Tomorrow, May 4, 2019, the Witte Museum in San Antonio is opening its exhibition The Art of Texas: 250 Years. Per the show’s name, it surveys 250 years (1750 to 2000) of art in Texas, including more than 130 paintings and sculptures by artists including Georgia O’Keeffe, John Biggers, Julian Onderdonk, Frank Reaugh, Luis Jiménez, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jesús Moroles.
The exhibition, which is co-organized by the art historians Ron Tyler and Michael Duty, attempts to define the hard-to-describe notion of what “Texas art” really is. As Dr. Duty told Nicholas Frank of the Rivard Report:
“I don’t know that you can really define succinctly what Texas art is, but this exhibition does a pretty good job of showing the diversity and subjects and styles that artists have explored for 250 years… . We wanted to show a broadness of scope that people don’t always think of when they think of not only Texas art but Texas in general. It wasn’t our primary goal to defeat stereotypes, but we certainly were aware of trying to present a comprehensive picture of Texas and Texas art that defied stereotypes.”
One notable point of The Art of Texas: 250 Years is that although the show is themed around a time period, it is organized by subject, allowing an intergenerational dialogue of Texas art.
The exhibition will be on view at the museum through August 25, 2019.
