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Frederick E.
Conway
1900-1973
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Signature of
Frederick E. Conway
TE photo, April 2009 |
Artist’s Bio
It would be hard
to find an artist more connected to his native city. Born in 1900
in St. Louis Missouri, Frederick Conway graduated from high school
and briefly worked in Chicago before returning home to take art lessons
from a local sculptor.
He then made the artist’s obligatory trip to Europe, studying in France
and visiting North Africa. He returned to enroll at St. Louis’ Washington
University School of Fine Arts, joining the faculty there in 1924.
Regarded as one of the most prolific and successful artists in St.
Louis, he began his career submitting sketches for Federal projects,
winning his first commission with the mural shown here – The
Round-up which was installed at the Purcell, Oklahoma post
office in 1940. |
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He participated
in the 48 States Mural Competition of 1939 and he later did
The Birth of Oklahoma, a Tulsa mural for which he was paid
$25,000 – the highest price paid for a mural at that time.
Conway worked in a variety of media and gradually shifted his style
from realism toward abstract art, but he never differentiated between
painting and teaching, thus forging lifelong bonds with his students.
His relationship with Washington University’s School of the Fine Arts
was to last for 46 years. He was made Professor Emeritus and left
the school in 1970, dying of cancer three years later. |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and vintage or recent photos, please contact
us. |
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