KERMIT OLIVER (b. 1943)Kermit Oliver (born 1943, Refugio, Texas) graduated from Texas Southern University in 1967, inspired by the drawing skills and discipline of his professor Dr. John Biggers. In 1969, Oliver was given his first solo show by Courtney Gallery, Houston. In 1970, with DuBose Gallery, he became the first African-American artist in Houston to be represented by a commercial gallery. In 1984, Oliver and his family moved to Waco where, despite the growing fame from his Hermès scarf commissions, he retreated from the art world. Since the late 1980s, his work has been represented by Hooks-Epstein Galleries, Houston, with biennial solo exhibitions. In 2005, Oliver was honored with a retrospective exhibition at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. In 2013, Oliver was the recipient of the first Lifetime Achievement Award from the Art League Houston. His work is included in many public collections: Texas Southern University; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; San Antonio Museum of Art; Dallas Museum of Art; Art Museum of Southeast Texas; El Paso Museum of Art; the National Museum of African-American History and Culture, Washington, D.C. Selected Biographical and Career Highlights1943 Born in Refugio, Texas1962 Married Katie Washington1966 Seminar, Rice University, Houston, Texas1967 BFA, Art and Education, Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas2013 Lifetime Achievement Award, Art League of Houston, TexasResides in Waco, TexasSelected Exhibitions· 1971 Baytown Community Center, Baytown, Texas· 1971 Solo, DuBose Gallery, Houston, Texas· 1972 Art League of Houston, Texas· 1973 Assistance League of Houston, Texas· 1973 Service League of Port Arthur, Port Arthur, Texas· 1974 Assistance League of Houston, Texas· 1974 Beaumont Art Museum, Beaumont, Texas· 1974 Jewish Community Center of Houston, Texas· 1975 Blacks in the Western Movement, Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture, Washington, DC· 1975 Assistance League of Houston, Texas· 1976 Union Carbide Building, New York, New York· 1978 Solo, DuBose Gallery, Houston, Texas· 1979 Doors: Houston Artists, Alley Theatre, Houston Festival, Houston, Texas (catalogue)· 1979 O’Kane Gallery, University of Houston/Downtown, Houston, Texas· 1979 2719 Gallery, Dallas, Texas· 1980 Sewall Art Gallery, Rice University, Houston, Texas· 1981 Blaffer Gallery, University of Houston, Texas· 1981 Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas· 1981 Solo, DuBose Gallery, Houston, Texas· 1981 San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas· 1982 Art from Houston in Norway 1982, Stavanger Kunstforening, Norway; Tromso Kunstforening, Norway; Christiansand Kunstforening, Norway; Oslo Kunstforening, Norway (catalogue)· 1982 Art League of Houston, Texas· 1982 Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, Louisiana· 1983 Solo, DuBose Gallery, Houston, Texas· 1985 Fresh Paint: The Houston School, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, traveled to: Institute for Art and Urban Resources, Inc. (MoMA PS1), Queens, New York; Oklahoma Contemporary Art Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (catalogue)· 1980’s to present, Hooks-Epstein Galleries, Houston, Texas· 1989 Kermit Oliver: Contemporary Allegories of the Mythical and the Spiritual, Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Texas· 1989-90 Kermit Oliver: Current Allegories, Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, Texas; Art Center of Waco, Texas· 1990 The Blues Aesthetic: Black Culture and Modernism, Blaffer Gallery, University of Houston, Texas· 1992 20th Anniversary Exhibition, Art Center of Waco, Texas· 1993 Kermit Oliver, Longview Museum of Fine Arts, Longview, Texas· 1993 Texas Contemporary: Acquisitions of the 90s, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas· 1994 Matrix Series 3: Veiled Images, Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas and SFA Gallery, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas· 1995 Texas Myths and Realities, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas (catalogue)· 1996 Five, Art Center of Waco, Texas· 1997 Kermit Oliver: Painting, Museum of the Southwest, Midland, Texas· 2003 A Panoramic View, University Museum, Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas· 2002 Fourth International Biennial: Beau Monde: Toward a Redeemed Cosmopolitanism, SITE Santa Fe, New Mexico· 2005 Retrospective, Notes from a Child’s Odyssey: The Art of Kermit Oliver, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas· 2006 Katie and Kermit Oliver, Hooks-Epstein Gallery, Houston, Texas· 2006 Houston Art in Houston Collections: Works from 1900 to 1965, Heritage Society Museum, Houston, Texas· 2007 Homecoming: The 3rd Biennial TSU Art Alumni Invitational, Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas· 2008 Founders of Houston Art: Thirty Artists Who Led the Way, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas· 2008 Houston Collects: African American Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas· 2008 Then and Now: The World of Kermit Oliver, Beeville Art Museum, Beeville, Texas· 2009 A Texas Sampler: Vintage Paintings by Thirty Texas Artists, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas· 2009 