Tracing the Past: Scott and Stuart Gentling’s Birds of Texas

December 7, 2019–March 8, 2020

Second floor

See history in a new way through watercolors of birds! Fort Worth artists Scott and Stuart Gentling paid tribute to their artistic predecessors such as John James Audubon and Alexander Wilson in their watercolors, carefully reinventing historical poses and compositions of birds before inserting them in backdrops of unique Texas landscapes. See if you can spot the historical references as you explore a selection of original watercolors and drawings by the Gentlings presented alongside works by prominent artist-naturalists from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Tracing the Past is the second of two consecutive exhibitions at the Carter dedicated to these artists and their unique approach to painting the natural world. The museum recently announced the establishment of the Gentling Study Center, which supports the acquisition, research, and conservation of the work and archives of Scott and Stuart Gentling. This pioneering research will culminate in the first comprehensive career retrospective of these artists, opening at the Carter in 2021.