The problem of this survey is to ascertain the relationship between nine Texas art museums and contemporary art, defined for this study as art of the 1970s. The role of the museum and its involvement with contemporary art are also perceived in respect to the general public. The purpose of this study was (1) to visit nine Texas art museums and interview the director or curator of contemporary art, using a standardized questionnaire, and (2) to present and analyze the responses to the questionnaire. The eight questions comprising the survey were formulated to include both practical and philosophical related concerns. Therefore, the survey responses and final conclusions reflect a variety of issues ranging from the physical accommodation of diverse contemporary works to the more fundamental philosophical issue concerned with contemporary art's presence in the museum and the institution's function.

This thesis examines similarities in photographs made by the contemporary photographer Keith Carter and photographers active with the Farm Security Administration during the 1930s. Stylistically and in function, works by Carter and these photographers comment on social and cultural values of a region. This thesis demonstrates that many of Carter's black and white photographs continue, contribute to, and expand traditions in American documentary photography established in the 1930s. These traditions include the representation of a specific geographic place that evokes the spirit of a time and place, and the ability to communicate to a viewer certain social conditions and values related to such a place.

American artist James Rosenquist is best known for his Pop Art paintings, which existing scholarship has studied in regard to its formal features and social and cultural significance. Rosenquist's manner of working, specifically his process, remains understudied. Focusing on three paintings and three corresponding collages, President Elect (1960-61, 1964), Star Thief (1980), and The Stowaway Peers Out at the Speed of Light (2000), this thesis considers features of Rosenquist's studio practice to propose a new interpretation involving the representational status and significance of the artist's collages and paintings that is elucidated by French theorist Jean Baudrillard's concept of the simulacrum. Additionally, the thesis addresses the treatment of Rosenquist's collages and paintings in publications and exhibitions since 1992 by suggesting how Baudrillard's ideas about the simulacrum clarify the museological narrativizing and consumption of the artist's work.

This thesis investigates how the visual arts philosophy promulgated in the 1960s by the Second Vatican Council of Roman Catholic Churches is manifested by commissioned artists for a particular parish. The primary data were the new sanctuary and the artworks, which include stained glass by Lyle Novinski, a carved-glass Marian Shrine by Claire Wing, bronze Stations of the Cross by Heri Bartscht, and wooden medallions depicting two saints carved by Don Schol. This paper reviews pertinent ecclesiastical doctrines along with interpretational publications, physically and iconographically describes the sanctuary and artwork, and considers aspects of the relationship between patron churches and the artists they commission.

Informed by the methodology utilized in Peter Williams's Houses of God: Region, Religion, and Architecture in the United States (1997), the thesis examines Mark Lemmon's Gothic Revival design for the Highland Park Presbyterian Church (1941) with special attention to the denomination and social class of the congregation and the architectural style of the church. Beginning with the notion that Lemmon's church is more complex than an expression of the Southern cultural region defined by Williams, the thesis presents the opportunity to examine the church in the context of the unique cultural region of the city of Dallas. Church archival material supports the argument that the congregation deliberately sought to identify with both the forms and ideology of the late nineteenth-century Gothic Revival in the northeastern United States, a result of the influence of Dallas's cultural region.

The purpose of this thesis is to discuss the stylistic development of the Italian architect Aldo Rossi from Modern to Post-Modern design. A summary of the Modern architectural movement is presented along with an analysis of the developments in Post-Modern architecture since 1960. The influence of Italian culture on Rossi's career is discussed through a brief survey of Ancient Roman archetypal motifs and Italian architecture of the early 20th century. Several key buildings proposed or constructed by Rossi from 1960-1990 are discussed based on his concepts of analogy, typology, morphology and rationalism.

The purpose of this study is to examine I. M. Pei and his partner Harry Cobb's downtown Dallas architecture within the context of their overall stylistic development. This paper explores the structure of five buildings within the framework of the city, and addresses their possible influence on the city's future architectural direction. The thesis is divided into six chapters. Chapter I introduces and states the problem as it discusses the fabric of Dallas architecture. Chapter II outlines a brief biography of I. M. Pei, looking to those who have influenced him, while discussing the key public buildings of his stylistic development. Chapter III is devoted to Pei's first structure in the city, the Dallas Municipal Administration Center. Chapter IV explores the concepts of his planned Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. Chapter V outlines a brief biography and focuses on the work of Harry N. Cobb: One Dallas Centre, ARCO Tower, and the Allied Bank Tower. Chapter VI summarizes the contributions of Pei and Cobb by placing them within the context of twentieth century architecture, and pointing out their specific achievements with their additions to the fabric of Dallas architecture.

