Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Art School Memory: "The Danny Williams Story"

Danny Williams



The Danny Williams story -- 

As an undergraduate at SMU, I took Roger Winter's "Advanced Drawing" at least 6 or 7 semesters in a row. All the best artists at SMU were in it, so you had to re-up. 

At some point, each semester, Roger would stage a "show and tell" of masterworks that he had saved back from his "stand-out students" of years past. These were showcased, as teaching aids, as shining examples of the heights we, the current crop, should aspire to.

One of the finest of drawings was a suburban landscape by Danny Williams. It was sort of in the realm of an Edward Hopper, or perhaps a more recognizable Richard Diebenkorn "Ocean Park" landscape. Roger would wax on and on about Danny's keen eye and unparalleled light touch with drawing tools. I hadn't met Danny yet so he was more of a  "legend" than an actual person at this point. 

In short, these drawings were built up as near-unobtainable works of graphic brilliance and were gifted with rare universal praise from Roger. As a competitive young artist -- after about my third semester -- I began to jealously begrudge the DW's inevitable reappearance as a reminder of my graphic shortcomings even as I racked up the experience -- 

On occasion, Roger used to walk to his classroom from his house in University Park. Near my last semester, while carrying the small DW drawing under his arm, it seems Roger was savagely attacked by a crazed Mockingbird -- which dive-bombed and viciously pecked at him -- again and again. Roger had no choice but to smite the bird using only the framed DW drawing as a club. Whap. Whap. Whap. Thud.

When he finally straggled into class, the DW drawing had tragically slipped from its mat and was now clearly roughed-up and askew-- its once perfectly-aligned geometry now totally whopperjawed -- a literal paradigm shift caused by the bird attack had occurred. Myth-busted -- the "perfect drawing" had fallen from grace. 

Now, at last, I was free to enjoy Danny's work on a more casual basis. Now a fellow mortal, he remains a fine artist indeed.

Thursday, March 22, 2018

Roger Winter: Landscape Paintings

Roger Winter



Roger Winter



Roger Winter



Roger Winter


Of his many approaches to painted imagery over the years, I enjoy Roger Winter's "straight, no chaser" landscapes most of all. He has such an eye and hand for defining subtle value relationships and such a command of interlocking brushwork shapes...



Jan McComas and Stuart Davis

Clockwise from upper left: Jan McComas, Don Mangus, Stuart Davis, and Stuart Davis


In the mid-seventies, Jan McComas (Bates) was Roger Winter's teaching assistant for his Advanced Drawing class at SMU. Because of my love of jazz, Jan took me down to the art library and hepped me to the paintings of American Modernist Stuart Davis. I'm STILL jamming to Davis' syncopated "eye-ball kicks." One -- more -- time...

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Jean Perzel: Beautiful Lamps

Jean Perzel 



Jean Perzel 



Jean Perzel 



Jean Perzel 



Jean Perzel 



Jean Perzel 


Jean Perzel was a German-born French glassmaker, goldsmith, and designer. A highly successful and influential figure of the early 20th-Century design world, his eponymous lighting company continues to operate to this day. Born on May 2, 1892 in Bavaria, Germany, Perzel went on to work and live in Paris as a glassmaker, becoming a naturalized French citizen after serving in the Foreign Legion during World War I.

In 1923, he established his own company specializing in modern lighting. Perzel notably created original works for the King of Belgium, the French presidents Georges Pompidou and Charles De Gaulle, and other world dignitaries. He died in 1986 in Paris, France. 






Monday, March 19, 2018

Memories of Mr. Judd

 DeForrest Judd



DeForrest Judd



DeForrest Judd



DeForrest Judd



DeForrest Judd



DeForrest Judd


Although I didn't take a class with DeForrest Judd, I did get to spend passing time with him, and I would solicit feedback from all of the art teachers when they had spare time. I respected them all. Mr. Judd was a very quiet-spoken unassuming man. He would usually listen to whoever was talking, and clean out his pipe by whapping it softly on the palm of his hand -- and sort of chuckle a nearly inaudible "heh-heh."

My friend Don Shields was acting as Mr. Judd's Graduate Student "teaching assistant." So one time during the course of a semester, Shields and his fellow Grad student, Brian Cobble, decided to take Mr. Judd over to our favorite dive bar -- the Lion's Pub -- and do some "day-drinking." We would often hoist a few there and the SMU poets and writers had their own tables. 

