MICHAEL FRARY (1918-2005)
Michael Frary
was born in Santa Monica, California on May 28, 1918, and died
on Tuesday, August 30, 2005. During a career spanning almost seventy years,
Michael Frary influenced the course of art, not only in Texas, but in the
United States as well. He was a seminal figure in the art movement known as
modernism and with his contemporaries on the faculty of the Art Department
at the University of Texas, he changed the face of art on a national scale.
Now widely celebrated as a Texas Modernist, his
influence has also shaped the lives and careers of the countless thousands
of students whom he taught both in a classroom setting and through hundreds
of watercolor seminars and workshops throughout the southwest. His father
died when Michael was six months old. Relatives from the east moved Michael,
his mother and siblings from California to Florida.
He graduated from Palm Beach High School in 1934
and returned to California where he accepted a swimming scholarship from the
University of Southern California. During his time at USC, he became a
champion swimmer and captain of the USC varsity water polo team. Despite a
high school football injury that resulted in a broken neck, he received
eight letters, which at that time was the maximum number possible. In 1940,
he graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture Degree, and a Master of Fine
Arts in painting the following year. At the outbreak of World War II,
Michael joined the United States Navy, eventually receiving his discharge as
Lieutenant at the war's conclusion in 1945.
Upon his return to California, he became assistant
art director first for the Goldwyn Studios, Paramount, and then finally
Universal Studios. His hectic lifestyle, although glamorous, did not allow
him enough time to pursue his love of painting. To fulfill this need Michael
began teaching night classes in painting. Shortly thereafter UCLA offered a
full-time teaching position, and he made a permanent break from art director
to painting instructor. During his teaching career in California, Michael
also taught at Los Angeles City College and the Chouinard Art Institute in
Los Angeles.
In 1949, Michael moved to Texas to serve as the artist in residence and
faculty chairman for the irrepressible Marion Koogler McNay in San Antonio.
He taught at her burgeoning art school for several seasons. It was during
this time in San Antonio that he met Peggy Mattewson who he married in 1951.
In 1955, he accepted a teaching position as assistant professor with the
University of Texas at Austin, which named him Professor of Art in 1970 and
upon his retirement from teaching in 1986 he was named Professor Emeritus of
Art.
His artwork and love for the state in which he
lived for more than half a century resulted in the publication of three
books: Impressions of the Big Thicket, University of Texas Press, 1973;
Impressions of the Texas Panhandle, Texas A&M University Press, 1977; and
Watercolors of the Rio Grande, Texas A&M University Press, 1984. Through his
writing and watercolors, these books vividly convey the breadth and scope of
the land that provided his inspiration. In pursuit of this inspiration he
and his wife, Peggy also traveled across the United States, South America,
South Africa, England, Mexico, Italy, and France. During his career, Michael
received over one hundred seventy-five awards and purchase prizes and earned
over 200 one-man exhibitions.
He also received many important commissions, which included, among
others, the selection of his painting, "Antelope Country" by the
National Gallery for presentation by President and Mrs. Lyndon B.
Johnson to the New Zealand Prime Minister and his wife at the Manila
Conference. He was also commissioned in 1972 by the U.S. Department of
Interior to paint at reclamation sites in four states, resulting in four
of his paintings being shown at an exhibition at the National Gallery,
Washington, D.C. In 1974 the Austin Chapter of the American Institute of
Architects awarded him the Medal of Honor and the Texas Society of
Architects presented him with the Citation of Honor, both in recognition
of his book Impressions of The Big Thicket. In 1978, he was commissioned
to paint the Psyche Prize for the Fourth Biennial International Film
Festival of Canada.
Michaelis survived by his wife, Peggy, his son, Mark Frary of Houston,
his son, David Frary of Austin, two grandchildren, Robert and Matthew, a
niece and hundreds of friends and thousands of former students.
The above biography was written by Carl McQueary, a collector and acquaintance of the artist.
