City to unveil giant 96-foot mural featuring work of late Terrell artist Frank Reaugh during Nov. 17 ceremony
A larger-than-life reproduction of the Frank Reaugh painting, “The Approaching Herd,” is the latest mural to adorn the historic buildings in Downtown Terrell. The mural, located on the building at 227 N. Adelaide, was painted by Texas muralist Charlie Bullock. Reaugh, known as the ‘Pastel Poet of the Texas Plains,’ used his sketches from the Terrell area and West Texas for the composition.
In an excerpt from his book, “Paintings of the Southwest, the late Reaugh stated, “The Longhorn cattle depicted were beautiful animals, but were very wild. Many of them had never seen a man on foot before. People walking were sometimes treed by them. It would have happened oftener if there had been more trees.”
Charles Frank Reaugh, born Dec. 29, 1860, moved with his family to Terrell in 1883. He taught art in Terrell, but later relocated to Dallas with his parents in 1890 were he established his Iron Shed Studio. He continued to visit Terrell until his death in 1945 at the age of 84. He, along with his family are buried at Oakland Memorial Park in Terrell.
Reaugh traveled the West, capturing scenes to be used in his realistic, but poetic images of the vistas, Longhorn herds and the cowboy life that was an inherent part of Texas. He concentrated in small pastel sketches of the wild and colorful Texas Longhorn. Reaugh once said, “no animal on Earth has the beauty of the Texas steer.”
Reaugh studied art at the School of Fine Arts in St. Louis and at the Academie Julian in Paris, France. The majority of his work is displayed at the Panhandle-Pains Historical Museum in Canyon, Texas. Other collections of his works are displayed at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, the University of Texas and at the Texas State Capitol in Austin.
“The City of Terrell is excited to embark on this creative initiative because it shows our commitment to retaining Terrell’s historic charm, while enhancing commercial activity in Historic Downtown Terrell. To commemorate this latest mural, November 17, 2018, is hereby proclaimed ‘Approaching Herd’ Mural Day,” said Mayor D.J. Ory.
The Mural day dedication will begin at 3 p.m. on the West side of Terrell City Hall at 227 N. Adelaide, including a ribbon cutting by the Terrell Chamber of Commerce. Following the ceremony, a screening of the documentary, “Frank Reaugh: Pastel Poet of the Texas Plains,” will be held in the Council Chambers at Terrell City Hall, 201 R. Nash St. The event is free and open to the public.
Attendees are invited to visit the other eight murals in the city which are part of the Terrell Mural Project, an ongoing effort to portray the history of Terrell through art. The other murals include downtown works: “Colonel Green and his 1899 Automobile,” “Movie Posters,” Lyric Theatre in 1948,” The Circus Comes to Terrell,” “Stearman Kaydet PT 17 Biplane,” “Governor Oscar B. Colquitt,” “Texas Flag,” “Terrell Volunteer Fire the locations, visit www.muralsofterrelltx.com.
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