RICHARD GORDON STOUT (1934-2020) Richard Gordon Stout (1934–2020) was an American artist known for his abstract expressionist paintings and sculptures. Born in Beaumont, Texas, Stout developed a passion for art at a young age. During high school, he studied at the Art Academy of Cincinnati during summer visits with family in Ohio. He received a scholarship to attend the School of Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, where he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He completed graduate studies and earned his Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Texas at Austin. Stout’s teaching career paralleled his artistic practice. From 1959 to 1967, he was an instructor at the Museum School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. He then joined the faculty at the University of Houston, where he taught painting and drawing for nearly three decades until his retirement in 1996. Through his teaching, he influenced generations of Texas artists and remained a vital figure in the state’s art community. Over six decades, Stout exhibited extensively in Texas and internationally, with shows in Austria, Germany, Norway, and Greece. His work, often rooted in abstract expressionism, reflected themes of coastal landscapes, light-filled interiors, and atmospheric spaces, creating a distinctive visual language that resonated deeply with viewers. In 2004, he was named Texas Artist of the Year by the Art League Houston, and in 2010 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Center for the Advancement and Study of Early Texas Art (CASETA). A significant retrospective, A Sense of Home, opened at the Art Museum of Southeast Texas in 2017 before traveling to other museums across the state, accompanied by a comprehensive monograph on his life and work. Stout’s paintings and sculptures are represented in numerous museum and institutional collections, including the Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi; Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont; Blanton Museum of Art, Austin; Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio; Dallas Museum of Art; McNay Museum, San Antonio; Menil Collection, Houston; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Kupferstichkabinett, Dresden, Germany; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and multiple universities and foundations. Richard Stout passed away in Houston in 2020 at the age of 85. His enduring legacy lives on through his art, his students, and his profound contributions to modernism in Texas. Selected Biographical and Career Highlights1934 Born in Beaumont, Texas1952–53 Art Academy of Cincinnati, Ohio1957 BFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois1957 Yale-Norfolk, Norfolk, Connecticut1959–67 Faculty, Museum School, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas1968 Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, New York1969 MFA, University of Texas at Austin, Texas1969–96 Professor, University of Houston, Texas1976 Travel Grant, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas2004 Texas Artist of the Year, Art League of Houston, Texas2010 Artist of the Year, Center for the Advancement and Study of Early Texas Art (CASETA) 2020 Died in Houston, Texas Selected Prizes, AwardsPurchase Prize 1962 Texas GeneralPrize 1976 Houston Area ExhibitionMaterials Prize 1958 Houston Annual Selected Exhibitions1950’s1951-52, Beaumont Art League, Beaumont, Texas1952-53, Cincinnati Art Academy, Cincinnati, Ohio1953-57, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois1955–78, Tri-State Annual, Beaumont Art Museum, Beaumont, Texas (regular exhibitions)1956, The 1014 Art Center, with Jack Beal, Chicago, Illinois1957, Chicago and Vicinity Exhibition, Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois1957, Denver Museum of Art, Annual Exhibition, Denver, Colorado195, Momentum, Mid-Continental Exhibition, Chicago, Illinois1957-58, Wells Street Gallery, Chicago, Illinois1957-58, Cushman Gallery, Houston, Texas1958, Solo, Beaumont Art Museum, Beaumont, Texas1958, Texas Oil ’58, A Salute to the Oil Industry of the State by Texas Painters, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, traveled to: Bank of the Southwest, Houston; Dallas Public Library, Dallas; Republic National Bank of Dallas, Texas (catalogue)1958, (December) 33rd Annual Houston Artists Exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas (materials award)1958-59, Museum School, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas1958-60, New Arts Gallery, Houston, Texas1959, Solo, New Arts Gallery, Houston, Texas1959, 34th Annual Houston Artists Exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas1959, Solo, Hayden Calhoun Galleries, Dallas, Texas1959, Made in Texas by Texans, Dallas Museum of Contemporary Art, Sheraton-Dallas Hotel, Dallas, Texas (catalogue) 1960’s1960, Delgado Museum of Art, Annual Exhibition, New Orleans, Louisiana1960, 35th Annual Houston Artists Exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas1960, Butler