Texas Modern

During the 1940s, a group of young artists based in Fort Worth embraced avant-garde styles prominent in New York City and Paris, and in doing so they turned Texas into an epicenter for experimentation in American modernism. Paintings and prints in the Carter’s collection by Cynthia Brants, Kelly Fearing, George Grammer, Bror Utter, Veronica Helfensteller, and others showcase the stylistic openness and curious spirit characteristic to members of this group, which is now known as the Fort Worth Circle. In addition, the Carter’s archives house the Kelley Fearing Papers and the Bror Utter Papers, two key resources for the study of Texas modernism.

The Carter’s rich collection of 20th-century Texas art also includes Gathering Pecans, a 1941 post-office mural by Otis Dozier, a founding member of the Dallas Nine; two paintings and more than 50 prints by the self-taught artist Valton Tyler; several prints and watercolors by the Denton artist and teacher Coreen Mary Spellman; and more than 80 watercolors by Fort Worth painters Scott and Stuart Gentling.