/V\ t

* A SURVEY OF

TEXAS PAINTINQ

{r ON THE COVER: Texans look at oil wellsLeft , "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 1944 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 cele­

brate heroic deeds. German and French colonial artists performed skillful

documentary services as first class landscape and genre painters. Later, Ameri­

can-born and Texas resident painters were galvanized into patriotic creations

of noble proportions and historical accuracy. Two huge and action-filled

canvases, "Dawn 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 bounti­

ful continuous competitions, sponsored by museums offering prizes after judg­

ment 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. Immedi­

ately before and after 1900, a few "professors" taught privately. They were

followed by classes or schools founded around individual painters with a fol­

lowing 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 exhibition: the native sons who, through

choice or circumstance, remained at home to mature without benefit of cos­

mopolitan 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 RIVER. 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 fanned out across

the country to distinguish themselves as teacher-painters.

Somehow, the homing instinct 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 frater­

nity 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,

the 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

Texas a prevailing 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 the 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, academic abstractions, watered-down expressionism, chronic romanti­

cism and astringent experimenta tion. Most of these factors are to be found in

this collection - here deb ilitated, there enriched but truly assimi lated in most

instances and deftly played down which is not a qualification generally ascribed

to Texans. Viril ity, wholeheartedness and delicacy are terms seldom used

nowadays but they seem to apply to some of the most competent, sensitive

works gathered here. Such words as honest and forthright seem invested in

the stature of paintings from the sophisticated to the untutored.

Examination reveals that cubism is still the dominant influence in art istic

vision and expression. Often it is appl ied, locally, to visual experience in such

manner that actuality is approxima ted with subject matter being faintly or

fully recognizable, consequently fitting into a common frame of reference for

the viewer or else retiring into the maze 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 near­

ness 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 diver­

sity and plentirude to satisfy any painter.

Above all, there is the sky with its infinity of space, its cloud forms unsur­

passed 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 develop­

ment, ability to assimilate new impulses, reinvigorate their powers and mature

fruitfully make them the mainstay - the backbone of Texas art.

-}

THE SUITOR. Hiram Williams, Austin.

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 condi­

tion 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 Texas 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 Texas Annual 1955

---

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 Vatsures,

Dallas.

GREE N CACT US. Deforre st Judd, Dallas.

FALLEN FEATHERS. Ethel Brodnax, Dallas.

MOIST LANDSCAPE. Dan Wingren, Dallas.

GET ALONG LITTLE DOGIES . Clara Williamson, Dallas.

LIBATION. Bror Utter, Fort Worth.

CIUDAD. David Brownl ow, Fort Worth.

FLOWERS NEAR A WI NDOW. Cynthia Branrs, Fort Worth.

TWO LEVELS . McKie Trotter, Fort Worth.

VENICE. Lowell Collins, Houston.

THREE TIERED FORMATION. Henri Gadbois, H ouston.

NEON: 1956. James Boynton , H ouston.

BACK STRE ET. Keith Mcintyre, San Antonio.

THE BEETLE. Cecil Lang Casebier, San Antonio.

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- ), AustinMUSICIANS OF THE BLUE ANGELS (1956), oil, 35 x 28

BILL BOMAR (1919- ), Fort WorthKITE LOST IN MONEY PLANT (1956), oil, 40 x 17

JAMES BOYNTON (1928- ), HoustontNEON: 1956 (1956),oil, 33Y2x60

CYNTHIA BRANTS (1924- ) , Fort WorthtFLOWERS NEAR A WINDOW (1956), oil, 24 x 30

ETHEL BRODNAX (1904- ), Dallast*FALLEN FEATHERS (1956), oil, 23Y2 x 31Y2

DAVID BROWNLOW (1915- ), Fort WorthtCIUDAD (1956), oil, 26 x 46

MAX BUTLER (1920- ), Fort WorthPHILOSOPHERS AND A PAPER GARDEN (1956), oil, 38 x 48

