Saturday, April 28, 2018

Mammon, Get Thee Away from the USA!









Mammon, get thee away from the USA...

"I rose up at the dawn of day, --
'Get thee away! get thee away!
Pray'st thou for riches? Away, away!
This is the throne of Mammon grey.'" 

-- William Blake, "Mammon"

"Mammon led them on --
Mammon, the least erected Spirit that fell
From Heaven: for even in Heaven his looks and thoughts
Were always downward bent, admiring more
The riches of Heaven's pavement, trodden gold,
Than aught divine or holy else enjoyed
In vision beatific."

-- John Milton, "Paradise Lost" (1667-1674), Book I, line 678.


Thursday, April 26, 2018

Hit or Myth: Myth-Making and Myth-Busting

David Bates art and Roger Daltry of the WHO


A few years back, I was at a David Bates opening at Talley Dunn Gallery in Dallas, and I remarked to David that this sculpture reminded me of a rock 'n' roll singer with a microphone. He immediately said, "Thanks. You just ruined it for me." He had based this primordial image on a "nature man" wrestling with a snake. He was in deep, deep, deep into his MYTH-MAKING phase, while I was still in our previous, shared MYTH-BUSTING mode of the seventies and eighties. We used to joke around about our art like that, all the time. But NOW it was a clear-cut moment of, "open mouth, insert foot." WHO are you? -- We won't get fooled again, no, no, no...

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Art School Memory: The Unbearable Humbling of Being (an Artist)

Robert Motherwell studio wall


This shot of Robert Motherwell's studio wall reminds me of my "Dr. William Jordan story." You see how overshot paint/ink marks were made on the backdrop wall behind the art? Well I had a similar pattern on my own backdrop in my Graduate studio at SMU -- only there were no paintings pinned up this one time. I had just "cleared the decks." Dr. Jordan happened by, and he thought that the backdrop was my actual artwork. 

As a fan of Cy Twombly and other artists of that era, he began to lavish high praise on this "work." Since Dr.  J. was one of the finest art historians I have ever known, and was responsible for curating the fabulous Meadows Museum collection, including those Velazquez and Goya masterworks, I was not about to interrupt or correct his assumptions. 

Truth be known, as a neophyte Grad student, constantly challenged by my faculty over my searching efforts -- I was also "starved for compliments." So, I politely soaked it all in. After he left, I was both flattered and embarrassed by this development. 

Welcome to the bitter-sweet and ambiguous world of Fine Art appreciation. Always an extremely mixed-bag of results for me. A perfect example of my lot.

Monday, April 16, 2018

Frank Lloyd Wright: Johnson Wax Building Desk and Chair DesignReproductions

Frank Lloyd Wright



Frank Lloyd Wright


Late 20th Century Cassina - Frank Lloyd Wright Johnson Wax desk and chair, c. 1992

A reproduction by Cassina of the writing desk and chair based on the furniture system of the S. C. Johnson Administration Building, Racine, Wisconsin, 1936.

Charles Eames and Ray Eames







Charles Eames and Ray Eames



Charles Eames and Ray Eames



Charles Eames and Ray Eames



Charles Eames and Ray Eames



Charles Eames and Ray Eames



Charles Eames and Ray Eames



Charles Eames and Ray Eames









Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Bonjour, Monsieur Matisse

Henri Matisse


The artist's artist -- Henri Matisse -- continuing to create magnificent art even while in his sick-bed...

Charles and Ray Eames House

Charles Eames and Ray Eames



Charles Eames and Ray Eames



Charles Eames and Ray Eames



Charles Eames and Ray Eames



Charles Eames and Ray Eames


Charles Eames and Ray Eames



Charles Eames and Ray Eames






Retrospection: Clarence H. Steele, Mark Tobey, and Me

Clarence Steele and Don Mangus



Clarence Steele




Mark Tobey



Mark Tobey



Mark Tobey



Mark Tobey



Don Mangus




Mark Tobey



One of the paintings I grew up with was this stylized scene of a rooster and chickens behind wire, painted by Clarence H. Steele (1910-1988). It was much more "Cubistic" in approach than most of the landscapes painted by the other artists that dad knew. 

Later in life, curious, I asked dad how he came to own the Steele. He answered simply, "I saw it at an art show, liked it, and bought in on the spot."

Once dad was giving our family friend, noted watercolor painting legend Edmond "Jim" Fitzgerald a tour of his collection hanging on the walls. and when Jim saw the large canvas, he immediately piped up -- "This artist has studied with Mark Tobey." Jim was absolutely correct.





