GENERAL DESCRIPTION
With its playful, almost cartoonlike description of the landscape, Night is an unusual example of Everett Spruce’s work in the 1930s, when he was a core member of the artists’ group known as the Dallas Nine. The name was taken from the title of the group’s first exhibition in 1932, Exhibition of Nine Artists Under the Age of Thirty. The Dallas Nine artists shared an interest in figurative painting, rejecting the vogue for abstraction then prevalent in New York as well as the impressionism of the previous generation of Texas painters. Spruce, a native of Arkansas, cultivated an expressive approach to the rugged southwest landscape, which he depicted with a geometric hard edge. In 1940, after working in Dallas for nearly fifteen years, Spruce joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin, where he taught for more than three decades.
Here, Everett Spruce paints the end of a rural driveway with a mailbox awaiting a postman to retrieve its contents. The mailbox’s flag, however, is just one of many visual cues in Spruce’s painting. A severed tree trunk prominently displays its added features on hollowed limbs: a kite slung over a branch, a numerical pendant attached to the trunk, and, perhaps most notable, a hand-painted sign baring the name “Black Mule.” While the scene is devoid of human presence, these fixtures suggest the rotting tree lives through human utilization. Versions of this tree—dead, hollowed, and split—are present in many of Spruce’s surreal paintings from the 1930s, speaking to the artist’s affinity for organic subjects.
Adapted from
- Erin Pinon, Label text, 2016.
- Bonnie Pitman, ed., Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 277.
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)
Created in 1938
Exhibition: Lone Star Regionalism :The Dallas Nine and their Circle 1928-1945, February 3, 1985-July 10, 1988
Everett Spruce moved to Dallas from his native Arkansas at the age of eighteen to study art at the Dallas Art Institute, where he became a student of Olin Travis and Thomas M. Stell Jr. Spruce worked as a gallery attendant at the Dallas Public Art Gallery (forerunner of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and Dallas Museum of Art), later serving as a registrar and then assistant director. The artist’s museum affiliation and unique take on regionalism awarded him the opportunity to exhibit at the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition and elsewhere. Night is one of many works created during Spruce’s nine years at the DMA.
Here, Spruce paints the end of a rural driveway, fit with a mailbox awaiting a postman to retrieve its contents. The mailbox’s flag, however, is just one of many visual cues in Spruce’s semiotic assemblage. A severed tree trunk prominently displays its added features on hollowed limbs: a kite slung over a branch, a numerical pendant affixed to the surface, and perhaps most notable, a hand-painted sign baring the name “Black Mule.” While the scene is devoid of human presence, these fixtures suggest the rotting tree lives through human treatment and perhaps, veneration. Versions of this tree—dead, hollowed, and split—are present in many of Spruce’s surreal paintings from the 1930s, speaking to the artist’s affinity for organic subjects.
Erin Pinon, Early Texas Art Research Associate, DMA label copy (1938.24), June 2016
With its playful, almost cartoonlike description of the landscape, Night is an unusual example of Everett Spruce’s work in the 1930s, then he was a core member of the artists’ group known as the Dallas Nine. The name was taken from the title of the group’s first exhibition in 1932, Exhibition of Nine Artists Under the Age of Thirty. The Dallas Nine artists shared an interest in figurative painting, rejecting the vogue for abstraction then prevalent in New York as well as the impressionism of the previous generation of Texas painters. Spruce, a native of Arkansas, cultivated an expressive approach to the rugged southwest landscape, which he depicted with a geometric hard edge. In 1940, after working in Dallas for nearly fifteen years, Spruce joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin, where he taught for more than three decades.
Bonnie Pitman, ed., Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 277.
