The start of the new school year is upon us! It’s an exciting time for kids, adults and educators alike, so what better way to commemorate this time of year than by highlighting works of art from the DMA’s collection that have a scholastic connection. Peruse these works of art and think about how they relate to your memories of school. Do they inspire excitement? Dread? Nostalgia? Click on the images to learn more.
Travis was both a painter and an art teacher. He co-founded of the Dallas Art Institute in 1926, acting as director until 1941. Several of his murals are in schools and businesses in the Dallas area.
Thoth was the Ancient Egyptian god of wisdom and knowledge. Honored as the inventor of writing and the founder of disciplines such as art, astronomy, medicine, law, and magic, he was the patron god of scribes.
Winningham is a Texas-based photographer and faculty member of the department of Art & Art History at Rice University in Houston. The first ten years of Winningham’s photography all dealt with subjects either unique to or characteristic of Texas: rodeos, livestock shows, professional wrestling, and high school football games. Winningham is drawn to the observation of ritual, and his photographs record our participation in some of these sustaining rites, providing pictures that are remarkable for their clarity and kindness.
Move over plywood desks and tables! This Egyptian revival style library table is so beautiful that the kids will be begging to do their homework. The ox-hoof feet, bronze plaques, and winglike decoration all derive from ancient sources and indicate the influence of Egyptian motifs in decorative furnishings during the nineteenth century. This table is also innovatively designed, with its unusual placement of drawers that pull out diagonally from each corner. The table top was covered in fabric as well, to minimize damage to books.
This lithograph articulates the foreboding feeling the first day of school brings. The staircase leads to utter darkness, where anything might await, while the stern face of the mistress offers no comfort or tenderness. By answering the door with switch in hand, she becomes the disciplinarian rather than the nurturer, and clearly shows the consequences for misbehavior.
While the shapes and patterns in this drawing suggest natural forms, they have a schematic feeling that is reminiscent of scientific and mathematical diagrams. The dark centers of the almond shapes recess like black holes, and the curved lines emanating from them resemble waves of energy. Larry Brown’s work is influenced by the worlds of science and nature, particularly those fields that seek to map and understand space.
Artworks shown:
- Olin Herman Travis, Country School House, n.d., Dallas Museum of Art, gift of A. H. Belo Corporation and The Dallas Morning News
- Thoth, God of Learning and Patron of Scribes, Egyptian, 663-525 B.C., Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Elsa von Seggern
- Geoff Winningham, High School Prom, 1973, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Prestonwood National Bank
- Pottier & Stymus Manufacturing Company, Library Table, 1865, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the 1992 Silver Supper and an anonymous donor in honor of Charles L. Venable
- Howard Baer, My First Day at School, n.d., Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts, The Alfred and Juanita Bromberg Collection, bequest of Juanita K. Bromberg
- Larry Brown, Untitled #8, 1986, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. I. C. Deal
Danielle Schulz
Teaching Specialist