GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Born in Quitman, Texas, in 1891, Charles Bowling did not begin to study art seriously until the age of thirty-five. Throughout his life he worked as an engineer for the Texas Power and Light Company and practiced his art in his spare time. He studied at the Dallas Art Institute with Olin Herman Travis, then studied independently with Frank Klepper and Alexandre Hogue. During the Depression he secured drafting jobs for Otis Dozier and William Lester, enabling them to make a living while continuing to paint. He exhibited at the Texas Centennial, and his major work of the period was Church at the Crossroads, which was shown at the Thirteen Dallas Artists exhibition later that year. He was also in the charter group of the Lone Star Printmakers. He acquired a lithography press in 1941and began to print his own work as well as that of some of his colleagues. His first one-man show occurred in 1939; he was given a larger exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts in 1941. His work won many purchase prizes in the period, and he exhibited in numerous national annual exhibitions, including shows held in New York, Denver, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco. A lifelong artist, Bowling was forced to give up painting in 1965 due to failing eyesight.
Adapted from
Rick Stewart, Lone Star Regionalism: The Dallas Nine and Their Circle (Dallas Museum of Arts: Dallas, TX, 1985), 153-4.
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)
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Charles T. Bowling, born in 1891 in Quitman, Texas, moved to Dallas, Texas in 1900 following the death of his father Robert Bowling. While Bowling did not complete high school, he gained experiences as an artist through draftsman jobs and served as head of the drafting department at Dallas Power and Light Company for decades.
At the age of thirty-five, Bowling enrolled at the Dallas Art Institute, where he studied under renowned Texas painter and instructor Olin H. Travis, before pursuing independent studies under Frank E. Klepper and Dallas Nine member Alexandre Hogue. As a result of these mentorships and friendships with numerous Dallas-based Texas Regionalist artists, Bowling developed a polished, realistic style. His interest in life "on the side where the seams are" is evident in rural and urban scenes and landscapes that evoke desolation and melancholy.
While Bowling produced paintings throughout his career, he excelled at prints, especially lithographs. He served as charter member and president of the Lone Star Printmakers, an organization in operation between 1938 and 1942, and emerged as its preeminent talent. In 1942, he acquired a lithographic press on which he produced his own works and those of his colleagues. The range of textures and tones in his lithographs demonstrates his mastery of the medium.
Excerpt from Samantha Robinson, Acquisition Justification, 2014
ASSOCIATED CONTENT CHUNKS (list applicable note links)
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
- Bowling, Charles Taylor, Texas State Historical Association Biography~Read more about Charles Taylor Bowling 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 Bowling's works digitally in a local university collection (organized by Southern Methodist University's Central University Libraries Digital Collections).
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES (digitized/non-digitized)
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
set operator as or
apply to objects where constituent_id equals 1270
apply to constituents where id equals 1270
Category
rules_operator
OR
General Description
Born in Quitman, Texas, in 1891, Charles Bowling did not begin to study art seriously until the age of thirty-five. Throughout his life he worked as an engineer for the Texas Power and Light Company and practiced his art in his spare time. He studied at the Dallas Art Institute with Olin Herman Travis, then studied independently with Frank Klepper and Alexandre Hogue. During the Depression he secured drafting jobs for Otis Dozier and William Lester, enabling them to make a living while continuing to paint. He exhibited at the Texas Centennial, and his major work of the period was Church at the Crossroads, which was shown at the Thirteen Dallas Artists exhibition later that year. He was also in the charter group of the Lone Star Printmakers. He acquired a lithography press in 1941and began to print his own work as well as that of some of his colleagues. His first one-man show occurred in 1939; he was given a larger exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts in 1941. His work won many purchase prizes in the period, and he exhibited in numerous national annual exhibitions, including shows held in New York, Denver, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco. A lifelong artist, Bowling was forced to give up painting in 1965 due to failing eyesight.
Adapted from
Rick Stewart, Lone Star Regionalism: The Dallas Nine and Their Circle (Dallas Museum of Arts: Dallas, TX, 1985), 153-4.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
(digitized/non-digitized)
Web Resources
- Bowling, Charles Taylor, Texas State Historical Association Biography~Read more about Charles Taylor Bowling 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 Bowling's works digitally in a local university collection (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)
---------
Charles T. Bowling, born in 1891 in Quitman, Texas, moved to Dallas, Texas in 1900 following the death of his father Robert Bowling. While Bowling did not complete high school, he gained experiences as an artist through draftsman jobs and served as head of the drafting department at Dallas Power and Light Company for decades.
At the age of thirty-five, Bowling enrolled at the Dallas Art Institute, where he studied under renowned Texas painter and instructor Olin H. Travis, before pursuing independent studies under Frank E. Klepper and Dallas Nine member Alexandre Hogue. As a result of these mentorships and friendships with numerous Dallas-based Texas Regionalist artists, Bowling developed a polished, realistic style. His interest in life "on the side where the seams are" is evident in rural and urban scenes and landscapes that evoke desolation and melancholy.
While Bowling produced paintings throughout his career, he excelled at prints, especially lithographs. He served as charter member and president of the Lone Star Printmakers, an organization in operation between 1938 and 1942, and emerged as its preeminent talent. In 1942, he acquired a lithographic press on which he produced his own works and those of his colleagues. The range of textures and tones in his lithographs demonstrates his mastery of the medium.
Excerpt from Samantha Robinson, Acquisition Justification, 2014
rules
Apply To
Constituents
id
Equals
1270
source file
artists_and_designers-0113.xml.nores