Friday, April 6, 2018

Everett Spruce

Everett Spruce



Everett Spruce



Everett Spruce



Everett Spruce



Everett Spruce



Everett Spruce



Everett Spruce



Everett Spruce



Everett Spruce



Everett Spruce



Everett Spruce



Everett Spruce



Everett Spruce



Everett Spruce



Everett Spruce



Everett Spruce



Add caption







Everett Spruce



Everett Spruce



Everett Spruce




Everett F. Spruce, well-known Texas artist, teacher, professor emeritus was born on a farm in Conway, Arkansas, to William E. and Fannie McCarty Spruce

He came to Dallas, Texas at the age of 17, on a scholarship to study at the Dallas Art Institute, under Olin Travis and Thomas M. Stell, Jr. In 1931 he became Gallery Assistant at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and, in 1934, married Alice V. Kramer, a fellow art student. He served as Assistant Director and teacher at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts 1936-40. 

He was one of the "Dallas Nine" group of Southwest artists. By the time he joined the Art Faculty of the University of Texas at Austin in 1940 he had already achieved national recognition and his work had been chosen for inclusion in major national juried exhibitions. 

He served as Chairman of the Department of Art at the University of Texas at Austin 1949-51, became Professor of Art in 1954 and served as Director of Graduate Studio Art 1961-74. He retired in 1974 as Professor Emeritus and was recognized as one of the outstanding painters in Texas. 

His work was exhibited both nationally and internationally, including Texas Centennial Exhibition, Dallas, Museum of Fine Arts; Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Annual Exhibition of American Painting and Sculpture, Art Institute, Chicago; Exhibition of American Painting and Sculpture, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh; "A Particular Portion of Earth", Pan American Union, Washington, D.C. 

Upon his retirement from the University of Texas, Austin, he was honored with a Retrospective Exhibit, Selected Paintings and Drawings, 1950 - 1979. In 1993, he was honored with an exhibition, "Companions in Time: the paintings of William Lester and Everett Spruce" by Laguna Gloria Art Museum

Mr. Spruce won numerous prizes including Purchase Prize, "Painting of the Year" Pepsi-Cola Competition, National Academy of Design, New York; Scheidt Memorial Prize, 142nd Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; First Prize Exhibition of Modern American Paintings, Galerie Giroux, Brussels; and was chosen as the first artist to be represented in the Blaffer Series of Southwestern Art, published by the University of Texas Press. 

He was awarded a Ford Foundation Grant Retrospective Exhibition circulated by the American Federation of Arts, South, Midwest, West. 

His work is highlighted in many publications including Lone Star Regionalism, "The Dallas Nine and Their Circle," by Rick Stewart, published by Texas Monthly Press; "Pecos to Rio Grande", "Interpretations of Far West Texas by Eighteen Artists", published by Texas A&M University Press; The Texas Gulf Coast, "Interpretations by Nine Artists," published by Texas A&M University Press; and "Art for History's Sake, The Texas Collection of the Witte Museum." by Cecilia Steinfeldt, published by the Texas State Historical Association

In addition, he was honored for his lasting contributions to the art world and for his exemplary work as an educator by a Resolution bestowed by the Texas House of Representatives and signed by the then Governor George W. Bush

In addition to pieces held by numerous private collectors, his works are included in many public collections including Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Dallas Museum of Fine Arts; M.H. DeYoung Museum, San Francisco; Fort Worth Art Museum; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Marion Kugler McNay Art Institute, San Antonio; Museu de Arte Moderno, Rio de Janeiro; Museum of Modem Art, New York; Phillips Gallery, Washington, DC; Southern Methodist University, Dallas; Tulane University, New Orleans; University of Alabama; University of Nebraska; University of Texas at Austin; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio. 

Mr. Spruce continued to paint and exhibit into his 88th year of age. He included a sense of music and poetry in his painting. In many instances he could identify the exact spot he translated into paint, describing the time of day, the weather, the light, and where he stood when he viewed it. His paintings are rich in color, texture and mood, communication strength and substance. 

He was an amazingly productive artist, painting mostly landscapes, though he occasionally painted fascinating people, birds and animals. Mr. Spruce especially loved trees, of which he said, "each has it's own personality." In addition, he appreciated nature, particularly mountains, cactus, birds, animals, the ocean, rocks, craggy countryside, the sky, and storms. He treasured anything Celtic/Irish, was fascinated by languages and different cultures, enjoyed good music, William Yeats, Thomas Hardy, William Faulkner, and all good literature.