1935.57 Tennant, Negro Head | DMA Staging Content Management System

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Shown at the landmark Dallas Allied Arts Exhibition of 1935, in which the most modern and forward-thinking young artists of Texas received wide recognition, Allie Tennant's Negro Head won the Kiest Prize and became part of the Dallas Museum of Art's permanent collection. Harry Carnohan, art critic and fellow purchase prize winner, praised the anonymous portrait as, "a sincere and forceful piece of work that would hold its own in any exhibition in this country." Indeed, Tennant's head in Belgian black marble is a striking example of portrayal through attention to form rather than likeness. In his review, Carnohan noted the large number of works in the 1935 Allied Arts Exhibition devoted to African American subjects and saw it as a further evidence that local artists were looking at their contemporary surroundings and advancing toward uniquely "American" styles.

Adapted from

Rick Stewart, Lone Star Regionalism: The Dallas Nine and their Circle, 1928-1945 (Austin, TX: Texas Monthly Press, 1985), 53.

NOTES

This note was tagged #routed in June 2015 and Sue's revisions (in a Word doc created by ASG) have been applied to the note as of October 2015. As of January 2017 I am adding the #draft tag to this note so that it is harvested to Google Drive. Once I am sure that all pending TMS or Piction data entry is complete, I will remove the #routed tag, add the #complete tag, and move the Google Doc to Queta's folder so that it is not re-routed to Sue.

Changed material in TMS to match the Getty Vocabulary form- Belgian black marble.

Consider changing title to drop the parenthetical "(Negro)"? I added "Negro" as a former title, used in the 1935 Allied Arts Exhibition.

I erased the exhibitions that were listed in the exhibition text entry field because they duplicated the information presented in the exhibition module for this object.

Removed TMS object tag because rule exists.

Add artist geography based on Tennant CC

Add object geography? Not listed in draft, but date and artist biography should determine?

Added object number to exhibition listed below in archival resources. (1/17/2017)

Exhibition: Lone Star Regionalism: The Dallas Nine and their Circle 1928-1945, February 3, 1985-July 10, 1988

Catalogue essays specific to object

Artist/designers

Tennant, Allie (American, 1892 or 1898 - 1971)

Cultures

Geography

Process/materials

Belgian black marble

Direct carving

Historical periods

1930s America

Individuals

Subject terms

Art Students League (New York, NY)

head

portrait

texture

African American

exhibition

critic

prize

sculpture

Idealized

American Scene

RELATED OBJECTS

PROVENANCE

1935: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, purchased from the artist at the Seventh Annual Allied Arts Exhibition (as "Negro") [1]

[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.

AUDIO ASSETS

VIDEO ASSETS

IMAGE ASSETS

WEB RESOURCES

ARCHIVAL RESOURCES

7th Annual Dallas Allied Arts Exhibition; Exhibition ID: 10141; 12051767: UMO; 12710897: UMO

Object number added in Piction.

FUN FACTS

This was Tennant's second sculpture to be added to the Museum's collection. Her portrait bust, Mrs. George K. Meyer (1933.23) won first prize in the Allied Arts Exhibition in 1929 and was donated in honor of Meyer in 1933.

TEACHING IDEAS

RULES

Apply to objects where number equals 1935.57

General Description

Shown at the landmark Dallas Allied Arts Exhibition of 1935, in which the most modern and forward-thinking young artists of Texas received wide recognition, Allie Tennant's Negro Head won the Kiest Prize and became part of the Dallas Museum of Art's permanent collection. Harry Carnohan, art critic and fellow purchase prize winner, praised the anonymous portrait as, "a sincere and forceful piece of work that would hold its own in any exhibition in this country." Indeed, Tennant's head in Belgian black marble is a striking example of portrayal through attention to form rather than likeness. In his review, Carnohan noted the large number of works in the 1935 Allied Arts Exhibition devoted to African American subjects and saw it as a further evidence that local artists were looking at their contemporary surroundings and advancing toward uniquely "American" styles.