Synopses & Reviews
At Fair Park in Dallas, a sculpture of a Native American figure, bronze with gilded gold leaf, strains a bow before sending an arrow into flight.
Tejas Warrior has welcomed thousands of visitors since the Texas Centennial Exposition opened in the 1930s.and#160;The iconic piece is instantly recognizable, yet few people know about its creator: Allie Victoria Tennant, one of a notable group of Texas artists who actively advanced regionalist art in the decades before World War II.
Light Townsend Cummins follows Tennantandrsquo;s public career from the 1920s to the 1960s, both as an artist and as a culture-bearer, as she advanced cultural endeavors, including the arts. A true pathfinder, she helped to create and nurture art institutions that still exist today, most especially the Dallas Museum of Art, on whose board of trustees she sat for almost thirty years. Tennant also worked on behalf of other civic institutions, including the public schools, art academies, and the State Fair of Texas, where she helped create the Womenandrsquo;s Building.and#160;Allie Victoria Tennant and the Visual Arts in Dallas sheds new light on an often overlooked artist.
Review
andquot;This work is important as a biography of an American artist who lived in Dallas and one who well deserves critical attention. Cummins rightly assessed the significance of Tennantandrsquo;s art. Cummins gathered the art historical evidence to place Tennantandrsquo;s sculpture as significant within the history of local, regional, and national perspectives. The work is also an important study of the Dallas Art scene over seven decades, placing Tennantandrsquo;s art and aesthetic firmly as a Texas Regionalist and distinguishing her among her peers including E. G. Eisenlohr, Jerry Bywaters, and other important artists and culture bearers. Cummins provides the best explanation of the definition of the and#39;Dallas Nine,and#39; eclipsing several other able authors who have attempted to clarify the origin and use of the term. This work clearly articulates how Tennant related early on to Regionalism and the American Scene and how, over her lifetime, her art and attitudes conformed to the prevailing values in American Culture.andrdquo; andmdash; Francine Carraro, Director of Wichita Falls Museum of Art at Midwestern State University
Review
andldquo;Light Cumminsandrsquo;s superb biography of Allie Victoria Tennant is a narrative life history of a female artist best known as the sculptor of the majestic
Tejas Warrior. andnbsp;But she was much more than simply a practicing artist. Her historical importance stems from her work as an organizer, leader, and insider in organizations and institutions related to art and culture in Dallas.andnbsp; Cummins deftly places Tennant firmly within the visual arts world of the early twentieth century, the womenandrsquo;s club movement of that era, and the civic institutions that created an American city where the visuals arts could thrive.andnbsp; The author also skillfully shows how his subject successfully navigated the andldquo;male-dominated civic arena,andrdquo; (p. 20) and in the process, helped to improve the status of all women.andnbsp; andnbsp;andnbsp;andnbsp;
Faced with an almost complete absence of her personal papers or writings, Cummins exemplifies the best example of a historian as detective.andnbsp; By piecing together disparate threads from oral histories, digitized materials, organizational records, online newspapers, and, of course, her body of artistic works, he rescues Tennant from relative obscurity. andnbsp;The result is a thoroughly researched, engaging case study of an important female regionalist artist who not only produced significant art with Texas themes, but was a andldquo;culture-bearerandrdquo; who worked publicly to advance the arts through programs, activities, and institutions.andrdquo;andmdash; Mary L. Scheer, Chair and Professor of History, Lamar University
Review
andquot;There is much to recommend this work to historians of Texas and of Texas art, to cultural and feminist historians, to art collectors and art enthusiasts, and to students of Dallas and Texas history.andnbsp;Allie Victoria Tennant and the Visual Arts in Dallasandnbsp;brings new energy to a deserving topic.andquot;andnbsp;andmdash; Francine Carraro, author ofandnbsp;Jerry Bywaters: A Life in Art
Synopsis
Allie Victoria Tennant is one of a notable group of Texas artists who actively advanced regionalist art in the decades before World War II.
She advanced cultural endeavors, including the arts. A true pathfinder, she helped to create and nurture art institutions that still exist today, most especially the Dallas Museum of Art, on whose board of trustees she sat for almost thirty years. Tennant also worked on behalf of other civic institutions, including the public schools, art academies, and the State Fair of Texas, where she helped create the Womenandrsquo;s Building.
Synopsis
Winner, 2016 Liz Carpenter Award for the Research in the History of Women, presented at the Texas State Historical Association Annual Meeting
At Fair Park in Dallas, a sculpture of a Native American figure, bronze with gilded gold leaf, strains a bow before sending an arrow into flight. Tejas Warrior has welcomed thousands of visitors since the Texas Centennial Exposition opened in the 1930s.The iconic piece is instantly recognizable, yet few people know about its creator: Allie Victoria Tennant, one of a notable group of Texas artists who actively advanced regionalist art in the decades before World War II.
Light Townsend Cummins follows Tennant s public career from the 1920s to the 1960s, both as an artist and as a culture-bearer, as she advanced cultural endeavors, including the arts. A true pathfinder, she helped to create and nurture art institutions that still exist today, most especially the Dallas Museum of Art, on whose board of trustees she sat for almost thirty years. Tennant also worked on behalf of other civic institutions, including the public schools, art academies, and the State Fair of Texas, where she helped create the Women s Building.Allie Victoria Tennant and the Visual Arts in Dallas sheds new light on an often overlooked artist."
About the Author
LIGHT TOWNSEND CUMMINS is the Guy M. Bryan Jr. Professor of American History at Austin College in Sherman, Texas. He is the author or editor of a dozen books, including
Emily Austin of Texas, 1795andndash;1851. From 2009 to 2012, he served as the State Historian of Texas.
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