• Symposium
• Early Texas Art Events

The 9^th Annual Texas Art Fair and Symposium on Early Texas Art, sponsored by CASETA and held at the Sheraton Hotel in Dallas, was attended by 120 early Texas art enthusiasts.  The Symposium began with a reception and the opening of the Texas Art Fair on Friday evening.  A wide array of work by early Texas artists was available from the Art Fair participants attending the Symposium - Beuhler Fine Art, David Dike Fine Art, Heritage Auction Galleries, Charles Morin's Vintage Texas Paintings, Valley House Gallery and Sculpture Garden, William Reaves Fine Art, Rainone Galleries, Russell Tether Fine Art Associates, Robert E. Alker Fine Art, and Cliff Logan Art & Antiques.

The Symposium presentations began on Saturday morning.  A major theme that ran through the Symposium was contextualizing early Texas art into the larger American art scene.  This began with Kevin Vogel's informative presentation, Early Texas Folk Artists, about the little-known "unintended historians" - Clara McDonald Williamson, H. O. Kelly, and Velox Ward. He placed them within the larger context of Texas and American naive art, sharing stories about the artists and showing examples of their work. (Image of Sweet Adeline)

Michael Grauer presented Branding with Brushstroke and Color: Texas Impressionism, 1890 to Today. While sharing his virtual conversations with the well-known American art historian, William Gerdts, regarding a definition of Impressionism, Grauer used a broad definition and did an excellent job of placing the work of early Texas artists into the larger world of Impressionism. Grauer's expanded definition included works by such artists as Frank Reaugh, Emma Richardson Cherry, L.O. Griffith, E.G. Eisenlohr, and Julian Onderdonk.

Before the Saturday morning sessions were adjourned, Cindy Boeke of Sourthern Methodist University and Neil Sreenan of the Dallas Museum of Art provided an overview of valuable online resources available from their institutions. To access these databases that have resulted (and are ongoing) from their collaborative efforts, google Cul Digital Collections. The Website is http://digitalcollections.smu.edu/all/cul. These databases are available for viewing by the collector and researcher of Texas history and art.

Saturday afternoon opened with a presentation, The Space of Texas Abstract Art, by Katie Robinson Edwards. She did an outstanding job of continuing the conversation that contextualized early Texas art into the American art scene, discussing the work of early Texas abstract artists such as Alexandre Hogue, Robert Preusser, and Carlotta Corpron.

The day's last session was a panel discussion of the Early Days of Collecting moderated by Mark Kever. The panel participants, Bill Cheek and Morris Matson (representing A.C. Cook, deceased), shared some fascinating and entertaining stories about starting collections of early Texas art and "the hunt" for the art, as well as those that "got away.".

Two special events, attended by most participants, were held on Saturday evening. Claude Albritton shared 84 works of early Texas art from his personal collection at the MAC (McKinney Avenue Contemporary), giving a short introduction to his collection just prior to opening the doors for all to see and enjoy. David Dike kept his gallery open so that participants could see the newly-assembled show, The Lost Colony, before it travels to the Museum of the Big Bend at Sul Ross State University in Alpine.

Just when most wondered if there could be more interesting things to come after such an exhilarating first day, the second day of the Symposium arrived with gusto. The pace had been set! Susie Kalil opened the meeting with a wonderful presentation on Alexandre Hogue, based on an exhibit - Alexandre Hogue: An American Visionary - which she curated for the Art Museum in South Texas, Corpus Christi. It will be traveling to the Grace Museum in Abilene and the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. She recounted some of the information she had learned based on interviews with Hogue and shared images of his work, placing them in context of style, time, and place.

Howard Taylor followed, providing an entertaining discussion of The Artist Colony at Christoval. He gave some of the background information leading to its development by Mollie Crowther in 1922 on the grounds of the Baptist Encampment at Christoval, near San Angelo. This was after she had studied art at the Chicago Institute, in St. Louis, and in Dallas with Frank Reaugh. Some early Texas artists such as Olin and Kathryne Travis, Rolla Taylor, Jose Arpa, and Xavier Gonzales were teachers at the camp that was held for about two weeks during the summer over a number of years.

The last session was the showing of a documentary, Larger than Life, the Story of Buck Winn, with an introduction by its Director, Richard Kidd. The documentary showed many of Winn's works, mostly murals, with an accompanying timeline of when they were done. Many of the works shown no longer exist since they have been destroyed along with the buildings, making the documentary a valuable historical resource for art collectors and researchers.

Much information and many wonderful images were shared at the Symposium. Those who attended were treated to many "gems" not included here. Additionally, the Texas Art Fair provided an opportunity for participants to not only purchase some Texas art, but also to see images by early Texas artists, talk to art purveyors from across the state, peruse and purchase books and pamphlets about Texas art, and visit informally with other collectors and Symposium attendants. Thanks to the program co-chairs, George Palmer and Mark Kever, and to CASETA chair, Stephen Alton, for planning and presenting a great meeting!