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In 2018, Russell Tether Fine Arts Associates was contracted to research and validate a recently rediscovered Dust Bowl painting by Alexandre Hogue. We began this research by going to the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art, which contain letters to and from Alexandre Hogue, newspaper articles, catalogues, and publications. During this research, we came across a great deal of information that contradicts previously accepted information about Hogue’s paintings . . .

Red Earth Canyon
3/23/2019

Alexandre Hogue completed his painting Red Earth Canyon in 1937. Red Earth Canyon was the first painting in his Erosion series to draw attention to the power and destructive force of water erosion.

Dust Bowl
3/27/2019

Dust Bowl was completed in 1935 as Hogue’s second painting in his series on wind erosion. Dust Bowl went through a series of title changes in the 1930’s. After completion, the painting was originally titled Wind Erosion. It was not until 1937 Hogue would refer to the title of his painting as Dust Bowl.

Drouth Stricken Area
4/7/2019

Alexandre Hogue painted Drouth Stricken Area in 1934 as his first painting to show the devastation brought by the drought of the 1930’s. As reckless farming began to destroy land in the Texas Panhandle, Hogue painted this image to place the blame on careless farmers in the region.

Drouth Survivors
4/22/2019

Drouth Survivors was painted by Alexandre Hogue in 1936 as his third painting in his series on wind erosion. Believing his painting to have been destroyed in a warehouse fire in 1947, Hogue repainted Drouth Survivors in 1984, almost fifty years after the original. Hogue never knew his original painting survived and was able to be fully restored after the fire by the Musée National d’Art Modern in Paris in 1974.

Mother Earth Laid Bare
5/1/2019

Alexandre Hogue painted Mother Earth Laid Bare in 1938 as his second painting to show the effects of water erosion during the Dust Bowl. Despite the painting’s initial success, Mother Earth Laid Bare was accused of plagiarism in 1939.

The Crucified Land
5/8/2019

The Crucified Land was completed by Alexandre Hogue in 1939 as his third piece on the effects of water erosion during the Dust Bowl.

Road to Rhome
5/22/2019

Alexandre Hogue painted Road to Rhome in 1938 as a reflection and summary of the conditions that led to the Dust Bowl.

Corrected Timeline of Hogue’s Erosion Series
5/30/2019

Through our blog post series, we have examined Alexandre Hogue’s Erosion series paintings in the order they are addressed in the book Alexandre Hogue: An American Visionary. Here, we have created a corrected timeline of Hogue’s paintings, placing them in the order they were painted along with their original titles. 

Managing Conflicting Roles as a Teacher and Artist
8/5/19

Based on Alexandre Hogue’s busy teaching schedule, it is a possibility Hogue painted from photographs and films to create his Dust Bowl paintings. These photographs and films could have been a great assistance to Hogue and would have allowed him to paint the Dust Bowl while devoting his time to teaching throughout the year.

Recently Discovered: Jacks
From the Erosion Series by Alexandre Hogue
9/23/19

​The painting Jacks was completed by Alexandre Hogue in 1934/35. Jacks was first exhibited at the Alice Street Carnival in Dallas, Texas in June of 1935 and was Hogue's first painting to portray the effects of the drought on wild animals. This painting was only recently discovered after being in a private collection for decades.

Hogue's Mystery Muse: The Portraits of Elizabeth Page
11/11/19

During our research on Alexandre Hogue, we discovered several exceptional portraits painted by him throughout the early 1930’s. Though striking in their compositions and execution, Hogue’s portraits are rare and often overlooked in favor of his Erosion series paintings.