A major figure to emerge in the history of American photography is Carlotta Corpron (1901-1987), who taught art at Texas Woman's University in Denton, Texas from 1935-1968. The rediscovery of her abstract images created during the 1940s reflects the growing recognition of the experimental photography at the New Bauhaus in Chicago from 1937-1946. Corpron's abstract photographs were stimulated by her interaction with Lazlo Moholy-Nagy and Gyorgy Kepes. Corpron was an innovator in the development of abstract photography in the United States. This thesis connects her work to that of Moholy-Nagy and Gyorgy Kepes as well as other major figures in American photography of the twentieth century.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the use of alchemy within the work of Rebecca Horn, to elucidate its presence in her work, and to illuminate its purpose as a personal philosophy and as a creative tool. The use of alchemy within Horn's work occurs as a process of revelation and transformation. Alchemy is revealed as a spiritual philosophy and as an interpretative system through the changes that occur in Horn's oeuvre. Throughout Horn's career, alchemy has developed into an interpretive system, a type of spiritual and cosmic perspective, that allows the artist to study, access, and meld diverse realities (sacred and profane) and diverse social systems (religious and scientific) into a more holistic and spiritually infused reality for herself and society-at-large. The purpose of her work is to help reinvest contemporary life with a spiritual presence by offering a model and a means of bringing the sacred into the profane.

This study examines the development of Edward Larrabee Barnes's design concepts for the Dallas Museum of Art, from preliminary concepts and program statements by Director Harry Parker and Dallas Museum trustees, through initial planning and architect selection, to site selection, the Program and Space Study, Barnes's early conceptual plans, and his Dallas Arts District master planning. Influences on Barnes's work and his career development leading to the Dallas commission, his most ambitious museum to date, are examined. Discussion and documentation of design development is based on schematic studies, presentation drawings, models, and trustees' minutes. Design changes during construction and all phases of expansion planning are also discussed. The conclusion summarizes historical influences on the design and Barnes's fulfillment of program concepts.

This study is the first comprehensive analysis of the fatal woman motif in the writings and art of Edvard Munch from the early 1890s to 1909. It uses a background of the women in the artist's life as well as the literary and artistic worlds in which Munch participated. Following separate accounts of Munch's relationships with five women, the manner in which the artist characterizes each as a fatal woman in his writings and art is discussed and analyzed. Next, the study describes the fatal woman motif in late nineteenth century art and literature. It begins with a discussion of the origin of the Symbolist and Decadent Movements and an ideological examination of the fatal woman motif as it is manifested in the writing and art of these two groups. In addition, it compares Munch's visual manifestations of the femme fatale with the manner in which the artist's contemporaries depicted her. Finally, this study describes two groups of men with whom Munch was particularly close: the Christiania Bohéme and the Schwarzen Ferkel Circle. An examination of the literary works of these men helps to determine the way in which they affected Munch's pictorial perception of the fatal woman.

This thesis uses reception theory, as formulated by the late Wolfgang Iser, as well as ideas about interpellation or hailing, to compare and analyze two paintings: The Annunciation (c. 1435) by Roger van der Weyden and Personal Values (1952) by René Magritte. It demonstrates that interpellation and reception are part of the same process, and that reception theory is especially suited to this comparison and analysis-because it allows consideration of ways in which the comparable pictorial structures of both paintings facilitate their intentions. It argues that those intentions are to engage viewers in a dialogue that ultimately is beneficial to both pictures and viewers. Furthermore, based on this shared intent, and on visible structural similarities, it argues that each of the two paintings identifies and receives the other as a picture of the same image-that is, of the Annunciation.

The working cowboy remains part of the contemporary culture of Texas. A visual record of him appeared early in the state's history, in daguerreotypes, followed by representations in contemporary black and white as well as color photographs, film and video. Although the way of life for the Texas cowboy has changed, it remains a thriving part of the Texas economy, society, and culture. Moreover, the image of the cowboy has permeated popular culture and fine art. This paper explores what late twentieth century popular culture and fine art images of the cowboy signify, emphasizing aspects of how they signify in relation to an existing tradition of photographic representations. Using Barthes' "Myth Today," it considers how the documentary aspect of early photographic representations of cowboys is transformed in contemporary popular culture and fine art to become mythology, for example, by the exaggeration of features of dress to connote ideals allegorically.

