Alexandre Hogue (American, 1898-1994). Untitled, 1957. Watercolor on paper. 22-5/8 x 30-1/4 inches (57.5 x 76.8 cm) (she...

Description

Alexandre Hogue (American, 1898-1994)
Untitled, 1957
Watercolor on paper
22-5/8 x 30-1/4 inches (57.5 x 76.8 cm) (sheet)
Signed and dated lower right: Alexandre / Hogue / 1957

PROVENANCE:
Private collection, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

From the explosive pure abstraction of Untitled, 1957 (lot 75022), to the "Abstract Realism" of Waterless Area, Big Ben, 1984 (Lot 75023), Chief Alsate's Profile, Big Bend study, 1977 (lot 75024), and Little Rapids, Sand Creek, 1966 (lot 75025), these four original works reveal the broad range of Alexandre Hogue's oeuvre.. Hogue is clearly exploring what he coined as "Abstract Realism" in the three later works. He believed that naturalism or true realism is not possible - that by attempting to create a realistic landscape, the artist naturally changes reality to fit their notion, their interpretation of the subject. They are related to his earlier Abstract Realism masterpieces, such as Drouth Stricken Area and Mother Earth Laid Bare that are currently in The Philbrook Museum of Art. and Dallas Museum of Art, respectfully.

Born in Memphis, Missouri, Hogue moved as an infant with his family to Denton, Texas, where his mother taught him about "Mother Earth" while she gardened. Englishwoman Elizabeth Hillyar gave him his first art training in Denton, stressing mass over the outline. He also often visited his sister's ranch near Dalhart in the Texas Panhandle. After high school, Hogue did commercial art in Minneapolis in 1918, taking night classes at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

Returning to Dallas in 1919, Hogue perfected his commercial art skills before venturing to New York from 1921 to 1925. While still living in New York, Hogue returned to the Southwest in the summers of 1921, 1922, and 1923 to study with Texas impressionist Frank Reaugh (1860-1945). Hogue also visited Taos, New Mexico, regularly in the 1920s, befriending artists W. Herbert Dunton, Andrew Dasburg, Oscar E. Berninghaus, and Ernest Blumenschein. After an initial visit in 1920 and sporadic visits over the next few years, between 1926 and 1930, he spent from three to seven months each year at Taos.

The Taos art colony inspired Hogue to attempt to create a similar colony near Glen Rose, Texas, in the late 1920s, according to Hogue scholar Susie Kalil. Hogue exhibited in nearly all the major Texas exhibitions of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. He also showed periodically at the annuals at the National Academy of Design, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney, and the Art Institute of Chicago, and in the Corcoran Biennial and the 1939 New York World's Fair.


More information about Alexandre Hogue. See also: Hogue, Alexandre Artist.

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