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James Surls
"History Man" Made from the Cabinet Oak Tree. The Texas White House. LBJ Ranch

2024

About the Item

James Surls (Born 1943) Texas / Colorado Artist Image Size: 60 x 36 x 33 Medium: Wood Sculpture from the Cabinet Oak Tree at LBJ Ranch 2024 "History Man" Designed to stand. James Surls (Born 1943) Texas / Colorado Artist A modernist sculptor of delicate seeming wooden objects of intriguing designs, James Surles also does drawing and prints that feature natural and human images and forms. He carves, whittles and stains his objects, but creating a monotone effect, rarely paints them but sometimes burns images into them. Some of his works are large, as much as nine-feet tall. Surls earned a B.S. degree from Sam Houston University and an MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. In 1998, he moved from Splendora, Texas to Carbondale, Colorado. In 2009, five sculptures, made of bronze and steel, were set up on Park Avenue by the New York City Parks Public Art Program. His work has been shown in major New York museums including the Whitney, Guggenheim, and Museum of Modern Art. His work is in numerous public collections. East Texas native James Surls is among the most acclaimed Texas artists of the late twentieth century and has found great success outside the state, as well. Surls' sculptures are most inspired by nature but also reveal metaphorical and mythological content. In a 2009 catalog for The Grace Museum in Abilene, Texas, Patterson Sims wrote that Surl's works are "studies of myths, science, and human behavior." After graduating from Sam Houston State University and The Cranbrook Academy of Art, he taught at Southern Methodist University and later at the University of Houston and the Lawndale Art Center, Houston. Surl's work is held in many museum collections, and he has had numerous solo exhibitions, including the Dallas Museum of Art in 1984 and The Meadows Art Museum, Dallas, in 2003. History Man and Walking Man – Provenance James Surls, renowned Texas Artist, was commissioned by the Friends of the LBJ National Historical Park, to create art from what is known as the Cabinet Oak that is growing in the yard of the Texas White House. As President, Lyndon Johnson held many meetings, including meetings with cabinet members, under the sprawling live oak tree in his front yard, next to his swimming pool. For that reason, the tree became known as the Cabinet Oak. In 2019, a huge branch of the tree broke off. The park service searched for ways to turn this devastating event into something positive and memorable. As a result, The Friends of Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park stepped forward and invited 53 artists to receive portions of the wood and without conditions use the wood to reflect their vision of its meaning. Renowned artist James Surls used his section of the branch to create three art pieces, including the two identified below that are being offered for sale. These works are unique examples of Surls artistry, showcasing his devotion to the LBJ legacy and to the beauty and history of the wood itself. History Man James Surls, 2024 60 inches times 36 inches times 33 inches Free standing Whistling Man James Surls, 2024 50 inches times 29 inches times 19 inches Hanging Both pieces were created from the LBJ Ranch Cabinet Oak Tree at the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park in honor of Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson. For the LBJ and Lady Bird Home Place When I was a little boy growing up in and around the Texas woodlands, I breathed deep the nature of my surroundings, from green grass, creek beds and well water, I moved through underbrush and trees growing from seedlings to saplings then going on to be the canopy spreading out above me. But throughout all of the categories and ways of grouping trees, none, stand-alone, like the Shade Tree, that big full and voluptuous beauty giving its relief from the radiant heat of the Texas Sun. These trees took on a mythical position in the minds of the inhabitants that traversed their ground. They stood in glory, through it all, the blistering heat, the freezing cold, yet offering years of comforting shade to the reality of deep conversations going on under their winged limbs, so it was put in the hands of those who History Walked their way beneath and under and gathered and engaged in dialog that was to change the world. I am not a little boy anymore, but rather someone who has lived through the times under the shade tree, I know and understand the reverence bestowed upon and held by the long arms of the big oak in the front yard of the place where life was lived. The shade tree was as much a part of the gravitational force as was the living room, the kitchen and the porch. For me to be able to step into that as a historical reality brings honor to my stock and trade, to have the remnants and remains of a limb from such a tree brings me to appoint of psychological and historical responsibility, to honor times past as well as to give rise to the Now of our time. To hold such a piece of wood in my hand and then form it into a symbol with and of meaning and content, then returning its own to the world at large, is a true honor. James Surls
  • Creator:
    James Surls (1943, American)
  • Creation Year:
    2024
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 60 in (152.4 cm)Width: 36 in (91.44 cm)Depth: 33 in (83.82 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    San Antonio, TX
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU769315431022

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