The dust storms of the 1930s moved millions of tons of topsoil across America's heartland, wiping out farms and ranches that had stood for generations. Hogue (Memphis, Missouri, 1898 - Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1994) was a young Missouri-born artist just making his reputation when the Depression and Dust Bowl ravaged the communities of the Southern Plains. He saw firsthand the mass exodus of families who packed what the banks had not taken and set out for California, hoping to find a better future. In Dust Bowl angular fence posts and spikes of barbed wire echo the malevolent wedge of blood-red earth obscuring the sky. Below the break in the fence, a single track of a truck tire leads away from the desolate farm, as if the family had just driven away and the dust moved to erase all traces of them. [Smithsonian American Art Museum - Oil on canvas, 61 x 82.8 cm]

The current moment is not the first time the idea of America as the “city on a hill” has started to wobble. But Trump’s nation has yet to reach the levels of introspection and uncertainty that followe

On this installment of ST, we preview a new exhibition that will soon open at the Gilcrease Museum here in Tulsa; "Alexandre Hogue: An American Visionary…

Alexandre Hogue (February 22, 1898 July 22, 1994) was an American artist active during the 1930s through the 1960s. He is a realist painter associated with the Dallas Nine the majority of his works focus on Southwestern and Midwestern landscapes during the Dust Bowl. Hogue was born on February 22

Howdy Neighbour (1936) Alexandre Hogue. Who was he? I didn't know. I do now. Born on 22 February 1898 in Memphis, Missouri, moved with parents to Texas at a young age. A He was, by style, a realist and regionalist painter associated with the "Dallas Nine"; he also taught art in the region. The majority of his works focus on Southwestern and Midwestern landscapes during the time of the Dust Bowl. From the Wikipedia link above: Hogue’s mother had a huge influence on his work; she taught him about “Mother Earth,” which became a key concept to most of his paintings, specifically Mother Earth Laid Bare in 1938. Hogue connected the human body to the natural world, recalling his mother’s words that “...conjured up visions of a great female figure under the ground everywhere- so I would tread easy on the ground." In addition, the effects that the Dust Bowl had on the land that Hogue had grown to love had a profound effect on his works Erosion #2 - Mother Earth Laid Bare (1935 /1938) The Modern West: American Landscapes, 1890-1950 By Emily Ballew Neff Interesting video - just 2 mins and 44 secs. A few of his paintings (more can be seen via Google Image). Drought Stricken Area (1934) Red Earth Canyon The Crucified Land Oil in the Sandhills From NCBI, here. Hogue described his work as “psycho-reality,” involving “mind reactions to real situations, not dreams or subconscious.” He converted his thoughts into abstract visual terms, which were stronger than nature itself. In his work Drouth Stricken Area, “The windmill and the drink tub are taken from life,” he wrote. “I worked on that windmill. In fact I was knocked off it by lightning. It was the windmill that was on my sister and brother-in-law’s place―the Bishop Ranch near Dalhart, Texas. The house was strictly my own. I just depicted it so it would be typical of the time…. The placing of a top of a shed coming in front of the tank is strictly a matter of composition. The whole thing is just visually built.” “Some may feel that in these paintings… I may have chosen an unpleasant subject, but after all the drouth is most unpleasant. To record its beautiful moments without its tragedy would be false indeed. At one and the same time the drouth is beautiful in its effects and terrifying in its results. The former shows peace on the surface but the latter reveals tragedy underneath. Tragedy as I have used it is simply visual psychology, which is beautiful in a terrifying way.” “I don’t like to be called a ‘regionalist’ or ‘American scene painter,’ or, as Life magazine called me, ‘painter of the Dust Bowl,” proclaimed Hogue even as he urged farmers to cooperate with federal soil conservation efforts. “My paintings are as much a statement of what may happen as what has happened―a warning of impending danger in terms of present conditions...." ASTROLOGY No time of birth known, chart set for 12 noon. Most surprising factor about Hogue's natal chart: no planet in an Earth sign. Perhaps he had an Earth sign rising - if we only knew his time of birth! He does have a very nice Grand Trine in Air, sharpening his intellectual understanding of environmental matters, and related issues. The Grand Trine can take in Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Pluto and Neptune. Sun conjunct Venus (planet of the arts) in Pisces speaks of highly sensitive emotion in his artwork. Natal Moon's position isn't known exactly, but would be either in late Pisces or early Aries - and quite possibly in trine to Chiron (known as the Wounded Healer) in Scorpio. That would fit very well!

The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History is featuring the Alexandre Hogue: An American Visionary exhibit through November 27. The exhibit accounts the 75-year career of Alexandre Hogue. Hogue, a self-taught artist has work featured in many museums around the country and internationally, as well as in numerous private collections. The museum is offering two learning labs, providing entertainment for people of all ages. The learning labs offer children a hands-on way to process the art they have just seen. One lab is catered to studying rocks and animals that appear in Hogue's paintings and the other has tables set up with paints, crayons, colored pencils and markers for re-creating Hogue-like art. The exhibit is the largest Hogue showing to ever be displayed. The 150-plus pieces were collected for the exhibit by independent curator Susie Kalil. Kalil is also the author of Alexandre Hogue: Paingings and Works on Paper (TAMU Press, 2010). Kalil grew close to Hogue from 1986 to 1994, a time during which she interviewed him, considered his oeuvre with him, and came to share his vision of the nature and purposes of art. In Alexandre Hogue she reveals Hogue as he presented himself and his work to her. The book features more than 60 color plates and black and white drawings. Read more about Susie Kalil’s Alexandre Hogue (TAMU Press 2010) and order your own copy here. On the opening night of the Alexandre Hogue: An American Visionary exhibit, a young child lost his balance and accidentally damaged a portrait of J. Frank Dobie by Hogue. Chris Vaughn of the Star-Telegram reported that the child lost his balance, reached out and grabbed the frame, and his finger touched the painting and took some of the paint off. Deborah Fullerton, curator of exhibitions at the Art Museum of South Texas, said she views the incident “as a complete accident” and wants the work to remain on view. Another museum official stated that conservation costs for restoration will come back to the museum. Read more about the accident here. Alexandre Hogue: An American Visionary - Paintings and Works on Paper will be open to the public through Nov. 27 at Fort Worth Museum of Science and History located at 1600 Gendy St. in Fort Worth, Texas. Tickets range between $10-$14. For more information on the exhibit, call 817-255-9300 or visit the museum website.

The Peyton Wright Gallery also features numerous collections of historic New Mexico pieces, Russian icons, Pre-Columbian artifacts, and global ethnographic works, including textiles, sculptures, devotional objects and gold.