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The Frank Reaugh Art Collection is comprised of 217 works of art including landscape
drawings and paintings, portrait drawings and paintings, studies of flora and
fauna,
and monochrome works. Though the majority of works are undated, they were created
over the course of Reaugh's career from 1880 to 1937. The bulk of the collection
was
created using pastels, but there are also charcoal, ink, and graphite drawings,
oil
paintings, and a watercolor painting by Reaugh, as well as portraits of Reaugh
created by other artists. The collection is organized into three series: I. Works
by
Reaugh, 1880-1937, undated; II. Works by Other Artists, 1937, undated; and III.
Associated Materials, 1880-1937, undated. Each series is arranged by accession
number, and titles transcribed from the items appear in single quotes. When
possible, dates were taken from the works. Other dates come from an earlier
inventory of the collection. |
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The first series, Works by Reaugh, comprises the bulk of the collection. The works
span Reaugh's career and represent his endeavor to capture the untamed and
uncivilized landscapes of the Southwest. His primary focus was on the wild cattle,
especially the long-horned steer, with the cowboy portrayed only as a secondary
subject. In addition to Texas, Reaugh sketched in New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma,
Montana, and Wyoming. His landscape drawings and paintings, largely in pastel,
portray land-features including mesas, mountains, valleys and bodies of water,
as
well as the flora and fauna of the region. Many of these works focus on various
aspects of cattle herding and ranching, as well as the effects of moonlight,
sunrise, sunset, and weather on the plains. The collection also includes botanical
illustrations, some of which feature trees and flowers, while others include these
plants as part of greater landscapes. Additional subjects include studies of birds,
cattle, and other mammals native to the region; forts, ruins, and other buildings;
and pueblos and indigenous peoples. Also present are figure studies and portraits
in
oil, including a portrait of his student Lucretia Donnell Coke. |
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The second series, Works by Other Artists, consists of two portraits of Reaugh, one
of which is by the American painter Gasper J. Ruffolo. The other is by Ruth
Underwood, a former student of Reaugh's. |
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The final series, Associated Materials, is largely comprised of original backings,
mats, and other framing materials, inscriptions from Reaugh's artworks, and
exhibition labels that were separated from the artworks for housing and storage
purposes. Not all artworks have associated materials and many backings and
exhibition labels remain with the artworks. The series also includes a fragment
of a
printed poem which was not associated with any particular artwork. |