Everett Spruce came to Texas from his Arkansas home in 1925 to study at the Dallas Art Institute. Over the next seven decades, he became one of the most important painters and teachers in the region. One of the 'Dallas Nine,' a group of influential Texas Regionalists that included Jerry Bywaters, Otis Dozier, William Lester, and others, Spruce was among the artists who lobbied the Texas Centennial Commission for a greater role in the Centennial Exposition of 1936. These efforts, though unsuccessful, nevertheless led to greater recognition and influence for Texas art and artists. Spruce was assistant director and taught art at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts until 1940 when he joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin. He painted and taught at the university for the next 38 years, guiding and shaping the next generation of Texas artists, including Roger Winter, William Hoey, and others. Spruce died in 2002 at the age of 94. Texas Made Modern: The Art of Everett Spruce traces Spruce's artistic evolution from his early experimental work of the 1920s through the mysterious, surrealist-imbued landscapes of the 1930s. The work addresses his boldly expressionistic imagery of the 1940s and his abstract expressionist - inspired paintings of the mid-twentieth century. Departing from previous accounts of Spruce, which label him a prototypical regionalist, this study reveals the nuanced meanings behind the artist's shifting approaches to Texas subject matter and resituates his artwork within the broader narrative of American art.

A deep dive into the life and work of sculptor Louise Nevelson recontextualizes her art in light of social movements, travel, and her experiences in dance and theater   Known for her monumental wooden wall pieces and outdoor sculptures, Louise Nevelson (1899–1988) was a towering figure in twentieth-century American art. A more nuanced picture of Nevelson emerges in The World Outside: Louise Nevelson at Midcentury. Discussions about Nevelson’s early involvement with modern dance and subsequent immersion in avant-garde theater bring new understandings of her drawings and sculptures. A reframing of her travels to Mexico and Guatemala in the early 1950s demonstrates, for the first time, how colonial archaeology haunted her visual language for decades.   Other little-known facets of Nevelson’s life—her interest in folk art, architecture, and period furniture—open up a conversation about the artist’s approach to America’s past material culture. A pioneering examination of Nevelson’s printmaking experiences at Tamarind Lithography Workshop reveals how the artist created alternative modes of viewing through unconventional methods and materials. The book also reconsiders Nevelson’s work in the context of the environmental movement. Additionally, three contemporary artists relate Nevelson’s role in their careers and lives, a local expert describes her roots and relationship to Maine, and the artist’s granddaughter shares thoughts on Nevelson’s spirituality.   Distributed for the Amon Carter Museum of American Art Exhibition Schedule Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, TX (August 27, 2023–January 7, 2024) Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, ME (February 6–June 9, 2024)

A New American Sculpture, 1914-1945 is the first publication to situate the individual contributions of Gaston Lachaise, Robert Laurent, Elie Nadelman, and William Zorach into a compelling constellation of artists with shared aesthetic and social concerns. Although each European-born, American artist cultivated his own distinct style, their creative priorities were all deeply rooted in quiet composition, synthetic approaches to anatomy, and architectural unity of curves and volume. At a time when abstract forms were popular, Lachaise, Laurent, Nadelman, and Zorach were all ultimately in favor of maintaining the integrity of the human body to explore modernist styles. This handsome book underscores their unrelenting search for a novel American visual tradition at the intersection of modernism, historic visual culture, and contemporary popular imagery. Distributed for the Portland Museum of Art Exhibition Schedule: Portland Museum of Art (05/26/17-09/08/17) Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, Tennessee (10/14/17-01/07/18) Amon Carter Museum of American Art (02/17/18-05/13/18)