Institute of American Art, Annual, Youngstown, Ohio1960, American Provincetown Exhibition, Provincetown, Massachusetts1960-61, Fifth International Hallmark Art Award Exhibition, Wildenstein Gallery, New York, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas in 19611960-70, Sun Carnival Annual Exhibition, El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, Texas1960-80, Meredith Long & Company, Houston, Texas and New York, New York1961, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Texas1961, Solo, Beaumont Art Museum, Beaumont, Texas1961, Second Triennial of Original Watercolor Graphics, Basel, Switzerland1961-70, Oklahoma Annual Exhibition, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma1962, 24th Annual Texas Painting and Sculpture Exhibition 1962–1963, circulated: Witte Museum, San Antonio; Centennial Art Museum, Corpus Christi; Beaumont Art Museum, Beaumont; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas (purchase prize)1962–63, Museum School Faculty Exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas1963, 13th Southwestern Exhibition of Prints and Drawings, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas1963, 25th Annual Texas Painting and Sculpture Exhibition 1963–1964, circulated: Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas; Centennial Art Museum, Corpus Christi; Beaumont Art Museum, Beaumont; El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso; Witte Museum, San Antonio; University of Texas at Austin, Texas 1963–85, Meredith Long & Company, Houston, Texas (solo and group exhibitions)1964, Houston Dimension Exhibition, Houston, Texas1964, Festival of the Bible in the Arts, Temple Emanuel, Houston, Texas1964, Solo, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri1965, Texas Painting & Sculpture Annual, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas1966, 100 Contemporary American Drawings, Museum of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan1967-80, Faculty Exhibition, University of Houston, Texas1968, Solo, Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, New York1968, The Sphere of Art in Texas, Texas Fine Arts Commission, Texas Pavilion, Hemisfair ‘68, San Antonio, Texas 1968, Solo, McNay Art Institute, San Antonio, Texas1968–70, Contemporary American Art, U.S. Department of Commerce, toured Australia 1970’s1970, Award Winners Exhibition, Museum of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma1970, The Larger Canvas, RepublicBank, Houston, Texas (catalogue)1970, The Highway, Rice University, Institute for the Arts, Houston, Texas (catalogue)1970-71, Texas Fine Arts Association, Austin, Texas1971, Solo, McNay Art Institute, San Antonio, Texas1971, Other Coasts Exhibition ‘71, California State University, Long Beach, California (catalogue)1971, Larger Canvas Two, RepublicBank, Houston, Texas (catalogue)1971, Main Street One, City of Houston, Texas1971, New Works of Former Award Winners, Texas Fine Arts Association, Austin, Texas, traveling exhibition1972, Three Americans, Texas Fine Arts Association, Austin, Texas, traveling1973, Solo, Tyler Museum of Art, Tyler, Texas (catalogue)1973, Houston Area Exhibition, Blaffer Gallery, University of Houston, Texas1974, Abstract Painting and Sculpture in Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas1974, Davis and Long Gallery, New York, New York1975, Richard Stout: Recent Paintings, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Texas1975, Houston Area Exhibition, Blaffer Gallery, University of Houston, Texas (catalogue) prize1975, Five Painters, Pollock Galleries, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas1976-78, Beaumont Art Museum, Beaumont, Texas1977, Houston Area Exhibition, Blaffer Gallery, University of Houston, Texas1977, Texas Twenty, Nave Museum, Victoria, Texas1977, Art Today: U.S.A. III, Tehran, Iran1977, International Art Fair, Cologne, West Germany1979, Doors: Houston Artists, Alley Theatre, Houston Festival, Houston, Texas (catalogue)1979, Achenbach & Kimmerich, Dusseldorf, West Germany 1980’s1980, Solo, Jurgen Schweinebraden, Berlin, Germany1980, Man and the Environment, International Graphic Portfolio, 50 invited artists, Jurgen Schweinebraden, East Berlin, Germany (catalogue)1980, Eros, Julius Hummel Kunsthandlung, Vienna, Austria1980, Gallerie Thommen, Basel, Switzerland1981, Gallerie de Arti Pellegrino, Bologna, Italy1982, Art from Houston in Norway 1982, Stavanger Kunstforening, Norway; Tromso Kunstforening, Norway; Christiansand Kunstforening, Norway; Oslo Kunstforening, Norway (catalogue)1983, Solo, Touchstone Gallery, New York, New York1983, Triennial, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana (catalogue)1983, Southern Fictions, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Texas (catalogue)1983, New Art From a New City: Houston,Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg, Austria, traveled to: Galerie an der Stadtmauer, Villach, Austria; Museum of Modern Art, Vienna; Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, West Germany (catalogue)1984, Solo, M.S.C. Gallery, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas1984, 1984, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Texas1985, 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)1985, The Avant Old Guard, 1600 Smith, Houston, Texas1985, Works on Paper: Eleven Houston Artists, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas (catalogue)1985, 25th Anniversary Exhibition, Meredith Long & Company, Houston, Texas1986, The Texas Landscape, 1900-1986, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas (catalogue)1987-89, 1991 Solos, W. A. Graham Gallery, Houston, Texas1988, Houston ’88, 1600 Smith, Houston, Texas1988, McNay Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas1988,Drawn from Life, Sewell Art Gallery, Rice University, Houston, Texas1988, Texas Art: An Exhibition selected from the Menil Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Trustee's Collection of the Contemporary Arts Museum, Menil Collection Richmond Hall, Houston, Texas1989,Looking at Color, Transco Tower, Houston, Texas1989,The Food Show, Grand Central Galleries, New York, New York1989,Texas Figurative Art, Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, Texas 1990’s1991, Texas Art Celebration ’91, Assistance League of Houston, Texas1992, Island Inspired, Galveston Art Center, Galveston, Texas1993, Conventional Forms/Insidious Visions, Glassell School of Art, Houston, Texas1993, Texas Art Celebration ’93, Assistance League of Houston, Texas1994, Solo, Richard Stout’s Paintings, Davis-McClain Gallery, Houston, Texas1995, Faith in Vision, Transco Tower Gallery, Houston, Texas1996, Solo, Barbara Davis Gallery, Houston, Texas1996, Houston Area Exhibition, Blaffer Gallery, University of Houston, Texas1996, Texas Modern and Postmodern, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas (catalogue)1997, Solo, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas1997, Richard Stout: Structures of Intimacy, Houston, Texas1997, Richard Stout: Paintings & Drawings, Museum of East Texas, Lufkin, Texas1998, Richard Stout, Galveston Art Center, Galveston, Texas1998, Richard Stout: Paints, Mario Villa Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana1998, Richard Stout: Paintings, Mulcahy Modern, Dallas, Texas1999, Richard Stout: Intimate Journey, Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, Texas; Brevard County Museum of Art and Science, Melbourne, Florida (catalogue)1999, Richard Stout: Vernacular of Beauty, Houston, Texas 2000’s2000, Richard Stout, Art Museum of Melbourne, Florida2000, Pillsbury & Peters Fine Art, Dallas, Texas2001, Richard Stout: In Pursuit of the Sublime, Pillsbury and Peters Gallery, Dallas, Texas2003, Richard Stout: Recent Work, Pillsbury and Peters Gallery, Dallas, Texas2004, Richard Stout: Approaching the Limits of Space, Houston, Texas2004, Richard Stout: Texas Artist of the Year 2004, Art League of Houston, Texas2004, Richard Stout: 2004 Texas Artist of the Year, Chase Bank Heritage Hall, Houston, Texas2004, A Selection of Art Made in Houston 1950-1965, Brazos Projects, Brazos Bookstore, Houston, Texas2004, Richard Stout: New Photogravures, Tembo Collaborative Studio, Houston, Texas2005, Inaugural Exhibition, Holly Johnson Gallery, Dallas, Texas2006, Houston Art in Houston Collections: Works from 1900 to 1965, Heritage Society Museum, Houston, Texas2006, Richard Stout: Recent Paintings, Sculpture, Photogravures, Holly Johnson Gallery, Dallas, Texas; Houston, Texas2006, Richard Stout: The Arc of Perception, Artist’s home, Houston, Texas2007, Jack Boynton and Richard Stout: Early Works in Houston, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2007, Texas Modern: The Rediscovery of Early Texas Abstraction (1935-1965),Martin Museum of Art, Baylor University, Waco, Texas (catalogue)2009, Painting West Texas: 35 Artists/100 Years, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas (catalogue)2009, Solo, Gulf Coast Communion: 35 Impressions of the Texas Coast 1950-2009, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas (catalogue)2009, A Texas Sampler: Vintage Paintings by Thirty Texas Artists, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2009-10, The Texas Aesthetic: Contemporary Texas Regionalism, Annual Exhibition, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2009, Back to the Future: Elements of “Modern” in Mid-Century Texas Art, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2009, Texas Paper: Watercolors, Pastels and Drawings from the Lone Star State, 1938-2008, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2009–10, Texas Art Seen, Grace Museum, Abilene, Texas 2010’s2010, Water Rites: Rivers, Lakes, and Streams in Texas Art, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2010, Richard Stout: Alternate Realities, Beeville Art Museum, Beeville, Texas2010, Third Anniversary Show: A Tribute to Houston Artists, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2010, Richard Stout Paintings—Sky, Sea & Earth, UAC Gallery, Houston Baptist University, Houston, Texas2010, The Presence of