Evocative Objects: Still Life Painting in Texas

Aug. 12–Oct. 3, 2021
J. Wayne Stark Galleries | Memorial Student Center, MSC 1110

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Evocative Objects: Still Life Painting in Texas is an insightful exploration of the radical evolution in the treatment of space, color, form, composition, and expression in still life painting in the state during the 20th century. Works featured comprise selections from the William and Linda Reaves Collection of Texas Art, as well as from other important private and museum collections across the state.

This exhibition represents the inaugural installation in the Texas Art Project series.

“The innovative drive of the art of the last half of the 20th century has led to a sense of the period as hostile to older aesthetic conventions, many of which were widely challenged. Yet from the century’s first decade to the present day, from Robert Jenkins Onderdonk and Jose Arpa through to Otis Dozier and David Bates, many of the most accomplished artists in Texas embraced the still life as a vital opportunity for invention. Challenging the common classification of the still life as a minor form—a perception that has haunted the genre throughout its centuries-old history—this exhibition reveals that still life paintings offer unique insight into not only of their makers’ interests and formal concerns, but also of the time and place of creation. This exhibition reveals several specific qualities that have made the genre so attractive to artists, and so enduring from the late 19th century through the 20th century in the state.”

–Judy Tedford Deaton, Chief Curator, Director of Exhibitions and Collections, The Grace Museum, Abilene, TX

Sample view of a spread in the catalogue. The left hand page has a tall vase with flowers in it. The right hand page has two pictures of flowers in pots.

Explore this catalogue to see all of the artworks from the exhibition and to learn more about still life works by Texas artists of the 20th century.

Post-Exhibition Talk

 
Judy Tedford Deaton of The Grace Museum presented a talk in the Stark Galleries on Sept. 9, 2021 about the still life works in the exhibition. Below is a post-event talk with Judy, similar to the talk she gave in September.


Virtual Tours

Move and click your mouse inside the views below to see this exhibition.