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1931, IRRIGATION
Alexandre Hogue
ALEXANDRE HOGUE: AN AMERICAN VISIONARY –
PAINTINGS AND WORKS ON PAPER
EXPLORES LIFE, CAREER OF IMPORTANT AMERICAN ARTIST
Sept. 24 – Nov. 27, 2011
Fort Worth Museum of Science and History to Host Final Showing Of Limited-Engagement Retrospective
Read what area art critics have to say about the Alexandre Hogue exhibition:
http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/09/28/3404503/review-art-exhibit.html#tvg
The Dallas Morning News - PDF
FORT WORTH, Texas - The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History will host the retrospective of the art of Alexandre Hogue (1898-1994), whose 157 oil paintings, drawings, and field sketches ― primarily Southwest landscapes ― represent a vital link in Texas history. Alexandre Hogue: An American Visionary – Paintings and Works on Paper opens Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011, and runs through Sunday, Nov. 27.
Of all the artists who came to maturity during the 1930s and 40s, Hogue is the preeminent figure who consistently captured the look and feel, as well as the psychological character of the land. His prolific career spanned 75 years, ending only a few weeks before his death at age 96; still, an entire generation of artists, curators and museum audiences is largely unfamiliar with his works. The retrospective, having introduced the artist’s work to new generations, seeks to establish Hogue as a major 20th century American artist.
Many of Hogue's works have never been shown before, and a retrospective of his works to this extent has never been attempted. This exhibition marks the first time for his final Big Bend series to be seen in its entirety; it is also the first time that the collection of his daughter, Olivia Hogue Mariño, has been shown in its entirety. Fort Worth is the third and final stop on the exhibition’s limited-engagement tour. Organized by the Art Museum of South Texas in Corpus Christi, It debuted there in January 2011 before traveling to The Grace Museum in Abilene, Texas, for summer 2011. “We are honored to be one of only three institutions to host this exhibition featuring the works of a true visionary with ties to the region,” said Van A. Romans, president of the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.
Hogue's works in the exhibition are on loan from private collectors and art museums, including Amalia Mariño, granddaughter of Alexandre Hogue; the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; the Centre Pompidou, National Museum of Modern Art/Design Center, Paris; the Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa; the Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and the Dallas Museum of Art.
Retrospective Advances Museum's Mission
“Alexandre Hogue’s artistic insight and representation of southwestern landscapes gives us a unique tool to advance our mission to interpret science and the stories of Texas and the Southwest," he said. "This exhibition demonstrates our dedication to lifelong learning.” Romans noted that art was integral to the Museum’s founding philosophy and that, decades later, many guests still fondly recall their memories of attending art classes at the Museum.
About Curator and Author Susie Kalil
“It is impossible to think of the art of the Southwest during the past century without including Alexandre Hogue in the picture,” said Susie Kalil, the curator of the exhibition. “No other Texas artist has accomplished the breadth of his work." The Houston-based art critic and independent curator interviewed the artist over an eight-year period and published an important critical work on Hogue to coincide with the exhibition named after her book. A frequent contributor to publications including Artforum, Art in America and ARTnews, Kalil previously served as managing editor of the Texas journal Art Lies. "The most important aspect of this retrospective is that these works will never come together again in our lifetime," said Kalil.
About Alexandre Hogue
Beginning his career in the Texas of the 1920s, Alexandre Hogue inherited the view of an America that saw itself as filled with limitless potential. The Southwest – Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma – provided settings that allowed the artist to immerse himself in the wonder of the earth as he explored the subject matter of place. Hogue painted during and after the Great Depression, which greatly affected his works. He was not employed by the WPA or Federal Art Administration, unlike many other artists of the time. Also, unlike other artists during the Great Depression, Hogue chose to address man-made causes for the destruction of the land. In the early decades of the 20th century, before the term “conservation” became well known, Hogue worried that man’s impact on the planet could bring about intense storms or catastrophic drought. Indeed, part of his work’s energy, according to Kalil, derives from its refusal to go softly into art history.
“We view Hogue’s themes of conservation and environmentalism as very synergistic with many of the themes found within the Museum’s exhibitions and programming,” said Romans. Kalil agrees, adding that she sees the Museum’s permanent collection examining a similar social and environmental responsibility. “The Museum of Science and History encourages new ways of seeing by recognizing the power of art to order or disrupt, to calm or provoke, to stimulate our minds and emotions,” said Kalil.
Over the course of his prolific career, Hogue witnessed many changes in American art and watched while more than one style rose and fell in critical esteem. Yet, Kalil says, his restless intellect never allowed him to settle into anything resembling a signature style. His paintings were often far ahead of their time, but throughout his life, Hogue remained outside the mainstream of American art.
His well-known Dust Bowl series labeled him as a regionalist painter, but Hogue never accepted that identity. Each series – from the hauntingly beautiful Taos landscapes and prophetic canvases of a dust-covered Southwest to his depictions of the fierce geological phenomena of the Big Bend – serves as an ode to nature. He is associated with the Dallas Nine, a group of painters who created realistic pieces according to their surroundings in the Southwest in the 1930s and the early 1940s. Bringing to light new information regarding Hogue’s “Erosion” and “Oil Industry” series, the exhibition gives special attention to lesser-known, post-1945 works, in addition to the awe-inspiring “Moon Shot” series. In his later years, he worked in forms of crisply rendered nonobjective and calligraphic one-liner paintings.
Although self-taught, Hogue was named head of the art department at the University of Tulsa in 1945, a position he held until 1963.
Alexandre Hogue: An American Visionary – Paintings and Works on Paper will be on view at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History from Saturday, Sept. 24, through Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. Admission is included with regular Museum exhibit admission: $14 adults; $10 children (2-12) and seniors (60+). The exhibition is partially supported by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and Humanities Texas, as well as numerous private donors.
Susie Kalil’s companion book, Alexandre Hogue: An American Visionary – Paintings and Works on Paper, will be available for sale in Shop Too!, the Museum’s store, beginning in mid- September 2011.
For exhibition ticket information, visit www.fortworthmuseum.org, or call 817-255-9540.
Alexandre Hogue: An American Visionary
Paintings and Works on Paper
Organized by the Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi
Local support generously provided by
Ben E. Keith Foundation
Edmund P. Cranz,
The Jean and Graham Devoe Williford Charitable Trust
Fort Worth Promotion and Development Fund
Ellen and John McStay
Dr. Robert Gold & Dr. Nancy Lamoreux
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