Anyway, much to their surprise, Mr. Judd proceed to spin adventurous yarns of his many exotic travels and completely "drink them under the table." He thoroughly enjoyed himself.





Saturday, March 17, 2018

DeForrest Judd

DeForrest Judd



DeForrest Judd



DeForrest Judd (1916-1993) 

Judd graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1938 and received a post-graduate scholarship to continue his studies at the Institute in 1939. 

From 1940 - 1942 Judd studied at the Colorado Spring Fine Arts Center under the center’s director, Boardman Robinson, and Texas artist, Otis Dozier

During World War II Judd served in the United States Army. His academic career as professor of painting, drawing, and design began in 1946 when he moved to Dallas to teach at Southern Methodist University and the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts

In 1967 Judd was promoted to full professor at SMU. He retired from the University in 1981. Judd continued to live in Dallas and devote his time to art until his death in 1992.

Judd’s work reflects his study of nature: mountains, lakes, rocks, flowers, cactus, Gulf Coast, and scenes of everyday life that were painted or drawn in a semi-abstract form that made bold use of color. 

Judd received numerous awards for his work, and while teaching at SMU his work was featured in many one-man shows in Texas including the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts (1946), Southern Methodist University (1950, 1965, 1969, 1981), Elizabet Ney Museum (1952), Sul Ross State College (1957), Texas Tech Museum (1959), Fort Worth Art Center (1962), and the Beaumont Museum of Art (1971). 

His work was also exhibited in art centers and museum exhibitions around the country including the Metropolitan Museum of Art (one of twelve artists selected for the exhibition American Painting Today, 1950), Denver Art Museum, Cleveland Museum of Art, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, and the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts

Judd’s work was also accepted into the permanent collections of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, and Southern Methodist University.

Friday, March 16, 2018

William Blake

William Blake

Zen: Rock Gardening

Zen rock garden




Character for "life force."





Character for "love."



"Heaven and earth and I are of the same root, the ten-thousand things and I are of one substance." -- Zen Master Sojo (384-414 AD)

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

RIP Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking


"If machines produce everything we need, the outcome will depend on how things are distributed. Everyone can enjoy a life of luxurious leisure if the machine-produced wealth is shared, or most people can end up miserably poor if the machine-owners successfully lobby against wealth redistribution. So far, the trend seems to be toward the second option, with technology driving ever-increasing inequality." -- Stephen Hawking

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Eames Office: Mathematica: A World of Numbers -- and Beyond

Eames Office



Eames Office



Eames Office



Eames Office



Eames Office



Eames Office



Eames Office



Eames Office



Eames Office



I finally found a reasonably-priced copy of this "must-have" Charles an Ray Eames and Eames Office book, based on the ground-breaking exhibit.

The famed exhibition about “the world of numbers...and beyond,” now goes on permanent display at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

After caring for "Mathematica" for many years, the Eames Office found the perfect home for it in 2015, when The Henry Ford acquired the exhibition for permanent display. The museum lovingly repairing the show’s components and opened the exhibition for all to enjoy on September 23, 2017.

The show "cracks the world of mathematics wide-open," allowing novices and experts alike to create new and exciting connections between math and the everyday world.

"Mathematica" is just as inspiring today as it was when legendary designers Charles and Ray Eames first created it in 1961. The duo pioneered the interactive exhibition format and demonstrated how to make kinetic, experiential learning environments that are as fun as they are educational.

The Eames Office created a total of three versions of "Mathematica." All three are on view for visitors to experience and enjoy today. The first is on display at the New York Hall of Science; it was initially created for the IBM Pavilion at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. The second version can be seen at The Museum of Science in Boston.

The third version was originally on view at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle before becoming the property of the Eames family; this version, which includes interactive elements unique to it, has found a wonderful new home at The Henry Ford.



