Return to the Sea: Recent Works by Richard Stout

Inspired abstract paintings interpreting the Texas coast will be on view during Return to the Sea: Recent Works by Richard Stout at William Reaves Fine Art from October 30-November 28, 2015.

As these works reflect, Stout is inextricably bound to the Texas coast. Perhaps no other Southern painter has made the Gulf so central to their life’s work. Certainly no other Texas painter has so beautifully captured the nuances of a coastal homeland with more grace and fidelity, and so aptly utilized this innate sense of place to explore and punctuate a personal philosophy, spirituality and sublimity in art.

Born and raised in Beaumont, Stout only left Texas briefly to complete studies at the Chicago Art Institute and then returned to Houston in 1956. He has painted and taught in the city for the sixty years since his return.

Throughout his life, Stout often spent time at his family’s modest cabin near Rollover Bay.The Bolivar Peninsula and its surroundings were indelibly carved into his artistic psyche, influencing his painting repertoire and commentary.

Coastal retreats recur as points of departure for many Stout paintings, and he returns time and time again to sacred places by the sea as backdrops for his superbly executed, intimate statements in art.

Stout’s most recent works are exceptional, and may indeed rank among the finest of his long and distinguished career.  As always, his works are ethereal and elegant.  They are masterfully painted, with rich, yet subtle colors, light and atmospheric effects found within the area’s familiar salt flats, bays and inlets.

Alternatively mixing abstract imagery within mystic fields of color, and then segmenting with strong geometric demarcation, Stout builds compositions that are complex and carefully regimented.

His paintings represent layered narratives told through exquisite use of line, form and paint.

Stout has achieved a well-earned reputation as one of Houston’s most respected and accomplished painters, and this exhibit shows exactly why. Come appreciate the uncommon vision and finely honed talent of this artist.