This thesis identifies and analyzes gendering in the art writing devoted to Lee Bontecou's metal and canvas sculptures made from the 1959 - 1964. Through a careful reading of reviews and articles written about Bontecou's constructions, this thesis reconstructs the context of the art world in the United States at mid-century and investigates how cultural expectations regarding gender directed the reception of Bontecou's art, beginning in 1959 and continuing through mid-1960s. Incorporating a description of the contemporaneous cultural context with description of the constructions and an analysis of examples of primary writing, the thesis chronologically follows the evolution of a tendency in art writing to associate gender-specific motivation and interpretation to one recurring feature of Bontecou's works.

This study examines the development of Edward Larrabee Barnes's design concepts for the Dallas Museum of Art, from preliminary concepts and program statements by Director Harry Parker and Dallas Museum trustees, through initial planning and architect selection, to site selection, the Program and Space Study, Barnes's early conceptual plans, and his Dallas Arts District master planning. Influences on Barnes's work and his career development leading to the Dallas commission, his most ambitious museum to date, are examined. Discussion and documentation of design development is based on schematic studies, presentation drawings, models, and trustees' minutes. Design changes during construction and all phases of expansion planning are also discussed. The conclusion summarizes historical influences on the design and Barnes's fulfillment of program concepts.

This thesis examines Rogier Van Der Weyden's two unique fifteenth century Crucifixions, The Crucified Christ Between the Virgin and Saint John and The Diptych of the Crucifixion, in light of Carthusian beliefs, practices and relevant devotional texts. The specific text used to support this examination is the Vita Christi by Ludolph of Saxony, which in part deals specifically with the Hours of the Passion. Ludolph's text is given visual form in Rogier's paintings and supports the assertion that Rogier and Ludolph were connected by a shared belief and worldview. Key aspects of Rogier's life, supported by original documentation- familial ties, associates, patrons, use of finances, and his close involvement with the Carthusians-- support this assertion. Other models of connections of belief, evidenced through artist's work, are corroborated in the work of Grunewald, Sluter and Durer.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether The Large Glass was a negation of women for Marcel Duchamp. The thesis is composed of five chapters. Chapter I is the introduction to the thesis. CHapter II includes a synopsis of the major interpretations of The Large Glass. Duchamp's statements in regard to The Large Glass are also included in Chapter II. Chapter III explains how The Large Glass works through the use of Duchamp's notes. Chapter IV investigates Duchamp's negation of women statement in several ways. His personal relationships with relatives including his wives and other women, and his early paintings of women were examined. His idea of indifference was seen within the context of the Dandy and his alter ego, Rrose Selavy as a Femme Fatale. His machine paintings are also seen as a part of his idea of detachment and negation of women. Detachment as an intellectual pursuit was probed with his life-long interest in chess. The Large Glass was then seen as not only showing inconographically a negation of women but also as being an intrinsic component of his life and his work.

This thesis investigates how the interior of the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center of Dallas accommodates the three groups which use the space: the patron, the musicians, and the administration. Following the Draft Brief of 1981 prepared by the Dallas Symphony Association's Concert Hall Building Committee, each area is discussed as to what was actually built and what concerns were met. The primary data were the symphony center and interviews with I.M. Pei, architect; Russell Johnson, acoustician of the concert hall; Charles Young, associate of Pei, Cobb, Freed & Associates, interior architect of the concert hall; Carolyn Miller, Trisha Wilson & Associates, designer of the Green Room, Richard Trimble, designer of the musicians' areas, and Joe Pereira, designer of the Administrative area.

The purpose of this thesis is to give a concise view of stylistic, iconographical, and iconological trends in Southern genre paintings and illustrations between 1830 and 1890 by native Southern artists and artists who lived at least ten years in the South. Exploration of artworks was accomplished by compiling as many artworks as possible per decade, separating each decade by dominant trends in subject matter, and researching to determine political and/or social implications associated with and affecting each image. Historical documents and the findings of other scholars revealed that many artworks carried political overtones reflecting the dominant thought of the white ruling class during the period while the significance and interpretation of other artworks was achieved by studying dominant personal beliefs and social practices.