Images of Texas
Friday, February 25, 1983 - Sunday, April 10, 1983
Throughout its history, the diversity of its people and the vastness of its landscapes have been both a challenge and an inspiration to artists seeking to interpret Texas.
"Texas Images and Visions" brings together more than one hundred paintings that portray the land and people of Texas from the nineteenth century to the present day. Manny paintings are by Texans, actively engaged in interpreting their home state and its citizens. Others show us how outsiders have pictured the state: Thomas Hart Benton painting the "boomtown" that was Borger, Texas, in 1927; George Grosz, the noise and confusion of Dallas in the fifties.
Here are "oilfield girls" and a prison rodeo, a stock show and a honkytonk. Some images are unexpected–a headless skeleton radiant with red glitter, John the Baptist meditating in the Hill Country. Others depict familiar scenes. All cast new light on the myth and reality of the Lone Star State.
The exhibition focuses on representational images of the myths and realities of Texas, it is divided roughly into three chronological periods: A Time of Exploration (the 1840-1860s) when captains Seth Eastman and Arthur T, Less charted the Texas-Mexican boundary; A Period of Settlement (the 1860s-1900) when native and foreign-born artists like Petri, Lungwitz, Gentilz, and others made picturesque records of the process of [civilizing ?] the land; and the twentieth century when Texas subjects are depicted in national and international styles of art.
The viewer will not find here a history of art in Texas or by Texans, not a treasury of the finest works of art created here, the works were chosen because they, even the abstract ones, refer to Texas, its history, appearance, or customs. Through the selection of visual representations, "Images of Texas" celebrates Texas, its people, and the University's centennial.
"Texas Images and Visions" brings together more than one hundred paintings that portray the land and people of Texas from the nineteenth century to the present day. Manny paintings are by Texans, actively engaged in interpreting their home state and its citizens. Others show us how outsiders have pictured the state: Thomas Hart Benton painting the "boomtown" that was Borger, Texas, in 1927; George Grosz, the noise and confusion of Dallas in the fifties.
Here are "oilfield girls" and a prison rodeo, a stock show and a honkytonk. Some images are unexpected–a headless skeleton radiant with red glitter, John the Baptist meditating in the Hill Country. Others depict familiar scenes. All cast new light on the myth and reality of the Lone Star State.
The exhibition focuses on representational images of the myths and realities of Texas, it is divided roughly into three chronological periods: A Time of Exploration (the 1840-1860s) when captains Seth Eastman and Arthur T, Less charted the Texas-Mexican boundary; A Period of Settlement (the 1860s-1900) when native and foreign-born artists like Petri, Lungwitz, Gentilz, and others made picturesque records of the process of [civilizing ?] the land; and the twentieth century when Texas subjects are depicted in national and international styles of art.
The viewer will not find here a history of art in Texas or by Texans, not a treasury of the finest works of art created here, the works were chosen because they, even the abstract ones, refer to Texas, its history, appearance, or customs. Through the selection of visual representations, "Images of Texas" celebrates Texas, its people, and the University's centennial.