Imagined realism : Scott and Stuart Gentling / with contributions by Scott Grant Barker, Erika Doss, Jonathan Frembling, Janelle Montgomery, Barbara E. Mundy, and Spencer Wigmore ; foreword by Ed Ruscha ; preface by Andrew J. Walker.
Publisher:
Amon Carter Museum of American Art,
Copyright Date:
2021
Description:
303 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 34 x 26 cm
Issued in connection with an exhibition held September 25, 2021-January 9, 2022, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas. Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:
A Rake's Progress : The Lives of Scott and Stuart Gentling / Jonathan Frembling -- How Good They Were : Scott and Stuart Gentling and Fort Worth / Scott Grant Barker -- Tracing the Past : Of Birds and Texas and the Art of Imitation / Spencer Wigmore -- The Art of the Gentling Brothers : Contemporary Realists in the Lone Star State / Erika Doss -- The Gentlings and Ancient Mexico / Barbara E. Mundy -- Brothers in Arts : A Gentling Chronology / Janelle Montgomery.
Summary:
"The first major publication on the art and lives of twentieth-century Fort Worth artists Stuart Gentling (1942-2006) and Scott Gentling (1942-2011). Prolific and multi-talented modern-day Renaissance men, the brothers built a formidable body of landscapes, portraits of regional and national luminaries, historical studies ranging from the complete visual reconstruction of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan to the French and American Revolutions, and natural history illustrations of the flora and fauna of Texas. Realist painters, they drew inspiration from past masters of history painting such as Jacques-Louis David and John James Audubon, and they corresponded and collaborated with many of their contemporaries such as Andrew Wyeth and Ed Ruscha, who contributes the foreword to this volume. In this substantial catalogue, scholars provide five essays, supplemented by several micro-essays, on the multifaceted art and lives of the brothers. Erika Doss explores their place within the canon of twentieth-century American realist artists. Barbara Mundy analyzes their reconstruction of life in the Aztec Empire in the pivotal year of 1519-the year of the Spanish conquest. Independent scholar Scott Grant Barker explains the phenomenal success they enjoyed in the patron-rich environment of mid-century Texas. Spencer Wigmore and Jonathan Frembling ground their careers in the artists' archives, providing a deep analysis of the artistic process and thinking as seen in their most famous project, Of Birds and Texas (1986), a limited double-elephant folio in the style of Audubon. Rounding out the volume are a chronology and a brief autobiographical text that captures the tone of these Texas artists"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.