EVERETT SPRUCE (1908-2002)Everett Spruce was born in 1908 in Conway, Arkansas. Interested in art from a young age, Spruce came to Dallas at age seventeen on a scholarship to study at the Dallas Art Institute under Olin Travis and Thomas M. Stell Jr. In 1931 he became gallery assistant at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and quickly became a member of the famed Dallas Nine. By the time he joined the art faculty of the University of Texas at Austin in 1940 Spruce had achieved national recognition with works included in major national juried exhibitions.Spruce served as chairman of the Department of Art at the University of Texas at Austin 1949-1951 and, after stepping down in 1954, became a professor of art and served as director of Graduate Studio Art from 1961 to 1974. Spruce retired in 1974 as professor emeritus with recognition as one of the outstanding painters in Texas.His work was exhibited nationally and internationally, including Texas Centennial Exhibition Dallas, Museum of Fine Arts, annual exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings, Whitney Museum of American Art New York, annual exhibition of American Painting and Sculpture, Art Institute Chicago, exhibition of American Painting and Sculpture, Carnegie Institute Pittsburg, "A Particular Portion of Earth" Pan American Union Washington, D.C.Mr. Spruce continued to paint and exhibit into his 88th year. He included a sense of music and poetry in his painting. In many instances he could identify the exact spot he translated into paint, describing the time of day, the weather, the light and where he stood when he viewed it. His paintings are rich in color, texture and mood, communicating strength and substance. He was an amazingly productive artist, painting mostly landscapes, though he occasionally painted fascinating birds and animals. Selected Biographical and Career Highlights1908, Born near Conway, Arkansas1926-29, Attends Dallas Art Institute1931, Begins working as gallery assistant at Dallas Museum of Fine Arts1935, Promoted to registrar and assistant to the director of Dallas Museum of Fine Arts1940-75, Professor of art at University of Texas, Austin1949-50, Chairman of art department at University of Texas, Austin1959, Received Ford Foundation grant2002, Dies in Austin Selected Exhibitions1932, 1958, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts1934-35, Annual Texas Artists Exhibition, Fort Worth1936-37, 1940-42, 1945-50, 1959, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York1936, 1938, National Exhibition of American Art, Rockefeller Center, New York1937, Greater Texas and Pan-American Exposition, Dallas1940, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York1941-46, 1948, Texas General Exhibition1943, 1950, 1960, Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio1950, Elisabet Ney Museum, Austin1952, Texas Contemporary Artists, M. Knoedler and Company, New York1959, American Federation of Arts, New York1968, A Particular Portion of Earth, Pan American Union, Washington, D.C1993, Companions in Time: The Paintings of William Lester and Everett Spruce, Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin1997, Visions of Texas: 1900-1950, Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumon Selected Public CollectionsBaltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MDCalifornia Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, CODallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX De Young Museum, San Francisco, CADes Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IowaIllinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, ILMarion Koogler McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TXMetropolitan Museum, New York, NY Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, TX Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY Museum of Modern Art, Rio De Janeiro, BrazilNelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO Newark Museum, Newark, NJ New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LANew York Public Library, New York, NYPanhandle-Plains Historical Museum, Canyon, TXPennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX Texas A&M University, College Station, TX Texas Fine Arts Association, Austin, TX Tulane University, New Orleans, LAUniversity of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, ALUniversity of Nebraska, Lincoln, NEUniversity of North Texas, Denton, TXUniversity of Texas at Austin, TX Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MNWhitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio, TX