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Depicted location and place of origin: Texas (state/United States): TGN: 7007826
Process/materials
Oil on Masonite
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Before 1935: Everett Spruce [1]
From 1935: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Kiest Purchase Prize, Ninth Annual Dallas Allied Arts Exhibition, purchased from the artist. [2]
[1] The main source for this provenance was existing information in TMS (in Dallas Museum of Art Digital Collections Records Object Files). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[2] 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
- Dallas Museum of Art, Uncrated~Learn more about the Kiest Memorial Prize on the DMA's Uncrated blog.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1938.24
Category
rules_operator
AND
General Description
With its playful, almost cartoonlike description of the landscape, Night is an unusual example of Everett Spruce’s work in the 1930s, when he was a core member of the artists’ group known as the Dallas Nine. The name was taken from the title of the group’s first exhibition in 1932, Exhibition of Nine Artists Under the Age of Thirty. The Dallas Nine artists shared an interest in figurative painting, rejecting the vogue for abstraction then prevalent in New York as well as the impressionism of the previous generation of Texas painters. Spruce, a native of Arkansas, cultivated an expressive approach to the rugged southwest landscape, which he depicted with a geometric hard edge. In 1940, after working in Dallas for nearly fifteen years, Spruce joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin, where he taught for more than three decades.
Here, Everett Spruce paints the end of a rural driveway with a mailbox awaiting a postman to retrieve its contents. The mailbox’s flag, however, is just one of many visual cues in Spruce’s painting. A severed tree trunk prominently displays its added features on hollowed limbs: a kite slung over a branch, a numerical pendant attached to the trunk, and, perhaps most notable, a hand-painted sign baring the name “Black Mule.” While the scene is devoid of human presence, these fixtures suggest the rotting tree lives through human utilization. Versions of this tree—dead, hollowed, and split—are present in many of Spruce’s surreal paintings from the 1930s, speaking to the artist’s affinity for organic subjects.
Adapted from
- Erin Pinon, Label text, 2016.
- Bonnie Pitman, ed., Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 277.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- Dallas Museum of Art, Uncrated~Learn more about the Kiest Memorial Prize on the DMA's Uncrated blog.
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)
Created in 1938
Exhibition: Lone Star Regionalism :The Dallas Nine and their Circle 1928-1945, February 3, 1985-July 10, 1988
Everett Spruce moved to Dallas from his native Arkansas at the age of eighteen to study art at the Dallas Art Institute, where he became a student of Olin Travis and Thomas M. Stell Jr. Spruce worked as a gallery attendant at the Dallas Public Art Gallery (forerunner of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and Dallas Museum of Art), later serving as a registrar and then assistant director. The artist’s museum affiliation and unique take on regionalism awarded him the opportunity to exhibit at the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition and elsewhere. Night is one of many works created during Spruce’s nine years at the DMA.
Here, Spruce paints the end of a rural driveway, fit with a mailbox awaiting a postman to retrieve its contents. The mailbox’s flag, however, is just one of many visual cues in Spruce’s semiotic assemblage. A severed tree trunk prominently displays its added features on hollowed limbs: a kite slung over a branch, a numerical pendant affixed to the surface, and perhaps most notable, a hand-painted sign baring the name “Black Mule.” While the scene is devoid of human presence, these fixtures suggest the rotting tree lives through human treatment and perhaps, veneration. Versions of this tree—dead, hollowed, and split—are present in many of Spruce’s surreal paintings from the 1930s, speaking to the artist’s affinity for organic subjects.
Erin Pinon, Early Texas Art Research Associate, DMA label copy (1938.24), June 2016
With its playful, almost cartoonlike description of the landscape, Night is an unusual example of Everett Spruce’s work in the 1930s, then he was a core member of the artists’ group known as the Dallas Nine. The name was taken from the title of the group’s first exhibition in 1932, Exhibition of Nine Artists Under the Age of Thirty. The Dallas Nine artists shared an interest in figurative painting, rejecting the vogue for abstraction then prevalent in New York as well as the impressionism of the previous generation of Texas painters. Spruce, a native of Arkansas, cultivated an expressive approach to the rugged southwest landscape, which he depicted with a geometric hard edge. In 1940, after working in Dallas for nearly fifteen years, Spruce joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin, where he taught for more than three decades.
Bonnie Pitman, ed., Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 277.
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Depicted location and place of origin: Texas (state/United States): TGN: 7007826
Process/materials
Oil on Masonite
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Before 1935: Everett Spruce [1]
From 1935: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Kiest Purchase Prize, Ninth Annual Dallas Allied Arts Exhibition, purchased from the artist. [2]
[1] The main source for this provenance was existing information in TMS (in Dallas Museum of Art Digital Collections Records Object Files). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[2] 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
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1938.24
source file
object_notes_3_c-0035.xml.nores