Texas Moderns: BROR UTTER
19 September 2015 – 7 February 2016
Bror Utter, Head, 1953, oil on panel, 24 x 18 inches. Collection of the Old Jail Art Center. Gift: Mr. and Mrs. W. Ernest Chilton, Jr. 1998.013
The Old Jail Art Center is proud to present Texas Moderns: Bror Utter, an exhibition focusing on Utter’s best-known period, the 1950s and 1960s, as well as his lesser-known but exemplary prints. The exhibition will be the first significant retrospective of the artist’s work since 1985. The exhibition was co-curated by James Peck, Executive Director of the Old Jail Art Center, and Shannon Steel, a Dallas-based collector and son of Fort Worth Circle artist Sara Steel. The exhibition features more than 70 oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, and prints selected from various public and private collections in Texas.
Bror Alexander Utter, Jr.’s (1913-1993) greatest professional successes came in the 1950s, both in his hometown of Fort Worth and in the art capitol of the world, New York City. These successes shined a positive light on the Fort Worth Circle of artists and revealed Utter’s unique talents to the world at large. Through his association with the Fort Worth Circle, Utter came to befriend Bill Bomar, a fellow artist and eventually, the co-founder of the Old Jail Art Center. Over the years, the OJAC has built a fine collection of Utter’s works. With many generous loans from individuals, museums and art galleries, the OJAC hopes that this retrospective will shed new light on the long career of an all-too-often overlooked artist.