950s and 60s. Among the most prominent of Texas’ mid-century sporting painters were John Cowan (1920-2008), Al Barnes (b. 1937), Travis Keese (b. 1932) and Charles Beckendorf (1930-1996). Their hunting and fishing scenes became a popular art staple among avid Texas sportsmen. Their compositions frequently portrayed outdoorsmen in throes of the hunt (or catch), but also offered striking images of the state’s fish and game in their native habitat. Like their Regionalist forebears, these sporting artists also employed art as an important tool of environmental activism, helping to raise significant funds for wildlife conservation and education efforts through their sponsored production and sale of wildlife stamps and prints.

The conservationist spirit of earlier sporting and wildlife artists has passed to a group of contemporary painters working in this genre today. In this exhibition, The Wilds of Texas, William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art offers a long-overdue visual homage to the splendid legacy of naturalist painting in the Lone Star State by recognizing five Texas painters, a contingent from across the state who represent the state’s foremost contemporary naturalist artists. Their varied works present broader, more painterly, twenty-first century interpretations of Texas wildlife and their environs, as they continue to approach their task with refined expertise and avid dedication to the causes of both art and nature. The exhibition is rich and pleasing in terms of its divergent style and substance, and the artists and their work are certain to appeal to the inherent naturalist instincts that remain deep in the heart of every true Texan. Participating artists in The Wilds of Texas include Margie Crisp and husband, William Montgomery (Elgin), Keith Davis (Austin), Billy Hassell (Fort Worth), Debbie Stevens (Cypress) and William Young (Palestine), and together they present a remarkable fare.

• A r t f ro m T h e W i l d s o f Te x a s •

Margie Crisp (b. 1960) is a well-known author and naturalist, as well as a notable wildlife painter and print-maker. In 2014, she wrote and illustrated an award-winning book on the Colorado River (published by the Texas A&M University Press), chronicling in prose and pictures the life and lore of the fabled Texas Colorado. In her small paintings of Texas birds and plant life shown in this exhibition, Crisp reveals subjects with extraordinary fidelity, rendering them exquisitely in tempera or watercolor medium. Her lithographic prints are likewise reflective of refined draftsmanship, and are always popular favorites in the gallery.

William Montgomery (b. 1953) is a New Mexico born, Italian-trained, Texas artist, as well as a trained herpetologist (i.e. snake scientist). He also happens to be the spouse of the lovely and talented Margie Crisp. Like Crisp, he is an accomplished painter, as well as printmaker. As one might expect from an artist whose focus is on reptiles, Montgomery’s works feature species of Texas snakes, beautifully rendered in meticulous form and detail, and ensconced in their native habitat. He is also partial to turtles and amphibians. Montgomery has recently collaborated with his esteemed wife to illustrate a soon-to-be published book on the Nueces River, a sequel of sorts to Crisp’s highly successful Colorado River story. His presentations for this exhibition portray the distinctive flora and fauna in and around the Nueces. Many of the paintings for sale are to be included as illustrations in the upcoming publication. Debbie Stevens (b. 1955) is truly one of the state’s premier and accomplished wildlife painters. Her paintings of cranes and waterbirds have brought her national acclaim in the field of “birds in art”. With a unique style that seamlessly integrates photo-realism with abstraction, Stevens has become a perennial award-winner in important American wildlife painting competitions. Her paintings possess a distinctive elegance, presented in a style and scale which respects and accentuates the allure of her preferred subject matter – the majestic water-birds of Texas and the American Midwest. While showing in this exhibition, Stevens is also simultaneously headlining the National “Birds in Art” traveling exhibition opening this month at the Art Museum of Southeast Texas in Beaumont (the only Texas stop for this magnificent show).

Likewise, Fort Worth’s Billy Hassel (b. 1956) is renowned for his colorful, buoyant wildlife paintings and prints. Hassell has combined naturalist instincts, extraordinary compositional skills and painterly facility to achieve prominence in the field. His exhibitions are always successful (with sell-outs a common occurrence), and his work is found in many of the state’s most important museums and collections. He continues the heralded tradition of lending his art for important environmental causes, partnering with the Texas Conservancy, The Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, as well as other organizations to produce prints and publications in support of conservation issues.

Rounding it all out are Austin’s Keith Davis (b. 1955) and Palestine’s William Young (b. 1952), whose paintings and sculpture cleverly capture the character and spirit of the outdoors. Davis is a quirky, self-taught genius with a naturalist’s soul. With whimsical flair and modernist style, he paints and sculpts unique critters in bold, colorful compositions. Davis’ energetic works are each infused with a distinctive energy and his subjects all project engaging personalities. His works definitely add dimensions of fun and vibrancy to the wildlife art form. Young’s works all have a surreal undercurrent, derived from a combination of experience painting under the tutelage of artist Ancel Nunn (1928-1999), and his personal inclination for the enigmatic and often strange folklore of Texas. A variety of his works are created as a visual homage to these Lone Star folk stories, while other works are created purely from lyrics of songs that inspire him. These whimsical, surrealistic scenes usually host some surprising blending of human and animal elements.

