Michael Frary - Misplaced Pages

American artist

Michael Frary (May 28, 1918 – August 30, 2005) was an American Modernist artist from Santa Monica, California, who was known for his interest in structural forms and architectural compositions, as well as for his Surrealist impulses. A versatile artist, Frary experimented with a range of mediums and constantly refined his approach to his subjects.

Early life and career

Frary graduated from Palm Beach High School in 1934 and was awarded an athletic scholarship from the University of Southern California (USC). During his time at USC, he became a champion swimmer and captain of the school's water polo team. In 1940, he graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture Degree. He obtained his Master of Fine Arts degree in painting the following year. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Frary joined the United States Navy. He was discharged as a Lieutenant when the war concluded in 1945 and returned to California. Frary subsequently worked as an assistant art director for Goldwyn Studios, Paramount, and Universal Studios. As a member of the Society of Motion Picture Art Directors from 1946 to 1949, Frary assisted with the design of backdrops for films directed by Hollywood luminaries like Orson Welles. He began to teach night classes in painting at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and was soon offered a full-time teaching position at the school. While teaching at UCLA, Frary also taught at Los Angeles City College and the Chouinard Art Institute.

Texas Modernist Period

In 1949, Michael relocated from California to Texas, after accepting the position of faculty chair at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Frary continued his studies, taking classes at the Chicago Art Institute and at L' Académie de La Chaudière in Paris. These experiences gave him an appreciation for the forward-thinking work being produced by the European and American Modernists. Frary taught at the McNay Museum until 1952 and, while there, met Lola Marguerite Finch Mathewson "Peggy" Frary, whom he married in 1950.

When Frary was offered an assistant professor position at the University of Texas at Austin, he and his wife moved to a contemporary house in the northwest hills of Austin. They would remain there for the next five decades. Peggy Frary, who had a flair for entertaining, turned the home into a gathering place for Austin's burgeoning arts community. Frary was named professor of Art in 1970 and, upon his retirement in 1986, was named Professor Emeritus of Art.

Frary's legacy as a seminal Texas Modernist rests of his achievements during his early years at the University of Texas, when he worked alongside notables like Charles Umlauf, Everett Spruce, Ralph White, Kelly Fearing, William Lester, and Loren Mozley to promote Modernism in Texas. Frary and his compatriots helped usher Texas out of its artistic conservatism and into the national and international mainstream.

Frary continued to paint and exhibit his work until his death in 2005.

Select solo exhibitions

During his career Frary received over one hundred seventy-five awards and purchase prizes and participated in over 200 one-man exhibitions.

1954

Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, Los Angeles, California
Betty McLean Gallery, Dallas, Texas
Pan-American Galleries, San Antonio, Texas

1955

Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Texas

1956

Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, Los Angeles, Texas
Fine Arts Department, San Antonio, Texas

1957

Incarnate Word College, San Antonio, Texas
Petite Gallery, New York, New York

1958

Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas

1959

Gallery of Modern Art, Fort Worth, Texas
Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Texas
Gallery of Modern Art, Fort Worth, Texas

1960

Junior League Gallery, Houston, Texas
Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, Los Angeles, California
Janet Nessler Gallery, New York, New York
Springfield Museum of Art, Springfield, Missouri

1961

Art Department Gallery, San Angelo

College, San Angelo, Texas 1962

McNay Art Institute, San Antonio, Texas
Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, San Antonio, Texas

1963

Hill Country Arts Foundation, Ingram, Texas
Peabody Museum, Salem, Massachusetts

1964

Gallery of the Four Columns, Little Rock, Texas
The Street Gallery, Little Rock, Arkansas
Norton Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri
Sul Ross State College Fine Arts Gallery, Alpine, Texas
San Angelo College, San Angelo, Texas

1965

Shook Carrington Gallery, San Antonio, Texas

1966

Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, Los Angeles, California

1967

Artists West of the Mississippi Exhibition, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Missouri Southern University Art Department, Joplin, Missouri

1968

Concordia College, Austin, Texas
Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
Shook Carrington Gallery, San Antonio, Texas
Frary-Lester Show at University Art Museum, University of Texas at Austin

1970

Main Place Gallery, One Main Place, Dallas, Texas
Parkcrest Gallery, 5408 Parkcrest, Austin, Texas
TFAA traveling Michael Frary Exhibition: Sul Ross State College, Alpine, Texas; the University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX; Odessa College, Odessa, Texas; Angelina College, Lufkin, Texas; Kilgore College, Kilgore, Texas; McAllen State Bank Patrons of Art, McAllen, Texas; Guadalajara, Mexico

1971

University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas
Odessa College, Odessa, Texas
Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas
Parkcrest Gallery, Austin, Texas

1973

Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Texas
Meredith Long Gallery, Houston, Texas
Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, San Antonio, Texas
Dallas Public Library, Dallas, Texas

1975

University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, Texas
Texas Lutheran College, Seguin, Texas

1977

Abilene Fine Arts Museum, Abilene, Texas

1979

Galveston Art Center on the Strand, Galveston, Texas

1984

Santa Fe East, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Select museums and public collections

Los Angeles County Museum, Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California.
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio.
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California.
Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio, Texas
Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Texas
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, Texas
Museum of Fine Arts of Houston, Texas
Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, Missouri
Janet Nessler Gallery, New York, New York
Knoedler Gallery, New York, New York
Black Tulip Gallery, Dallas, Texas
Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
The University of Texas Student Union, Austin, Texas
Beverly Fairfax Community Center, Los Angeles, California
Meadows Building, Dallas, Texas
D. D. Feldman Collection, Dallas, Texas
Ted Weiner Collection, Fort Worth, Texas
Coca-Cola Company, New York, New York
Grumbacher Collection, New York, New York
Bocour Collection, New York, New York
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia
Phillips Petroleum Company, Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Texas
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
One Rockefeller Plaza, New York, New York
State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York
Bureau of Reclamation, Washington, D.C.

References

"Biography for Michael Frary". Askart Biography. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
Exhibition Catalog for Michael Frary's "In Sight".
"Lola Marguerite Finch Mathewson "Peggy" FRARY". Legacy.com. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
"Lola Marguerite Finch Mathewson "Peggy" FRARY". Legacy.com. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
"Michael Frary: In Memoriam". The Austin Chronicle. 9 September 2005. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
Exhibition Catalog for Michael Frary's "In Sight".
"Michael Frary". Rockport Center for the Arts. Retrieved 15 October 2014.

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