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The Fort Worth Circle was a progressive art colony in Fort Worth, Texas. The colony was active during the 1940s and much of the 1950s and formed around younger artists, most of them native Texans under-30, who embraced themes not traditionally seen in Texas art up to that time. Through exhibitions and modest publicity these artists built statewide reputations during and after World War II as proponents of modern art. Social compatibility and shared affinities for modern art and classical music provided common ground among members of the circle and contributed to the group's cohesion. Within the circle's original membership, male and female artists were almost equally represented. After World War II the Fort Worth Circle's influence expanded as younger artists became associated with the group and older members who no longer lived in Fort Worth retained their ties. Additionally, at the conclusion of World War II the ranks of Fort Worth's art community swelled with the return of artists who had served in the military. Some of these returning artists also became identified with the Fort Worth Circle. Membership changed over time, but the "backbone" of the colony consisted of Bill Bomar, Cynthia Brants, Veronica Helfensteller, Dickson Reeder, Flora Blanc Reeder, and Bror Utter.〔Edwards, ''Midcentury Modern Art in Texas'', p. 117.〕 The colony's presence was acknowledged by Dallas newspaper critic John Rosenfield in 1948 when he observed that a "school" of modern artists was at work in neighboring Fort Worth.〔Barker and Myers, ''Intimate Modernism'' p. 12.〕 Based on Rosenfield's characterization, the colony was long referred to by local residents as the Fort Worth School. Over time, "Fort Worth Circle" has replaced "Fort Worth School" as a more accurate summation of the colony's true nature. ==Origin of the Fort Worth Circle, 1940-1944== In its earliest incarnation, the Fort Worth Circle consisted of seven men and women who had known each other since public school days or as students at the Fort Worth School of Fine Arts, a local art academy founded in 1932.〔Barker and Myers, ''Intimate Modernism'' p. 13.〕 As enrollees at the Fort Worth School of Fine Arts, Lia Cuilty, Veronica Helfensteller, Marjorie Johnson, Sara Shannon and Bror Utter first met and exhibited together in the 1930s. Dickson Reeder and Bror Utter attended Fort Worth Central High School together in the late 1920s. As youngsters, Bill Bomar, Veronica Helfensteller and Dickson Reeder took private art lessons from the same teacher, Mrs. Sallie Blyth Mummert.〔 The Fort Worth Circle coalesced in 1940 around Dickson Reeder (1912-1970) and his wife, Flora Blanc Reeder (1916-1995).〔Barker and Myers, "Intimate Modernism" p. 16.〕 Edward Dickson Reeder was an aspiring portrait painter and Fort Worth native, while Blanc was a trained artist and actress and a native of New York City. In 1940, after three years of marriage, Reeder and Blanc selected Fort Worth as their permanent home. The Reeders were a charismatic and overtly social couple who had led an adventurous existence while living in Paris, France and New York. Upon the couple's arrival, Bill Bomar (1919-1991), Lia Cuilty (1908-1978), Veronica Helfensteller (1910-1964), Marjorie Johnson (1911-1997), Sara Shannon (1920-1996) and Bror Utter (1913-1993) were quickly drawn into the Reeders' social and professional orbit. Painter Kelly Fearing (1918-2011) entered the Reeders' sphere in 1943 when he became a defense industry co-worker of Dickson Reeder.〔Barker and Myers, ''Intimate Modernism'' p. 187.〕 Two regional art competitions, the Fort Worth Local Artists Show and the Texas General Exhibition, raised awareness of the Fort Worth Circle at a time when exhibition opportunities for Texas artists were limited. The Fort Worth Local Artists Show (established in 1939)〔Barker and Myers, ''Intimate Modernism'' p. 15.〕 and the Texas General Exhibition (established in 1940)〔Powers, "Texas Painters, Sculptors and Graphic Artists" p. 593.〕 were annual juried competitions created to showcase a select number of paintings, prints and sculptures by artists working at a high level. Cash prizes were often awarded to top entries. Numerous paintings by Fort Worth Circle artists were accepted into the Fort Worth Local Artists Show throughout the 1940s, and artworks by Circle artists dominated the awards. During World War II and afterwards, the Texas General Exhibition offered statewide exposure and attendant publicity for the art of Bill Bomar, Veronica Helfensteller, Dickson Reeder and Bror Utter. The opening of ''Six Texas Painters'' at the Erhard Weyhe Gallery in New York City in 1944 marked the first time that media coverage portrayed members of the Fort Worth Circle as a "compatible and independent-minded group".〔Barker and Myers, ''Intimate Modernism'' p. 21.〕 ''Six Texas Painters'' was a month-long exhibition of thirty works by six young Texas artists, five of whom were from Fort Worth. The exhibition included five paintings each by Bill Bomar, Veronica Helfensteller, Dickson Reeder, Flora Blanc Reeder, and Bror Utter and opened to generally favorable reviews in the New York press. An essay in the ''Six Texas Painters'' exhibition catalogue put forward the idea that the Fort Worth group was "close knit" and represented "a small group of non-specific regionalists...(who) have known each other for years, have worked and painted together".〔Barker, ''Langdon Review of the Arts in Texas'' Volume Six p. 154.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fort Worth Circle」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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