The art market, as a whole, does fluctuate, but within that market
there are pockets of niche art for which the market has its own
activity. David Dike recognized regional art when he started in the
business in 1986. Upon traveling across the country to different art
shows and fairs, David noticed that the art many dealers were handling
was not exclusive to national and international names, rather painters
that were regional to their areas; like the plein air painters of
California or the Old Lyme paintings of Connecticut. This inspired
David to research and focus on Texas regional artists. Artists that
were active at the turn of the century to mid-century, creating works
in the same style and period as other major nationally renowned
artists. These Texas artists were studying at the Chicago Art
Institute, The Art Students League of New York, or Shinnecock Summer
School of Art.
Years after he started his gallery, David established the Texas Art
Auction in 1996 from the support and encouragement of his Texas art
collectors. This was the first ever fine art auction dedicated strictly
to Texas art. The auction is still held annually and has produced
records every year for Texas artists; helping in the growth and
recognition of Texas art.
That being said, the Texas art market is still emerging and starting to
be recognized on the national level. Some big names in Texas art you
may start seeing at nationally recognized auctions are Julian
Onderdonk, Robert Onderdonk, Paul Schumann, Edward Eisenlohr, Porfirio
Salinas, Robert Wood, Dawson Dawson-Watson and Alexandre Hogue, to name
a few of some of the great early Texas painters.
Texas also has its own cultural hubs from which artists grouped to
create different areas/schools of art. San Antonio is one of the
earliest for Texas historical and later impressionist painters. The
Fort Worth Circle encompassed a group of avant-guard painters and
printmakers in the mid-century. Dallas is another area where painters
emerged and started different schools like the Frank Reaugh Club,
Dallas Art Institute and later the teachers and students of Southern
Methodist University art department. Founders of the art department at
the University of Texas include a list of heavy hitters of artists who
in the past five years are really making a mark and have increased in
value.
San Antonio, at the turn of the Century through the 1940s/50s, was home
to many of the Texas impressionist painters you will see at national
auctions now. The best of which known is Julian Onderdonk who is most
famous for his bluebonnet landscapes. Porfirio Salinas and Robert Wood
are also known for their bluebonnet paintings. A soft rule of thumb…
paintings with Texas subject matter by these artists seem to sell the
best in Texas. Take a Robert Wood bluebonnet landscape to a gallery in
California and it may not bring a premium; just as a Robert Wood Laguna
Beach seascape may not sell at as high of a price in Texas as it could
in California. It is important to recognize the value of these
paintings within the appropriate market.
The Fort Worth Circle encompassed a number of avant-garde painters and
printmakers who were generating a buzz in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. The
time following WWII marked a period when these artists desired to
create unique abstractions using exaggerated colors, which reflects the
artists’ observation of harmony around them. Some of these artists
include Bror Utter, Bill Bomar, Cynthia Brants, George Grammer, David
Brownlow, Kelly Fearing, Marjorie Johnson Lee and McKie Trotter. These
artists are particularly hot at this very moment. The trend of
mid-century modern home and furniture design seems to have filtered
over to artwork as well. Collectors are recognizing this and starting
to snatch up these mid-century modern paintings. The market for these
artists is on the rise.
Dallas has had histories of different artists that are important. Some
of these big names include Edward G. Eisenlohr, Franz Strahalm and
Frank Reaugh. The Frank Reaugh School based in the Oak Cliff area of
Dallas was a studio and base from which Reaugh would take a group of
artists every summer on a tour of West Texas, where he and 10–12
students would paint plein air, primarily on boards with pastels. Frank
Reaugh pastel paintings of the West Texas plains that capture the
historic cattle herding era are quite valuable and can be in the
mid-five figures; and David anticipates these values will hold.
Olin Travis was another early Dallas painter. He received some of his
formal training as an artist at the Chicago Art Institute and the
Broadmoor Academy. He would summer in Arkansas, where he started a
summer school for artists to paint in the city of Cass. He later
founded the Dallas Art Institute where many early Dallas painters got
their start. The art department at Southern Methodist University is
another school which included artists who studied and then later
taught. These painters include Jerry Bywaters, Otis Dozier, DeForrest
Judd and Ed Bearden. Founders of the art department at University of
Texas in Austin include William Lester and Everett Spruce; who were
also later known as part of the Dallas Nine.
Arguably, the group’s strongest works to date are their regional works
from the 1930s. Like the American Regionalists, Thomas Hart Benton and
Grant Wood, the paintings were executed in a style that was tightly
rendered with hard-edged forms reminiscent of the WPA mural paintings.
Charles Umlauf also taught in the art department at UT Austin, and is
one of the most important Texas sculptors.
The Texas art market continues to grow. The emergence of the Internet
seems to help paintings find their way to David Dike Fine Art from
places as far as Switzerland and Spain for example. An oil painting of
a Texas landscape by the early Spanish and American, San Antonio artist
Jose Arpa might be worth a couple hundred dollars in Spain; but once it
returns, it could sell in Texas for upwards of several hundred thousand
dollars. While the Internet makes the market seem universal, and the
world smaller, it is important for niche and regional art to find its
way home.
By: David Dike Fine Art, ISA Affinity Business Partner
About David Dike Fine Art: David Dike Fine Art specializes 19th and
20th century American and European paintings with an emphasis on the
Texas Regionalists and Texas Landscape painters. The gallery provides a
compilation of traditional and distinctive art for both new and mature
collectors.
http://www.daviddike.com.
214-720-4044
