Capitol City

Along with fellow artists John Lockwood, Loren Mozley, Kelly Fearing, Constance Forsyth, and Michael Frary, Ralph Ernest White was a founding faculty member of The University of Texas Art Department, established in 1946. He was part of the Texas modernist movement in the mid-twentieth century that embraced abstract modernism and thrived outside of the New York scene. White’s early paintings depict the modernization and industrialization of the Texas landscape. His stylized geometric painting of downtown Austin recalls the early twentieth century cubist landscapes of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque and includes three of the city’s major landmarks: the Texas State Capitol building, the UT Tower, and the Driskill Hotel. White retired from teaching in 1982 and was named State Artist of Texas in 2003.