About this Artist
William Kelly Fearing, before coming to Austin, taught and painted in the famous Fort Worth Circle, which had an immense influence on mid-century Texas art. He was born in Arkansas, studied art at Louisiana Tech and received his master of fine arts from Columbia University. He was Ashbel Smith Professor of Art at The University of Texas at Austin for 40 years, and in 2002, the Department of Art and Art History presented a 60-year retrospective of his work. That exhibit brought together paintings, drawings, prints and collages from public and private collections throughout the United States and traveled to The University of Texas at Arlington and the Old Jail Art Museum in Albany, TX.
Resume
Kelly Fearing
Born: 1918, Fordyce, Arkansas
Died: 2011
Education:
1941 Louisiana Polytechnic Institute, B.A.
1950 Columbia University, New York, M.A.
Solo Exhibitions:
1949 Louisiana Southwestern Institute, Lafayette, Louisiana
1949 Fresno State College, California
1950 Bright Shawl Gallery, San Antonio, Texas
1952 Betty McLean Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1952 Cotton Memorial Galleries, Texas Western College, El Paso, Texas
1953 Imaginative Paintings by Kelly Fearing, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, California
1955 Henry Clay Frick Memorial Gallery, University of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
1955 Museum of Fine Arts of Houston, Texas
1955 Corpus Christi Centennial Museum, Texas
1955 Fort Worth Art Center, Texas
1955 Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Texas
1957 Neptune’s Gallery, Marblehead (Boston)
1957 Cotton Memorial Galleries, Texas Western College, El Paso, Texas
1958 Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1959 Lubbock Museum of Art, Texas
1960 Junior League Gallery, Houston, Texas
1961 Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1962 Private exhibition, 859 Picacho Lane, Montecito
1964 El Paso Museum of Art, Texas
1964 Esther Bear Gallery, Santa Barbara, California
1966 Gallery of Visual Arts, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana
1967 University of Texas Art Museum, Austin, Texas
1969 Fort Worth Art Center, Texas
1969 Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio, Texas
1974 University of Texas Art Museum, Austin, Texas
1975 Mary Moore Gallery, La Jolla, California
1975 L. and L. Gallery, Longview, Texas
1976 Private exhibition, 25 Habersham Way, N.M. Atlanta, Georgia
1976 Mary Moffett Gallery, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana
1977 Du Bose Gallery, Houston, Texas
1978 L. and L. Gallery, Longview, Texas
1981 Retrospective, Spencer Gallery, The Fine Arts Center, The University of Arkansas at Monticello, Arkansas
1981 The Sound of Color, Mary Moffett Gallery, School of Art and Architecture, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana
1985 Old Jail Art Center, Albany, Texas
1986 Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas
1992 Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1995 Robinson Galleries, Houston, Texas
1995 Flatbed Press & Gallery, Austin, Texas
1996 Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1996 In Passage, Robinson Galleries, Houston, Texas
1996 In Passage, Flatbed Press & Gallery, Austin, Texas
1997 Flatbed Press and Gallery, Austin, Texas
1999 Pascal/Robinson Galleries, Houston, Texas
2002 The Mystical World of Kelly Fearing: A Sixty-Year Retrospective, Creative Research Laboratory, Department of Art and Art History, The University of Texas at Austin
2003 The Mystical World of Kelly Fearing: A Sixty-Year Retrospective, The Old Jail Art Center, Albany, Texas
2003 The Mystical World of Kelly Fearing: A Sixty-Year Retrospective, Arlington Museum of Art, Arlington, Texas
2007 A Life of Art: 1943- Present, Lotus Asian Art and Antiques, Austin Texas
2014-2015 Kelly Fearing: Lucid Dreams, part of the series Altered States: Saints, Seekers, & Secrets, The Grace Museum, Abilene, Texas
Group Exhibitions:
1954 Pennsylvania Academy of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1955 University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois
1955 Carnegie Institute, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
1955 Pennsylvania Academy of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1956 Pennsylvania Academy of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1956-1957 Carnegie Institute, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
1956-1957 Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
1956-1957 Dallas Museum of Fine Art, Dallas, Texas
1956-1957 Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York
1956 Edwin Hewitt Gallery, New York, New York
1957 Dallas Museum of Fine Art, Dallas, Texas
1958 American Federation of Art
1959 University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois
1961 Museum of Fine Arts, Little Rock, Arkansas
1961 Colorado Springs Art Center
1962 Longview Museum and Arts Center, Longview, Texas
1963 Longview Museum and Arts Center, Longview, Texas
1963 Colorado Springs Art Center
1963 Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma
1963 Fort Worth Art Center, Fort Worth, Texas
1963 University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois
1963 Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado
1963 Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1964 New York World’s Fair, Texas Pavillion, New York, New York
1964 Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1964-1965 University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson, Arizona
1964-1965 Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas
1965 Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1966 Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1967 Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1968 Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1968 Texas Pavillion Hemistair, San Antonio, Texas
1969 Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1970 Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1971 Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1972 Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1973 Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1974 Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1975 Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1975 Longview Museum and Arts Center, Longview, Texas