Dan Wingren: Paintings

Dan Wingren




Dan Wingren



Dan C. Wingren, Jr. was born in Dallas, Texas in 1923. His family moved to a small farm outside of Irving, Texas in the 1930s during his second year in grade school; Wingren graduated from Irving High School in 1940

During World War II, he served in the army and was stationed in the South Pacific (New Guinea, New Britain, Philippines) and Japan (Tokyo, Yokohama). After military service, Wingren received a Bachelor of Arts degree in art in 1947 from Southern Methodist University (SMU) where he served as a lecturer from 1946 to 1947. While at SMU, he studied painting with Jerry Bywaters who was well-known as an artist and director of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts (now the Dallas Museum of Art). He took additional classes at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts School with Bywaters and Otis Dozier, both well-established Texas regionalists artists. 

During the summer of 1947, Wingren traveled to Alpine, Texas to continue his studies with Dozier at Sul Ross State Teachers College, whose art department sponsored the successful “Alpine Art Colony” summer sessions taught by well-known regionalist artists. Also in 1947, he executed a serigraph of a color print for the portfolio XTOL by Octavio Medellin that was published by the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. 

Wingren received his Master of Fine Arts degree in 1949 from the University of Iowa where he studied with Mauricio Lasansky (printmaker), Hal Lotterman (painter), James Lechay (painter), and Byron Burford (painter). He stayed an extra year to work on a Ph.D under German-born art historian, William S. Heckscher (degree not completed). 

In 1950, Wingren joined the faculty at the University of Texas in Austin as an instructor and later (1955) promoted to an assistant professor; he taught life drawing and creative design until 1958. In the mid-1950s, Wingren traveled to Europe and sketched images of towns and villages in France and Italy. In 1958, he was appointed director of the San Antonio Art Institute and taught painting at the McNay Art Museum (associated with the San Antonio Art Institute) until May 1961. He taught at Trinity University as a guest lecturer in the fall semester in 1961

Wingren moved back to Dallas in May 1962 to paint full-time, although in the fall of that year he taught a design class at SMU. In 1963 and 1964, Wingren taught drawing and composition and oil painting at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts School and, in 1965, he began teaching full time in the art department at SMU; he remained at the university until he retired in 1991. In 1971, Wingren was appointed Professor of Art; from 1969-1971 he served as Associate Chairman of the Division of Fine Arts. During his tenure at SMU, Wingren taught classes in art history (19th and 20th Century), design, drawing, and painting, and also conducted seminars on Contemporary Art topics.

Wingren exhibited his work extensively in Texas during the 1950s and 1960s by way of art museum exhibitions and independent organizations, including the Texas Watercolor Society and the Texas Fine Arts Association. His work was accepted into numerous Texas exhibitions in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. In 1952, his oil painting "Explorer" received the $1000 "State Fair of Texas Purchase Prize" at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. 

Nationally, his work was accepted into shows at the Carnegie Institute (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Denver Art Museum (Denver, Colorado), Knoedler Galleries (New York, New York), Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, New York), Oakland Museum of Fine Arts (Oakland, California), and the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

In 1955, Wingren was highlighted in the February issue of "Art in America" which featured articles on "New Talent in the USA." He was recognized in other art journals during the 1950s including "Carnegie Magazine," "Art News," and "Arts." 

Wingren received the Catherwood Foundation Traveling Fellowship in 1957, which allowed him to travel through Europe and continue his art studies for a year. In 1959, Wingren, along with James Boynton and Paul Maxwell, both of Houston, Texas, exhibited their work at the Galerie du Colisรฉe in Paris, France. The show was organized by Wingren’s long-time art dealer, Meredith Long, in Houston. In the late 1950s, Wingren’s painting "Magician’s Cabinet" was purchased by Bernard Dorival, director of the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, France (now the National Museum of Modern Art located in the Pompidou Centre), for the museum’s collection.

Wingren continued to show his work throughout Texas during the 1960s. In addition, he gave lectures on art and art history and taught drawing, composition, and painting at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. In 1966 he was honored with a one-man show, a retrospective of his work completed since 1958, at the Pollock Galleries, then located in SMU’s Owen Fine Arts Center. He continued to show his work in faculty shows throughout his career at SMU. In 1968, his work was included in the exhibition "The Sphere of Art in Texas," held at the HemisFair in San Antonio, and in 1979 he was one of nine artists represented in the book "The Texas Gulf Coast," published by Texas A&M University Press.

