Important Painting by Texas Artist Frank Reaugh to be Auctioned by Heritage!

Dallas, TX: Called "The Dean of Texas Artists," Frank Reaugh spent his artistic life documenting the vast and beautiful plains of West Texas, providing a stirring visual history of a time now long past. His most significant paintings document the closing days of the open range, cattle drives, and the Texas Longhorn.

Born in Southern Illinois in 1860, Reaugh and his family traveled by covered wagon to Terrell, Texas, in 1876. During his youth, Reaugh developed his artistic skills by copying old master paintings and working from animal anatomy books. He furthered his studies in both St. Louis and Paris between 1884 and 1889, and moved to Oak Cliff, a growing suburb of Dallas, in 1890, where he established his first studio. This marked the beginning of an exciting new phase in the artist's life, as his paintings were now gaining wide recognition, being shown at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 and the St. Louis World's Fair in 1903. By 1906, Reaugh was leading sketching trips for young artists, initially traveling by horse, mule, wagon, and later by automobile. By 1920, he was traveling in a custom-built touring bus nicknamed Cicada that served him for more than two decades. Reaugh passed away in 1945, an honored and respected artist whose tireless efforts to record the Southwest as he knew it were recognized both nationally and internationally. As he said in 1936, "It is my hope that my pictures portraying those times, aside from any artistic merit that they may possess, will tell their story, and will be preserved because of historical value; for the steer and the cowboy have gone, the range has been fenced and plowed, and the beauty of the early days is but a memory."

"The painting Breezy Morning, offered in our upcoming auction, is a major rediscovery of an early Frank Reaugh masterwork, painted in 1896," said Larry Boettigheimer, Director of Early Texas Art Auctions for Dallas-based Heritage Auction Galleries. "According to Michael Grauer, Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs/Curator of Art for the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum and noted Frank Reaugh expert, this is an important painting done during the artist's most desirable period."

Information about this work was found in Frank Reaugh's ledger of paintings, circa 1883-1910," Boettigheimer continued. "According to the ledger, Reaugh completed the painting in June, 1896, and valued it at $125. He had it framed and matted, and a name plate applied for a grand total of $4.25. He loaned the painting to Potter Seminary from September to October, 1896, and from November to December of that year he exhibited the painting at the Texas Coast Fair in Galveston, where it 'Rec'd complimentary Press notices,' according to his notes. From May through November 1897, the painting was exhibited at the Tennessee Centennial in Nashville - crating cost $0.30."

"In May 1898, Reaugh lent the painting to S.T. Seddon in Colorado Springs," Boettigheimer said. "In July of that year, it went to the Colorado Springs Art Club and received 'complimentary notice in the Colo. S. Gazette.' He then showed it in the annual fall show at the Art Institute of Chicago, and subsequently lent the painting to the art dealer M. O'Brien and Son. Beginning in November 1899, Breezy Morning toured with the Society of Western Artists to museums in Cincinnati, Detroit, Chicago, Toledo, St. Louis, and Indianapolis, before eventually selling in May 1900 to J. L. Woods Merrill of Kansas City for $100."

"The painting of a herd of Longhorns coming over a hill is a virtual mirror image of The Approaching Herd," Boettigheimer continued, "but predates it by a full six years. This remarkable painting is in extraordinary condition with the original frame and on its original canvas, without lining and bearing no losses or restorations."

"This is a once in a generation opportunity to purchase a seminal Early Texas masterwork with extensive exhibition history, complete documentation, and remarkable condition," Boettigheimer said. "I'd encourage art lovers everywhere to visit our website, www.HA.com, where they can view enlargeable, full-color images of each and every lot, read our complete and informative catalog descriptions, and even place bids online from the comfort and convenience of their home or office."

Heritage Auction Galleries' Early Texas Art auction will be held live in Dallas, Texas, on May 19, 2007. For more information, please visit www.HA.com/Fineart.

FRANK REAUGH (1860-1945)
Breezy Morning, 1896
Oil on canvas
12in. x 24in.
Signed and dated lower right
ESTIMATE: $30,000 - $50,000

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