CECIL LANG CASEBIER (1922- ), San AntoniotTHE BEETLE (1957), oil, 23 x 35Y2

LOWELL COLLINS (1924- ) , HoustontVENICE (1957), oil, 31Y2 x 51

BEN CULWELL (1918- ), DallasCROWD (1956), mixed media, 24x38

OTIS DOZIER (1904- ), DallastINDIAN BLANKET (1952), oil, 30 x 40

LUIS EADES (1923- ), Austin* SUMMER GARDEN ( 1955), oil, 42 x 31Y2

KELLY FEARING (1918- ), AustintTHE MATSYENDRA (1955) , oil, 34 x 24

RAYMOND FLETCHER (1922- ), San Antoniot*WAR DANCE (1954), mixed media, 38 x 25

SEYMOUR FOGEL (1911- ), Austint*THE CITY (1955), oil, 46 x 71

MICHAEL FRARY · (1918- ), AustinSEA WALL (1956), oil, 32 x 46

HENRI GADBOIS (1930- ), HoustontTHREE TIERED FORMATION (1956), oil, 36 x 30

GEORGE GRAMMER (1928- ), Fort Worth*OIL DERRICKS AT NIGHT (1952) , oil, 25 x 30

JOHN GUERIN (1920- ), AustinFISHING PIER (1956), oil, 40 x 60

WILFRED HIGGINS (1919-), DallasOF OIL IV (1957), oil, 35Y2 x23Y2

DEFORREST JUDD (1916- ), DallastGREEN CACTUS (195 4 ), oil, 23 x 29Y2

CHAPMAN KELLY (1933- ) , San AntonioPORTRAIT OF JOAN (1954), oil, 19x 14

WALTER LENGEL ( 1916· i. DallasTREESCAPE (195 4-55),oil, 16x 48

WILLIAM LESTER (1910- ), AustinTAWNY WOODS (195 6), oil, 29Y2 x 44

KEITH McINTYRE ( 1925- ) , San Antoniot *BACK STREET (1953 ) , oil, 24x 48

JESSE MEDELLIN (1921- ) , San Antoniot LAN DSCAP E (195 7) , oil, 23Y2 x 38

FRED MITCHAM ( 1917- ) , DallasRED NUDE ( 1956), oil, 29 x 23

PERRY NICHOLS ( 1911- ) , Dallas"'THE RED QUEEN (195 3-54) , oil, 30 x 24

DOROTHY POULOS (1912- ), DallasLAMPLIGHT ( 1955), oil, 39Y2 x 29Y2

ROBERT PREUSSER (1919- ), HoustonILLUMINATIVE ENERGY ( 1956 ) , oil and plastic, 18 x 30

BILL REILY (1930- ), San AntoniotSHIP YARD (19 55), oil, 36 x 48

E. M. (BUCK ) SCHIWETZ (1898- ) , HoustonSOUVENIR OF SAN SABA COUNTY (1956 ) , mixed media, 17Y2 x 25

EVERETT SPRUCE ( 1908- ), AustintPE€OS RIVER ( 1956) , oil, 0 x 6

CHESTER TONEY (1925· ), San AntonioANGRY SEA (1956 ), oil, 41Y2 x 73Y2

McKIE TROTTER (19 18- ), Fort W ortht TW O LEVELS ( 1955), oil, 31 x 46

BROR UTTER (1913- ) , Fort WorthtLIBATION (1956 ) , oil, 30 x 44

PETER VATSURES ( 1930- ), DallastTHIRD FLOOR ( 1955), oil, 46Y2 x 47

DONALD WEISMANN (191 4- ), AustintCONVOY CONTROL (1957), oil and gold, 34 x 50

RALPH WHITE (1921 - ), AustinLAKE IN THE TEX AS HILL COUN TRY ( 1956), oil, 32 x46

HIRAM WILLIAMS ( 1917- ), AustintTHE SUITOR (1956) , oil, 48 x 66

CLARA WILLIAMSON (18 75- ), Dallast * GET ALONG LITTLE DOGIES ( 1945), oil, 26Y2 x 39Y2

DAN WINGREN (1923- ) , DallastMOIST LANDSCAPE (1957) , oil, 19 x 26Y2

t

THE DALLAS EXHIBITION OF SURVEY OF TEXAS PAINTI NG

(The following i t ems are in add i t i on t o t hose i nthe AFh circuit catal ogue of this exhi biti on )

WAYMAN ADAMS, Aust in* "Mexican Man and Roos ter " oi l

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

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

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

HARRY CARNAHAN, Dal las* "Texas Landsc ape" oi l

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

BILL CONDON, Hous ton"Overpass Detail" oil

ANN CUSHI NG, Dall as"Folk Song" oil

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

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

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

J ANET RASER FAU NCE, Dall a s"Port r ai t" oilLent by Mr . Loui s Hexter

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

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

J OHN GUERI N, Aus t i n§ "Tidal Bas i n" oilLent by Mr. Wi l l i am Scott

ALEXANDRE HOGUE, Da l la s"*. "Drouth Stri cken Ar ea" oi 1

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

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" oi l

STEPHEN MAGADA, Aust i n"Spectators" oil

PAUL MA~HELL , Houston"Red Field" oil

LOREN MOZLEY, Austin"ShadoWBox" oil

PERRY NICHOLS, Dal l as§* "Wes t Texas Snow" tempera

ROBERT PREUSSER, Houston§ "New Engl and Landscape" oilLent by Dr . &Mr s . Harold Wood

DICKSON RE EDER , For t Wor t h"Por trai t of Geor ge" oilLent by Mr . & Mrs. George Works, Jr.

MARJORIE von ROSENBERG, Houston"Red Pi ne " oil

FRANCES ROYSTON, Houston"Market Day" collage

EDWIN RUDA, Aus t i n"Bouquet" oil

MARY ELLEN SHIPNES, Houston"Bro adway, Galveston" oil

FRANCES SKINNER, Houston"The Search f or Bejar" oil

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

THOMAS STELL, Dallas"Portrai t of Da l e Hear d" oJ. 1

Lent by Mrs . Da l e Heard Lambert

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

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

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

OLIN TRAVI S, Dall as"Lakeside" oil

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

BETTY WI NN, Dallas"Magnol i as" oi l

§ Alter na te has been substituted for t hi s painting in t he AFA circuit exhibition.* Owned by the Da l l as Museum of Fi ne Ar t s . Ot her s l ent by.artist except where noted.