Jerry Bywaters (1906-1989)

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The following biography appeared in the 1985 catalog Lone Star Regionalism: The Dallas Nine and Their Circle by Rick Stewart.

One of the most important figures in the history of Texas art, Jerry Bywaters was born in Paris, Texas, on May 21,1906. During his last year at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, he decided to study art. For a brief period, he attended the Dallas Art Institute before going with the painter Robert Vonnoh to the Old Lyme Art Colony in Connecticut to study with Bruce Crane. He studied at the New York Art Students League with Ivan Olinsky and John Sloan before returning to Texas. In Texas he became a champion of regional art and an accomplished artist in his own right. By 1933 he had won a major purchase prize at the Dallas Museum with his portrait of David Williams, had been one of the founding members of the Dallas Artists League, edited a new magazine titled Southwestern Arts, and had begun writing art criticism for the Dallas Morning News.  He was a founding member of the Dallas Nine, a circle of artists most active in the 1930s and 40s. Their artistic motivation grew from the landscape, industry, and inhabitants of Texas and the greater Southwest region. Bywaters was a great believer of the Texas Regionalist movement and founding member of the Lonestar Printmakers. He also completed five murals under the Works Progress Administration throughout the state. In 1936 he exhibited at the Centennial, and the following year he began a notable teaching career at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He also illustrated books by J. Frank Dobie and others. His works received numerous awards. In 1942 he was named director of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and served as such until his retirement. 

Adapted from 
Rick Stewart, Lone Star Regionalism: The Dallas Nine and Their Circle (Dallas Museum of Arts: Dallas, TX, 1985), 160.

NOTES
This note was originally created and submitted by Erin Pinon, summer 2016. I am removing the #draft tag and requesting that the content be pulled from Brain and the Google Docs routing process so that I can review formatting, tagging, and text. After review, the note will be retagged with #draft and proceed to be harvested, routed, and revised as usual. (EAS, 8/26/2016)


ASSOCIATED CONTENT CHUNKS (list applicable note links)

AUDIO ASSETS 

VIDEO ASSETS  

IMAGE ASSETS 
UMO: 247272809 Detail of Jerry Bywaters from a photo of Bywaters with artist WIlliam Zorach at the Museum Entrance

WEB RESOURCES 
  • Bywaters, Jerry, Texas State Historical Association Biography~Read more about Jerry Bywaters on the Handbook of Texas Online (published by the Texas State Historical Association).
  • Dallas Nine~Read more about this group on the Handbook of Texas Online (published by the Texas State Historical Association).
  • Southern Methodist University's Digital Collection~View a large collection of Bywaters' works digitally in a local university collection (organized by Southern Methodist University's Central University Libraries Digital Collections)
  • Bywaters Special Collections~Learn more about the Bywaters Special Collections (housed at Hamon Arts Library at Southern Methodist University, organized by Southern Methodist University's Central University Libraries Digital Collections)

ARCHIVAL RESOURCES

FUN FACTS 

TEACHING IDEAS 

RULES
set operator as OR
apply to objects where constituent_id equals 2951
apply to constituents where id equals 2951
rules_operator
OR
General Description
The following biography appeared in the 1985 catalog Lone Star Regionalism: The Dallas Nine and Their Circle by Rick Stewart.

One of the most important figures in the history of Texas art, Jerry Bywaters was born in Paris, Texas, on May 21,1906. During his last year at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, he decided to study art. For a brief period, he attended the Dallas Art Institute before going with the painter Robert Vonnoh to the Old Lyme Art Colony in Connecticut to study with Bruce Crane. He studied at the New York Art Students League with Ivan Olinsky and John Sloan before returning to Texas. In Texas he became a champion of regional art and an accomplished artist in his own right. By 1933 he had won a major purchase prize at the Dallas Museum with his portrait of David Williams, had been one of the founding members of the Dallas Artists League, edited a new magazine titled Southwestern Arts, and had begun writing art criticism for the Dallas Morning News.  He was a founding member of the Dallas Nine, a circle of artists most active in the 1930s and 40s. Their artistic motivation grew from the landscape, industry, and inhabitants of Texas and the greater Southwest region. Bywaters was a great believer of the Texas Regionalist movement and founding member of the Lonestar Printmakers. He also completed five murals under the Works Progress Administration throughout the state. In 1936 he exhibited at the Centennial, and the following year he began a notable teaching career at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He also illustrated books by J. Frank Dobie and others. His works received numerous awards. In 1942 he was named director of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and served as such until his retirement. 

Adapted from 
Rick Stewart, Lone Star Regionalism: The Dallas Nine and Their Circle (Dallas Museum of Arts: Dallas, TX, 1985), 160.

Fun Facts
 
Archival Resources

Web Resources
 
  • Bywaters, Jerry, Texas State Historical Association Biography~Read more about Jerry Bywaters on the Handbook of Texas Online (published by the Texas State Historical Association).
  • Dallas Nine~Read more about this group on the Handbook of Texas Online (published by the Texas State Historical Association).
  • Southern Methodist University's Digital Collection~View a large collection of Bywaters' works digitally in a local university collection (organized by Southern Methodist University's Central University Libraries Digital Collections)
  • Bywaters Special Collections~Learn more about the Bywaters Special Collections (housed at Hamon Arts Library at Southern Methodist University, organized by Southern Methodist University's Central University Libraries Digital Collections)

Notes
This note was originally created and submitted by Erin Pinon, summer 2016. I am removing the #draft tag and requesting that the content be pulled from Brain and the Google Docs routing process so that I can review formatting, tagging, and text. After review, the note will be retagged with #draft and proceed to be harvested, routed, and revised as usual. (EAS, 8/26/2016)


rules
Apply To
Constituents
id
Equals
2951
tags
#draft
#completed
%copyedited_Gail
@Schiller
*American Art
@Russell
Texas (state/United States): TGN: 7007826
#routed
artists (visual artists): AAT: 300025103
Art Students' League: ULAN: 500303709
regionalism (form of expression): AAT: 300055800
museums (institutions): AAT: 300312281
Bywaters_Jerry: ULAN: 500073996
247272809: UMO
directors (administrators): AAT: 300025431
source file
artists_and_designers-0090.xml.nores