Lot 38025: EVERETT FRANKLIN SPRUCE (American, 1908-2002)

EVERETT FRANKLIN SPRUCE (American, 1908-2002) After the Rainstorm, 1990 Acrylic on masonite 20 x 24 inches (50.8 x 61.0 cm) Signed lower right: Spruce Inscribed verso: Everett Spruce / After the Rainstorm 1990 / Everett Spruce Everrett Spruce is one of the best known artists of the "Dallas Nine," a group of regional modernists who helped define the Texas Art scene beginning in the 1920s. Spruce's subjects are often scenes from nature. His style is characterized by richly textured surfaces, expressive use of color, and resonant moods. After the Rainstorm is a superbly abstracted landscape with wonderfully expressive surfaces. In contrast to the softly glowing background, he paints the foreground with powerful style, which manages to be simultaneously frenzied and ordered. Spruce creates dynamic yet barely restrained energy, which is moody, hypnotic, and lyrical. Lush colors, especially the reds and lavenders, make this painting compelling and seductive.