In the mid-1970s, Wingren, collaborated with art professor and colleague, Mary Vernon (Professor of Art, Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor at SMU), in teaching First Year Design for all art majors. They later concentrated on advanced design classes for students during a time when the art department was experiencing tremendous growth. During this period, he continued with his personal art work and made drawings that focused on photo-based imagery. Many of these drawings are part of the works on paper collection in the Pollock Gallery at SMU. 

Wingren was also known to be intrigued with computer technology and in the 1970s built his own computer from kits and components at a time when personal computers were first being developed. He later commented “My head is somewhere near the intersection of the fields of art, history, psychology, engineering, and religion” ("Daily Campus," Southern Methodist University, June 21, 1988). 

In 1979, his manuscript "Design and the Visual Image" failed to find a publisher because reviewers found the material "too advanced for the introductory college student" and "more appropriate for professional journals."

During the 1980s, Wingren continued to give lectures at the Dallas Museum of Art and to participate in gallery and museum exhibitions. In 1988, he was part of the exhibition, "SMU Salon," held at the Crescent Hotel in Dallas that included work by three generations of SMU art faculty, students, alumni, and distinguished guest professors. The work was auctioned and the proceeds benefited the Meadows School of the Arts scholarship fund. In the same year, Wingren was awarded the "Meadows Distinguished Teaching Professorship" (1988-1989) by Eugene Bonelli, Dean, Meadows School of the Arts. The award carried a $5,000 cash prize and an additional $5,000 in professional support. By this time his work had been featured in 16 one-person shows since 1952, mainly in Houston, Paris, and New York.

Seven years after he retired from SMU, Wingren died in Dallas on December 31, 1998, at 75 years of age. A year later, a large collection of his drawings was donated to the Pollock Gallery at SMU. 

In 2006, his work was included in the exhibition "Shared Vision: Texas Artists Then & Now" at the Arlington Museum of Art, Arlington, Texas. The emphasis of the show was to look back and honor artists who had influenced contemporary Texas artists. 

Wingren’s work is located in numerous Texas museums and private collections, including the Archer M. Huntington Museum (Austin), Dallas Museum of Art, Witte Museum (San Antonio), McNay Museum (San Antonio), Texas Instruments (Dallas), First National Bank (Fort Worth), and Bank of the Southwest (Houston).

Jerry Bywaters: Dallas Art Master

Jerry Bywaters



Jerry Bywaters


Jerry Bywaters



Jerry Bywaters



Jerry Bywaters



Jerry Bywaters


As an artist, art critic, museum director, and art educator, Jerry Bywaters reshaped the Texas art world and attracted national recognition for Texas artists. This first full-scale biography explores his life and work in the context of twentieth-century American art, revealing Bywaters' important role in the development of regionalist painting.
Francine Carraro delves into all aspects of Bywaters' career. As an artist, Bywaters became a central figure and spokesman for a group of young, energetic painters known as the Dallas Nine (Alexandre Hogue, Everett Spruce, Otis Dozier, William Lester, and others) who broke out of the limitations of provincialism and attained national recognition beginning in the 1930s.
As director of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, art critic for the Dallas Morning News, and professor of art and art history at Southern Methodist University, Bywaters became a champion of the arts in Texas. Carraro traces his strong supporting role in professionalizing art institutions in Texas and defendlng the right to display art considered "subversive" in the McCarthy era.
From these discussions emerges a finely drawn portrait of an artist who used a vocabulary of regional images to explore universal themes. It will be of interest to all students of American studies, national and regional art history, and twentieth-century biography.



Francine Carraro with a Jerry Bywaters portrait



Francine Carraro's book on Jerry Bywaters












Giotto: Supreme Renaissance Master

Giotto



Giotto




Giotto



Giotto



Giotto



Giotto



Let it be said, by me, that Giotto is STILL the MAN...

In his "Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects," Giorgio Vasari described Giotto as making a decisive break with the prevalent Byzantine style and as initiating "the great art of painting as we know it today, introducing the technique of drawing accurately from life, which had been neglected for more than two hundred years."

Giotto's masterwork is the decoration of the รงรงl, in Padua, also known as the Arena Chapel, which was completed around 1305. The fresco cycle depicts the "Life of the Virgin" and the "Life of Christ." It is regarded as one of the supreme masterpieces of the Early Renaissance.