Texas Paper: Watercolors, Pastels and Drawings from the Lone Star State, 1938-2008, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas· 2009-10 Kermit Oliver Retrospective, Art Center of Waco, Texas· 2010 Third Anniversary Show: A Tribute to Houston Artists, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas· 2010 200 Years of African American Art: The Arthur Primas Collection, Irving Arts Center, Irving, Texas· 2011 Lone Star Modernism: A Celebration of Mid-Century Texas Art, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas· 2011 Converging Voices, Transforming Dialogue: Selections from the Elliot and Kimberly Perry Collection, University Museum, Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas· 2012 A Survey of Texas Modernists, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas· 2013 Rhythms of Modernism, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas· 2013 Kermit Oliver: Tracing Our Pilgrimage, Art League of Houston Gallery, Houston, Texas (catalogue)· 2013 Summer Encore Exhibition, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas· 2014 Lone Star Portraits, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas· 2015 Bayou City Chic: Progressive Streams of Modern Art in Houston, Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas (catalogue)Selected Commissions1999 Jonathan, Congregation Emanu El, Houston, Texas2001 Elijah Reflecting As He Gathers His Mantle, Congregation Emanu El, Houston, Texas2003 Resurrection, Morrow Chapel, Trinity Episcopal Church, Houston, TexasSelected Public CollectionsArkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, ArkansasArt Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, TexasDallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TexasEl Paso Museum, El Paso, TexasMuseum of Fine Arts, Houston, TexasSan Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TexasBook Illustrations:1997 Baker, T. Lindsay (ed.). Till Freedom Cried Out: Memories of Texas Slave Life (College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 1997).1969 Diaz Sanchez, Ramon. Cumboto (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1969), translation by John Upton.1967 Rulfo, Juan. Burning Plain And Other Stories (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1967), translation by George Schade.Selected Bibliography:2002 Hickey, Dave. Beau Monde: Toward A Redeemed Cosmopolitanism (Santa Fe, NM: SITE Santa Fe), pp. 37-39, 75-76, 114-115.Kalil, Susie. "Kermit Oliver," Artforum (April 2002), pp. 141-142.Lennie, Janaki. "Kermit Oliver: The Distance to Here," ARTLIES (n. 33, Winter 2001-2002), p.78.Washington, Jesse. "Unmasked at Last," Houston Press (May 9-15, 2002), pp. 25-37.2001 Anspon, Catherine. "Art Notes," Paper City (December 2001), unpaginated.Colpitt, Frances, et al. "Beau Monde: Toward a Redeemed Cosmopolitanism," ARTLIES (n.31, Summer 2001), p. 83.Mitchell, Charles Dee. "Making the Case for Pleasure," Art in America (November, 2001), pp. 126-127.Rush, Michael. "In Santa Fe, Searching for the Meaning of Beauty," New York Times (July 8, 2001, Arts/Leisure Section), pp. 31-32.2000 Greene, Alison de Lima. Texas: 150 Works from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Houston: Museum of Fine Arts in association with Abrams, Inc., New York, 2000), pp. 80, 86, 247.Hoover, Carl. "Baylor Gallery Exhibiting Local Artist's Paintings," Waco Tribune-Herald (November 3, 2000), p. 4B.Landay, Janet. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Visitors Guide (London: Scala in association with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2000), p. 357.1997 Wardlaw, Alvia J. Kermit Oliver (Houston: Hooks-Epstein Galleries, 1997), unpaginated exhibition catalogue.Bucher, Kristin, "Myth & Reality," Southwest Art, (May).Johnson, Patricia C. "Dido to Beanies, Galleries beckon with '97s last art," Houston Chronicle (December 17).1995 Levin, Steven. "Scarving Artist," Southwest Airlines Spirit (May).1992 Anderson, Gretchen. "The Magic of Scarves," Continental Airlines Profiles (August).Laird, Cheryl. "Special Delivery Designs," The Houston Chronicle (May)."Texas Artist, Kermit Oliver is a First at Hermes," The Houston People Magazine.1991 "Uncle Jack," commissioned illustration, Houston Metropolitan Magazine (May).1989 "A Waco Postman Designs Hermes Scarves with a Western Flair," People (November 1987).Freudenheim, Susan. "Art Notes",Texas Homes (January).1983 Olsen. Florence. "Face Value Protraits are Back," Houston Home and Garden (September).1982 Crossley, Mimi. "2 Exhibitions: Dorothy Hood, Kermit Oliver," The Houston Post (February 28).Ewing. Betty. "House of Hermes' New Collectible, a Houston Original," The Houston Chronicle, (December 5).1978 Biggers, John. Black Art in Houston (Austin: Texas A&M University Press).1977 Fox, Elton. Black Artists of the New Generation (New York: Dodd, Mead and Company).1975 Moser, Charlotte. "Kermit Oliver," Currant Art Magazine (October/November).1974 Crumbacher, Marge. "Kermit Oliver," Southwest Art (December).Selected Museum Collections: The Museum of Fine Arts, HoustonThe Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, ARThe El Paso Museum, TXThe San Antonio Museum of Art, TXThe Dallas Museum of Fine Art., TXArt Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, TX