Allie Victoria Tennant and the Visual Arts in Dallas by Light Townsend Cummins (review)

While Light Townsend Cummins claims to be no art historian in the preface to his monograph, Allie Victoria Tennant and the Visual Arts in Dallas, I am afraid that claim is no longer valid given his direct, sensitive, and catholic treatment of this important artist and her multitudinous roles in Dallas and Texas art. Cultural histories often generalize far too much and leave conclusions unstated, frequently by authors unwilling to take a stand in print. No shrinking violet is Dr. Cummins, as he writes much as he speaks: with force and intestinal fortitude. Allie Tennant deserved and deserves such a champion, and she has one now. Beyond tracking her successes and recognition as a sculptor, Cummins weaves a complex tapestry of her influence on the cultural life of Dallas—and Texas—wherein female trailblazers like her were forced to navigate and finesse their responsibilities under the yoke of gender bias.

In 1936, the Texas Centennial Exposition at Dallas was one of the most significant cultural events in the United States. The exposition included an exhibition of more than six hundred works of European and American art. The American art section focused on historic works, the twentieth century, and the Southwest. Finally, an entire section of 164 works of Texas art—perhaps one of the greatest exhibitions of contemporary Texas art ever assembled—completed the American art exhibition.

Works by the most important artists in Texas at that time appeared in the Texas Section, and more than 60 percent of the works were by women. Nevertheless, in his introductory essay for the catalogue for the Department of Fine Arts at the exposition, Richard Foster Howard, then the new director of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, wrote forcefully of the influences of male artists to Texas’s art history without mentioning female artists. Writing for the Southwest Review, artist Jerry Bywaters mentioned nineteen women (and twenty-one men) who “through their continued development during the past ten years, have achieved a distinct and valuable mode of expression.” Fortunately, at least some of the fifty-four women artists of Texas who exhibited at the exposition were recognized. Among them was Allie Victoria Tennant.

Using Tennant’s masterpiece, Tejas Warrior, over the main entrance to the Hall of State in Dallas as the literal (and figurative) entrée to this study (kudos to the book-jacket designers for featuring it), Cummins also uses Tejas Warrior as the touchstone throughout. Unseen and usually unmentioned, still Tejas Warrior looms throughout Tennant’s many and varied women’s club, visual arts, and teaching activities during her life. Much like Frank Reaugh, her contemporary in constantly bringing the visual arts to Dallas, Tennant worked tirelessly, often promoting the work of other artists over her own in exhibitions, demonstrations, and lectures.

Cummins also juxtaposes Tennant’s family businesses—which ultimately allowed her the freedom to devote herself to the visual arts in Dallas—in a substantive and objective presentation. Frequently, scholars rely on the shop-worn old saw of avoiding any discussion of a relationship between the “merchant class” and the arts, so as to allegedly maintain the purity of the creative act (and, frankly, the believed “purity” of art history). Thankfully, Cummins allows the facts and his tireless research to speak for themselves, while also acting as gentle guide, thus permitting readers to reach their own conclusions about Tennant’s place in Texas and American art.

Although the author claims that “this is not a volume of art history” (xv), this reader begs to differ. Thus, the one drawback to this excellent work of art history is a dearth of images. To see any artist’s work, even reproduced in black and white photographs, is vital. Therefore, when Texas A&M University Press publishes the next edition of this monograph, it should make every effort to obtain the funding to publish more images of her work. Allie Tennant created...