1976 Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1977 Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1978 Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1978 Texas Tech University and Museum of Art, Lubbock, Texas
1979 University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1979 Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1980 Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1981 Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1982 Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1983 Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1984 Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1984 School of Art and Architecture, Louisiana Tech. University, Ruston, Louisiana
1985 Longview Museum and Arts Center, Longview, Texas
1985 Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1986 Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1987 Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1988 Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1988 Amarillo Art Center, Amarillo, Texas
1989 Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1990 Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1990 Longview Museum and Arts Center, Longview, Texas
1991 Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1991 Longview Museum and Arts Center, Longview, Texas
1991 Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, Texas
1992 Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1993 Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1993 Robinson Galleries, Houston, Texas
1994 Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1994 Robinson Galleries, Houston, Texas
1994 Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1995 Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1995 Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1996 Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1996 Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1996 Robinson Galleries, Houston, Texas
1996 Flatbed Press and Gallery, Austin, Texas
1997 Flatbed Press and Gallery, Austin, Texas
1997 Robinson Galleries, Houston, Texas
1997 Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1997 Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1997 Georgia Art Museum, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
1997 Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas
1998 Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas
1998 Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1998 Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1998 Robinson Galleries, Houston, Texas
1998 Flatbed Press and Gallery, Austin, Texas
1998 Museum of Big Bend, Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas
1999 Flatbed Press and Gallery, Austin, Texas
1999 Robinson Galleries, Houston, Texas
1999 Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1999 Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1999 Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas
1999 Nancy Wilson Scanlon Gallery, Helms Fine Art Center, Austin, Texas
2001 Texas International Fine Art Fair, NorthPark East, Dallas, Texas (Valley House Gallery)
2003 Works on Paper, The Park Avenue Armory, New York, NY (Valley House Gallery)
2003 Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas
2004 50th Anniversary Exhibition, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2006 Kingdom Animalia: Creatures Big and Small by Artists Old and New (group exhibition), Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2008 Historic Fort Worth Charity Antiques Show, Masonic Center, Fort Worth, Texas
2008 CASETA 6th Annual Symposium on Early Texas Art, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas
2009 Texas Biennial 2009: An Independent Survey of Contemporary Texas Art, Mexican American Cultural Center, and Women and their Work, Austin, Texas, Kelly Fearing named Tribute Artist, juror: Michael Duncan
2011 Fresh & Salty (a Valley House Gallery group exhibition), Fort Worth Community Arts Center, Fort Worth, Texas
2014 Donald S. Vogel and the Artists He Championed, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2014 Masterful Marks: An Exploration of the Medium of Drawing, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2015 The Aviary: Birds of Flatbed, Flatbed Press and Gallery, Austin, Texas
2019 Bird Show (group exhibition), Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
Awards:
2007 William E. Doty Award, Austin, Texas
2009 Texas Biennial 2009 Tribute Artist, Austin, Texas, juror: Michael Duncan
2009 Lifetime Achievement Award, Austin Visual Arts Association Awards
Literature:
Lyell, Frank H., Leaves from an Artist’s Notebook, Drawings by Kelly Fearing, The University of Texas Press, 1959.
Fearing, Martin and Beard, Our Expanding Vision, W.S. Benson Publishing Co., 1960.
Illustrations for Confabulario and Other Stories by Juan Jose Arrelo, The University of Texas Press, 1964.
Fearing, K., Guest Edition, Texas Quarterly, “Creativity of the Human Spirit,” Spring 1978, Volume XVI number 1.
Fearing, K., “Introduction,” Patrick Heron, The Colour of Colour: E. William Doty Lectures in Fine Arts, Third Series 1978, College of Fine Arts, University of Texas, Austin, 1979.
Fearing, Beard, Krevitsky and Martin, Art and the Creative Teacher, W.S. Benson and Company, Austin, Texas, 1971.
Fearing, Beard and Martin, The Creative Eye, vols 1 and 2 Second Edition, W.S. Benson and Company, Austin, Texas, 1979.
Fearing, Mayton, Francis and Beard, Helping Children See Art and Make Art, W.S. Benson and Company, Austin, Texas, 1982.
Fearing, Mayton and Brooks, The Way of Art, Inner Vision Outer Expression, vols. 1 and 2, W.S. Benson and Company, Austin, Texas, 1986.
The Mystical World of Kelly Fearing, exhibition catalogue, Creative Research Laboratory and Flatbed Press, Austin, Texas, 2002, essays by Amy Freeman Lee, Mark Smith, Elizabeth Ferrer, 60 pages.
Merchant Adams, “Reviews: Kelly Fearing, Creative Research Laboratory and Flatbed Press Galleries,” Artlies Fall 2002, p. 70, illust.
Teaching:
1942–43 Windfield Public Schools, Louisiana
1943–45 Texas Wesleyan College, Fort Worth, Texas
1943-45 Texas Western College (Guest Professor), El Paso, Texas
1947-87 The University of Texas, Austin, Texas
No items to show.