The Dallas Nine

The Dallas Nine were a group of painters, printmakers, and sculptors active in Dallas in the 1930s and early 1940s. The Southwest landscape was largely their inspiration. Later several artists including Dozier, Spruce, Lester experimented with a semi-abstract style. The group was celebrated in the Dallas Museum of Art’s 1985 exhibition Lone Star Regionalism: The Dallas Nine and Their Circle.

If you’re looking for a tidy list of nine painters, you won’t find it, however. The group expanded and contracted at various points. They include Jerry Bywaters, Thomas M. Stell, Jr., Harry P. Carnohan, Otis M. Dozier, Alexandre Hogue, William Lester, Everett Spruce, John Douglass, and Perry Nichols. Also associated are Charles T. Bowling, Russell Vernon Hunter, Merritt T. Mauzey, Florence McClung, Don Brown, and Lloyd Goff. Sculptors Dorothy Austin, Michael G. Owen, Allie Victoria Tennant, and Octavio Medellín.