Light: Sky and Light in the Texas Landscape, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2010, Texas Collages: A Tribute to Kurt Schwitters, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2011, Southeast Texas Art: Cross-Currents and Influences 1925–1965, Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, Texas2011, Richard Stout: Painting and Sculpture from 2010 and 2011, Artist’s home, Houston, Texas2011, Lone Star Modernism: A Celebration of Mid-Century Texas Art, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2011, Richard Stout: The Early Years, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2011, Portrait of Houston: 1900–2011, Alliance Gallery, Houston Arts Alliance, Houston, Texas (catalogue)2011, Breakthrough: Sixty Years of Texas Abstraction, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2012, A Survey of Texas Modernists, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2012, Texas Expressionism, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2013, Restless Heart: The Collectors’ Quest to Find Texas in Art, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo, Texas2013, A Tribute to Texas Rivers, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2013, Rhythms of Modernism, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2013, Richard Stout: The Last Home Show, Artist’s home, Houston, Texas2013, Summer Encore Exhibition, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2013, Lives Played Out on Canvas: Paintings by Otis Huband, Richard Stout and Dick Wray, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2014, Houston Founders at City Hall Art Exhibition, City Hall, Houston, Texas2014, Pursuit of the Sublime: The Art of David Cargill & Richard Stout, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2014–15, Macrocosm/Microcosm: Abstract Expressionism in the American Southwest, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma2014, A New Visual Vocabulary: Developments in Texas Modernism 1935-1965, One Allen Center, Lobby Gallery, Houston, Texas2014, Lone Star Masters of Modernism, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2015, Bayou City Chic: Progressive Streams of Modern Art in Houston, Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas (catalogue)2015, Texas Modernists, The Grace Museum, Abilene, Texas 2015, Return to the Sea: Recent Works by Richard Stout, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2016, Texas Originals: Six Bayou City Expressionists, William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas2016, This WAS Contemporary Art: Fine and Decorative Arts in Houston, 1945-1965, curated by Randy Tibbits and Tam Keihnhoff, The Heritage Society, Houston, Texas2017, Transient Views: The Places of Our Lives, William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas2017, Houston’s Expressionist Legacy: Richard Stout & Friends, William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas2017-2018, Richard Stout: Sense of Home, traveling exhibition: Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, Texas; Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas; and The O’Kane Gallery, University of Houston-Downtown, Houston, Texas 2017-2018, A Food Affaire: Ceramics by Henri Gadbois & Still Lifes by Richard Stout, William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas2018, South and North of the Border: Houston Paints Mexico,curated by Randy Tibbits and Tam Keihnhoff, The Julia Ideson Building, Houston Public Library, Houston, Texas 2018, South and North of the Border: Houston Paints Houston,curated by Randy Tibbits and Tam Keihnhoff, The Heritage Society, Houston, Texas 2018, Transformed: Jack Boynton & Richard Stout, William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas2019, The New Show, Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas2019, The Next Show, Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas2019, Modernist Visions of the Southwest, Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas Selected Public CollectionsArt Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TexasArt Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, TexasBlanton Museum of Art, Austin, TexasButler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OhioCivic Art Program, City of Houston, TexasDallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TexasFederal Reserve Bank, Dallas, TexasFred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OklahomaKupferstichkabinett, Museum of Fine Art, Dresden, Germany Longview Museum of Fine Art, Longview, TexasMcNay Museum, San Antonio, TexasMenil Collection, Houston, TexasMuseum of Fine Arts, Houston, TexasPublic Art, University of Houston Systems, Victoria, TexasSan Angelo Museum of Fine Art, San Angelo, TexasStark Galleries, Texas A&M University, College Station, TexasUniversity of Houston, TexasUniversity of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama University of Texas at Austin, TexasWarburg Pincus, Houston, TexasWelch Foundation, Houston, TexasWhitney Museum of American Art, New York