Shelby's Social Diary
Texas arts pioneer honored with a Texas A&M monograph and a special retrospective
An art-minded flock fawned over the artful treasures in the John Staub-designed home of Carolyn Farb recently, when she hosted a gathering in support of a Dorothy Hood monograph to be published by Texas A&M University Press and a full-scale retrospective of Hood's work organized by the Art Museum of South Texas in Corpus Christi.
Front and center during the evening was Susie Kalil, author and curator of the Hood projects that will focus on the Texas-born pioneer modernist. She shared insights into Hood's colorful life which included 20 years living and painting in Mexico where she married Bolivian composer Velasco Maidana. She later continued her career in Houston where she became friends with Farb, who served as executive producer of the award-winning film on the artist, The Color of Life (1985).
Also sharing stories of Hood and her paintings were James Harithas, director of The Station art museum, and Joe Schenk, Art Museum of South Texas director.
Admiring the Hood paintings in Farb's collection and entertaining the fundraising effort were Ginger and Jack Blanton, Blaffer Gallery director Claudia Schmuckli, Menil Collection curator Clare Elliott, Bayou Bend Collection director Bonnie Campbell, art dealer Bill Reaves, collectors Carol Ballard and Leslie and Brad Bucher, plus George Lancaster, Dan Tidwell and Johanna and Steve Donson.