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Recent Acquisitions Releases Press Release Archive |
TMA Hosts Amon Carter Lecturer Tyler, TX—Rebecca E. Lawton, curator of paintings and sculpture for Fort Worth's Amon Carter Museum, will be the special guest lecturer June 30 from 2–4 p.m. at the Tyler Museum of Art to discuss the life and work of Texas artist Josephine Oliver-Travis. "The Teacher, the Student, Her Talent and His Studio: Frank Reaugh, Josephine Oliver and the Making of El Sibil" is the title of the free public lecture to be presented in the TMA's Bell Gallery. Reservations are requested, and should be made by calling 903-595-1001. Josephine Oliver (1908–1991), a Paris, Texas native, became a student of Frank Reaugh, one of Texas' most respected artists and art teachers. Starting at age 12 under his tutelage, Ms. Oliver rapidly developed her talents and soon became the art instructor's teaching assistant. In 1923, she accompanied Reaugh and a group of his students on a month-long trip to sketch with pastels the beautiful landforms and sky of West Texas. These trips, which have been called "a teaching ritual unprecedented in American art" continued over another 10 years, as Ms. Oliver's skills developed by sketching many of the regions most scenic landmarks. Modern critics believe that with time some of the student's work even surpassed those of her teacher, with her vivid pastel landscapes capturing the essence of "earth and sky." Ms. Lawton is co-author with Kevin Vogel of the exhibition catalogue which contains not only artwok by and photos of Ms. Oliver-Travis throughout her life, but also extensive endnotes, a chronology and other documentation that extends knowledge about early Texas art and artists. The reference to El Sibil (the vault) in the lecture is to the studio Reaugh had constructed overlooking Lake Cliff Park in Oak Cliff in Dallas in 1928. The studio with its sky-lit gallery, studio, music room, and basement vault for art storage, became a center for art, music and lectures for Dallas society before it would succumb to the changed world of the Great Depression and the public's growing interest in modern art, and away from landscapes. "In large measure, Reaugh's students were dilettantes, adventurous society women and adolescent girls with a spirited enthusiasm for art," Lawton details in the catalogue. "Yet, he encountered a few who were truly gifted and possessed such exemplary skills that he anointed them protégées. Josephine Oliver...was among them..." Following her marriage to noted Dallas artist Olin Travis in 1935, the multi-talented Josephine focused on her musical abilities, becoming a violinist with both the San Antonio and Dallas Symphony Orchestras. She remained active in professional music circles for many years, retiring from the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in 1977. She died in Dallas in 1991. This exhibition, which showcases her visual art from those earlier years, is organized by Valley House Gallery of Dallas, and is made possible through the generosity of Jean and Joseph K. Oliver, sister-in-law and brother of the artist. The local exhibition is curated by Tyler Museum of Art Curator Ken Tomio. Admission is free to all current TMA exhibitions, which includes Past/Present/Future: Folk Art of Mexico, Selected Works from the Laura and Dan Boeckman Collection of Mexican and Latin American Folk Art and Curator's Choice: Selections from the Permanent Collection. Exhibition hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays, and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. |