Rounded Up in Glory: Frank Reaugh, Texas Renaissance Man

Frank Reaugh (1860-1945; pronounced "Ray") was called "theDean of Texas artists" for good reason. His pastels documentedthe wide-open spaces of the West as they were vanishing in thelate nineteenth century, and his plein air techniques influencedgenerations of artists. His students include a "Who's Who" oftwentieth-century Texas painters: Alexandre Hogue, ReveauBassett, and Lucretia Coke, among others. He was an advocate ofpainting by observation, and encouraged his students to do thesame by organizing legendary sketch trips to West Texas. Reaughalso earned the title of Renaissance man by inventing a portableeasel that allowed him to paint in high winds, and developing aformula for pastels, which he marketed. A founder of the DallasArt Society, which became the Dallas Museum of Art, Reaugh wascentral to Dallas and Oak Cliff artistic circles for many years untilinfighting and politics drove him out of fashion. He died isolatedand poor in 1945.

The last decade has seen a resurgence of interest in Reaugh,through gallery shows, exhibitions, and a recent documentary.Despite his importance and this growing public profile, however,Rounded Up in Glory would be the first full-length biography. Michael Grauer argues for Reaugh's importance as more than just a "longhorn painter." Reaugh's works and far-reaching imagination earned him a prominent place in the Texas art pantheon.