Charles Franklin Reaugh
At last, a worthy tribute to Frank Reaugh, one of Texas’ premier artists.
Reaugh once said, “It is my hope that my pictures portraying those times … will tell their story, and will be preserved because of historic value.” Indeed, it’s time to tell the story!
Reaugh probably affected more Texas artists through his own paintings and via his annual sketching trips to West Texas and points beyond than any Texas artist in history.
Frank Reaugh looms large in the cultural history of the Southwest in his own depictions of its varied landscapes as well as in the influence that he had on many members of the subsequent generation of artists who chronicled the life of the region.
– Sam Ratcliffe, Head, Bywaters Special Collections
Hamon Arts Library, Southern Methodist University
This is a story that needs to be told. Frank Reaugh was more than an artist, he was an historian of a time and place now gone.
Frank Reaugh, (pronounced Ray), one of the state’s earliest and most distinguished artists, is well known to historians, curators and collectors of early Texas art but not necessarily to the public at large. In this feature-length documentary shot in high-definition, we anticipate that a new audience will discover the remarkable contributions of this Texas artist, inventor, naturalist, and educator.
Mr. Reaugh was a key figure in the region’s development of visual art and art education during the turn of the last century and his life story serves as an excellent example of the early pioneer spirit that is synonymous with Texas. Featuring his pastel landscapes and nature studies held in public and private collections, interviews with students, curators, and gallerists, and period photographs, ephemera and music, this documentary film will finally bring deserved attention to this Texan’s fascinating life while acknowledging his many contributions to society.
