DMA Insight

The following excerpt was written in 2003 by Carol Robbins, the former Ellen and Harry S. Parker III Curator of the Arts of Americas and the Pacific, for the publication Dallas Museum of Art, 100 Years.

From regional artist to Director of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, the accomplishments of Jerry Bywaters are synonymous with the growth of art  in Texas. He came to public attention as the dynamic figurehead of the Dallas Nine, a group that emerged in the 1930s. Members of the group focused on individual artistic styles while working with others to portray the "American Scene" by depicting unique qualities of the Texas landscape.

Andean cultures did not have a recognizable written script prior to the Spanish conquest in the early 1530s; however, the Inca did utilize a method of recording through knotted cords, known as quipu (khipu; “knot” in Quechua). The Nora and John Wise Collection at the Dallas Museum of Art includes nineteen quipu fragments. The quipu (khipu) have Z-spun, S-plied cords.