February 13 - June 1, 2025
From the UMLAUF Sculpture Garden:
“The UMLAUF Sculpture Garden + Museum’s first 2025 exhibition celebrates America’s 20th century golden girl, Farrah Fawcett (1947-2009). Partnering with the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas, Fawcett’s nephew in Houston, Texas, and the Farrah Fawcett Foundation in Los Angeles, this major exhibition introduces Farrah to new generations while offering seasoned Farrah fans previously unseen views into her artistic and theatrical life.
The UMLAUF is fortunate to possess a trove of archival material from the Corpus Christi native and Charlie’s Angels star, Farrah Fawcett, from the course of her long friendship with her mentor, Charles Umlauf (1910-1994). After studying with Professor Umlauf at the University of Texas at Austin in the 1960s, she befriended him and his wife Angeline, visiting their private Austin home throughout the 1970s and 1980s. She even visiting the “new” public UMLAUF Sculpture Garden + Museum in the early 1990s. The UMLAUF archives include a treasured collection of letters, photographs, and documents from that long relationship, in addition to many sculptures and drawings by Umlauf of his former student. Viewers will see his bronze Young Farrah, wearing the hairstyle she said she preferred: pulled back and away from her face, in addition to sculptures from the post-Charlie’s Angels era.
Beyond the Bombshell features Farrah memorabilia–dolls, cartoons, “Farrah’s Glamour Center,” a skateboard, magazine covers and clippings, and, of course, the infamous red swimsuit poster that adorned the walls of so many Americans. Some of the archival objects on view include four typewritten scripts (from roles she played) that feature Farrah’s distinctive handwriting as she engages in dialogue with the written prompts from directors and screenwriters.
In collaboration with the Blanton Museum of Art, the UMLAUF will display Farrah Fawcett’s own artwork. She created art that blended the classical realism taught by her mentor Umlauf with the artistic experimentation of the 1970s and 1980s. While our exhibition offers a behind-the-scenes look at the Blanton’s Farrah holdings, visitors are also encouraged to visit the Blanton to see Andy Warhol’s 1980 silkscreen portrait, Farrah Fawcett that was owned by Farrah.
The 2017 exhibition, Mentoring a Muse, was one of the UMLAUF’s most popular and publicized exhibitions ever, attracting nearly 10,000 attendees. It explored the creative influence Charles Umlauf had on Farrah’s art, and vice versa. Beyond the Bombshell presents and even deeper, more complex understanding of Farrah by examining her through the lens of her personal letters, archives, and scripts. This exhibition goes beyond the Hollywood glam, revealing a nuanced image of who Farrah was when the camera was off. While her stardom sparked countless new articles, sensational gossip, and surface-level facts, this exhibition reveals Farrah as more than just a media icon, but as a woman with inspirations, creative depth, and a rich inner world.”
Reception: February 13, 2025 | 6–8 pm
Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum
605 Robert E. Lee Road
Austin, 78704 TX
(512) 445-5582
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