One of the first MFA graduates in the Division of Art, John Alexander (’70) has since become a world renowned artist.  His first major retrospective opened at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., in December, and will be on view through March 16; afterwards it will travel to The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston from April 13 – June 22, 2008. The exhibit features 41 paintings and 27 drawings that trace his artistic path over the last 30 years and clearly reflect his robust appreciation of the human and natural world, including powerful landscapes and intimate studies of birds and plants, as well as many incisive, satirical commentaries on politics, religion and the human condition. Alexander has exhibited extensively around the world, and his work is included in the permanent collections of leading museums including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; the Dallas Museum of Art; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, as well as many other distinguished public and private collections worldwide.

Born in 1945 in Beaumont, Texas, Alexander moved to Houston after attending SMU, established a studio and became a member of the art faculty of the University of Houston. In the late ‘70s he left Texas for New York; he currently divides his time between New York City and Amagansett, Long Island.

Mr. Alexander will be traveling to Dallas for a book signing in March. We caught up with him before his trip to talk about his inspiring artistic career:

Q:  When and how did you realize that you were going to make art a career?
A:  As a small child I didn’t know anything about art because my family didn’t have art around—my father was an engineer and my mother worked in a drugstore.  All I knew was that I loved to draw and paint and everyone told me that I could draw better than the other students in my school.  By the time I was in high school I knew that whatever it took, I wanted to become an artist.  So, I began to take my training as an artist very seriously.

Q:  You were one of the first MFA graduates of Meadows; what was it like at SMU then?
A:  I am proud to be one of the Meadows School’s first MFA graduates! I cherish my memories from SMU and being under the tutelage of Bill Jordan, who was the founding director of the Meadows Museum and is now one of the country’s foremost art historians.  Roger Winter and others were also great inspirations to me.  I remember that it was my first time around sophisticated, artsy people.  The Meadows Museum was very important to me, and every day of my years here I either went there or passed by the museum.  Through the museum I was introduced to a wider world of art that had a profound influence on me, especially works from such artists as Goya and Picasso.   There were about 20 of us in the graduate program and we still remain friends. I’ve also stayed in touch with the Division of Art, and was a visiting artist a few years ago.

Q:  Having an exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum is a tremendous honor.  How does it affect you? What do you hope visitors will gain from the retrospective?
A: For me, nothing compares to this honor! To see the level of emotional responses of museum visitors as they view the works has meant so much to me.  The people seem to be engaged in the art, and I hope that it’s because the pieces are socially conscious and have a serious political bite to them.  You know, I have spent my career in pursuit of technical and academic excellence.  I’ve worked very seriously to have my paintings looked at and thought about in the same way as other notable artists’ work in history.  I don’t want to be seen as avant-garde and trendy, but looked at and respected.  

Q: The Smithsonian noted that you’ve “returned to the deep strain of naturalism that fueled your early career.”  You’re going back to your beginnings – why?
A:  I made a decision a few years ago to seriously look at what I was going to do with the next phase of my career. I wanted to get technically much better as a painter and draftsman. I spent much of my earlier years, in the 1980s, working from memory. I knew I needed to work more from observation.

Q:  Do you have any projects planned for the future?
A: Yes, I am constantly working on new projects. There has been an abundance of material to work from – the environmental nightmare we face and questionable political leadership are obvious sources. But I want my art to transcend that, which is a difficult problem for a painter. My main project and challenge, even at my age, is to continue to grow.

Back to February 2008 newsletter