The Wilds of Texas makes for the perfect visual experience in concert with the arrival of spring. It offers a superb selection of paintings by some of Texas’ most respected wildlife artists. The exhibition promises good viewing, and is certain to delight the Texas fancy for the great outdoors. Come and enjoy! -Bill Reaves William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art

• T h e W i l d s o f Te x a s : C a p t u r i n g F l o ra & F a u n a o f t h e L o n e S t a r S t a t e • No.

Artist

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Margie Crisp Margie Crisp Margie Crisp Margie Crisp Margie Crisp Margie Crisp Margie Crisp Margie Crisp Margie Crisp

Title of Work

Date Medium

Size (inches)

Blue Grosbeck Flame Sumac 2015 egg tempera 14 x 11 Cardinal on Dark Green 2016 watercolor on panel 4 x 4 Cardinal on Turquoise 2016 watercolor on panel 4 x 4 Cedar Waxwing 2015 watercolor and graphite 8 x 8 Common Yellowthroat 2015 watercolor and graphite 8x8 Cryptic Yellow 2016 watercolor and graphite on handmade paper 20 x 15 Indigo Bunting Beauty Berry 2015 egg tempera on panel with 24k gold leaf 11 x 14 Milk and Wine Crinum 2016 watercolor and graphite on handmade paper 20 x 15 Paisano Portrait 2016 watercolor and graphite on paper 22 x 22

10 Keith Davis A Window on Texas: Spring in the 2013 acrylic on wood 36 x 36 x 8 Hill Country 11 Keith Davis Anhinga 2015 oil on canvas 30 x 24 12 Keith Davis Javelina 2015 acrylic on wood 11.5 x 12 x 7 13 Keith Davis Le Corbusier Cactus 2016 acrylic on wood 14 x 12 x 4.5 14 Keith Davis Prarie Dog 2016 acrylic on wood 11 x 9 x 5 15 Keith Davis Roadrunner and Branch 2016 acrylic on wood 12.5 x 22 x 10 16 Keith Davis Rocky Raccoon 2015 oil on canvas 16 x 20 17 Keith Davis Slider 2014 oil on canvas 20 x 24 18 Billy Hassell Bend on the Brazos, West of 2016 oil on canvas 36 x 80 Weatherford 19 Billy Hassell Canadian and Snow Geese, 2016 oil on canvas 50 x 48 Eagle Lake, Texas 20 Billy Hassell Devil’s River, Looking Downstream 2016 oil on canvas 36 x 40 from Dolan Falls 21 Billy Hassell Dolan Falls, Devil’s River 2016 oil on canvas 36 x 40 22 Billy Hassell Kingfisher, By the River, 2015 color lithograph 30 x 22 Edition of 10 23 Billy Hassell Kingfisher, By the River - Night, 2015 color lithograph 30 x 22 Edition of 10

• T h e W i l d s o f Te x a s : C a p t u r i n g F l o ra & F a u n a o f t h e L o n e S t a r S t a t e • No.

Artist

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Billy Hassell Billy Hassell

Title of Work

Date Medium

Size (inches)

Powderhorn Lake 2015 oil on canvas 24 x 22 Redwing Blackbirds and Wild Rice 2015 oil on canvas 40 x 36

26 William Montgomery American Bitterns 2014 oil on canvas 36 x 48 27 William Montgomery Banded Rock Rattlesnake handcolored etching 9 x 12 Edition 86/200 28 William Montgomery Blackberry Season, Edition 7/20 lithograph 12 x 16 29 William Montgomery Blacknecked Stilt and 2015 oil on canvas 30 x 42 American Avocet 30 William Montgomery Empress of Silence, Edition of 75 2010 line etching with aquatint 12 x 18 31 William Montgomery Fish Story II, Nueces River 2015 oil on canvas 42 x 60 32 William Montgomery Green Jays with Isabella’s 2016 oil on canvas 21 x 28 Heliconian 33 William Montgomery Musk Turtle with Fish, Nueces River 2015 oil on canvas 18 x 24 34 William Montgomery Roseate Spoonbill 2016 oil on canvas 10 x 12 35 William Montgomery Texas Indigo Snake 2015 oil on canvas 18 x 26 36 William Montgomery Upper Nueces, East Fork 2014 oil on canvas 36 x 42 37 38 39 40 41 42 43

Debbie Stevens Debbie Stevens Debbie Stevens Debbie Stevens Debbie Stevens Debbie Stevens Debbie Stevens

Chiseled 2014 oil on canvas 30 x 40 Elusive Beauty 2014 oil on canvas 18 x 36 On the Mark 2014 oil on canvas 24 x 48 Promenade 2016 oil on panel 48 x 36 Red Crown 8 2014 oil on canvas 36 x 36 Sandy 23 2014 oil on panel 36 x 48 Splendid Morning 2016 oil on canvas 24 x 48

44 William Young The Stranger Who Brings 2016 oil on canvas 20 x 14 the Dreams