LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 May Signature Texas Arts Auction #653  / 

36416

COREEN MARY SPELLMAN (1905-1978)Morning Glories,

Currency:USD Category:Art Start Price:15,000.00 USD Estimated At:15,000.00 - 25,000.00 USD
COREEN MARY SPELLMAN (1905-1978)Morning Glories,
<B>COREEN MARY SPELLMAN (1905-1978)</B></I><BR><I>Morning Glories,</B></I> 1928<BR>Oil on canvas<BR>22in. x 20in.<BR>Signed and dated lower right<BR><BR>An absolutely stunning painting and likely the most modern painting ever exhibited in the Edgar B. Davis Wildflower Competition. This painting proves Coreen Spellman was likely the most advanced painter in Texas at that time. It would be several more years before the likes of Alexandre Hogue, Jerry Bywaters, Otis Dozier, Everett Spruce, William Lester, Charles Bowling, etc., would embrace the Regionalist style.<BR><BR>This painting is both regionalist and modern. Colors are turned way up in intensity. Space is flattened (flattened wall and impossibly tilted table), and normal three-point perspective is violated. The form and shape of objects is simplified and visual accuracy is made subservient to design concerns.<BR><BR>The star of the show, the morning glories, are several times their normal size, but visual impact and composition concerns dictate Spellman's approach; not visual accuracy. The same applies to colors used in the composition.<BR><BR>This painting must be viewed as one of the first Regionalist paintings by a Texas artist. In the light of its style, the early date, and her position as a teacher, we must consider Coreen Spellman as one of the founders of the movement we call Lone Star Regionalism. The perception the seminal exhibition, Nine Young Dallas Artists, at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts in 1932, (aka The Dallas Nine), defined the founders of the style we know as Texas Regionalism, is much too simplistic. Certainly Spellman's influence, via her influence on a generation of students in the 1920s and 1930s, place her as one of the founders (if not the founder) of Lone Star Regionalism!<BR><BR>Provenance:<BR>Collection of James and Kimel Baker<BR><BR>Exhibited:<BR>Edgar B. Davis Wildflower Competition, Group 1 First Division (label attached verso)<BR><BR> <B>Condition Report:</B> Excellent condition with very minor scattered inpainting. Tacking margins striplined. New frame in excellent condition.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Requires 3rd Party Shipping (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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