More than a quarter of a century ago, critic and author Michael Ennis observed that “There is no comprehensive work on Texas art; there has never been an exhibition offering more than a cursory overview of Texas art from the nineteenth century to the present.”

But appreciation for Texas art has undergone a genuine renaissance, with collectors, museums, and the public paying more attention to it than ever before. The Art of Texas: 250 Years tells this story, beginning with key Spanish colonial paintings related to Texas and moving through two and a half centuries of art in Texas. By the twentieth century, most Texas artists had received formal training and produced work in styles similar to European and other American artists. The aesthetic scene changed abruptly as the Great Depression swept across the country: A group of Dallas artists agreed with artist and museum director Jerry Bywaters that “the artist is unbent, willing to be a human worker and not a luxury vendor.” They introduced a gritty regionalism in their Texas subjects, while the artists of the Fort Worth Circle developed their own brand of surrealism, and Houston artists looked to Europe for inspiration.

The relief that followed World War II brought a new exuberance to the Texas scene, for the first time a majority-urban state. Artists responded with modernist styles rather than the sweeping landscapes and farm scenes of previous generations. The Art of Texas: 250 Years accompanies an exhibition of the same title at the Witte Museum in San Antonio. Written by noted scholars, art historians, and curators, it is the first attempt to analyze and characterize Texas art on such a grand scale.