James R Butler/ Artist
El Lema de Bob |
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El Lema de Bob
Texas Heritage: the soul, land, culture and people of Texas
One of Texas' best artists: James R. Butler understands and expresses the soul of Texas like no other contemporary artist. In fact, James Butler is one of the best and most unique artists in the USA. Raised on a ranch in south Texas, loves the land, the very fabric of Texas nature: the land, its wild life and flora, its history and its people. He illuminates the soul of Texas from within- the sensitive, inner soul of the rough and tumble landscape and its people, especially cowboy and ranch life. Butler's art seems to have a light that shines from within his work, bringing out the most subtle blends and contrasting colours which bring forth the inner meaning and depth of being Texas and Texan. The horses, cattle and wild life and flora are captured with the true sense of their nature and their place in the ecological landscape which is Texas. Even the inner soul of an old windmill or the ever ubiquitous prickly pear cacti shine through the paint. Not one thing in Butler's paintings is irrelevant or lost. Each object in his works, even if it seems to be only contextualized as background, makes its presence obvious, grasping the viewer's attentions and reverence, expressing and contributing to the meaning and inner sense of the entire piece. What a great artist, like Caravaggio, expressed through chiarooscuro, Butler reveals with a unique and original grasp of neutrals. His work is a symphonic expression of Texas painted on canvas, colours interplaying in wonderful counter-point like a polyphonic orchestral piece, always surprising, transfixing and amazing with new revelations. Butler's works are as much a journey into the inner reality of Texas and its spirit, a startling spiritual encounter where the object of the painting becomes a subject of awe, respect and love. What Bach was to the fugue, Butler is to the canvas as a focus of the Southwest. It can be argued that Butler is one of the best artists in Texas and will be known as the artist of Texas' heritage. But, it can also be argued that he will be known as one of America's best painters and an original. While there is complexity and action, he presents a most peculiar paradox of serenity and profoundly quiet contemplation within his scenes. Texans can take pride in this son of their land, and the country will take notice. It is no exaggeration to say that, like O'Keefe, Hopper and Whistler, Butler is an American original. Like great American writers, such as Steinbeck is to describing the Monterey Bay area and Tennessee Williams the southern soul in writing, Butler is to painting southwest Texas. He not only paints Texas heritage, he is Texas art heritage.
By: Rev. James A. Loiacono OMI
IN- SAN ANTONIO PRIME TIME NEWSPAPER
Featured Artist: The 36th Annual Western and Contemporary Art Show will feature promising young artist James R. Butler.
An artist of tremendous talent from Eagle Pass, Texas, James R. Butler, paints with a freshness and spontaneity that reflects his enthusiasm and deep feeling for his native surroundings. His work is innovative if not ground-breaking. By using his own theories, methods and concepts, he strives to create total harmony. "Bob" Butler's paintings have won numerous awards and have been exhibited in fine art galleries in San Antonio and Austin, Texas; in Santa Fe, New Mexico; and in Beverly Hills, California.
By: Linda Caldwell
Eagle Pass artist returns to loyal customers December 11, 2006
By Bill Sontag
Feature Writer In every man’s heart, there is a secret nerve than answers to the vibrations of beauty. --- Christopher Morley Bob Butler is no stranger to Del Rio. He’s only 50 miles from his home and studio in Eagle Pass, but always finds generous acclaim for his vibrant, richly-colored paintings when he visits the Queen City on the Rio Grande. This week, Butler brought about 20 paintings to display at an old haunt, Del Rio National Bank, 525 S. Main St. Five have sold and four more are in negotiations with potential patrons. “If anyone asks, this has been a good show for me already,” Butler chuckled, Monday (Dec. 11). Butler, 54, is anything but a frustrated, starving artist. Clearly gratified by the evolution of his own style and the popularity it has enjoyed across the state, Butler is a contented man. But he’s not complacent. In fact, Butler is always exploring connections between mathematics, musical composition and the visual arts. The collection hanging in the bank’s lobby brightens the staid formality of the room with vivid, unexpected colors, augmented by the spotlights trained on each canvas. Butler wants to show the glow that comes from proper lighting of meticulously layered paint-on-canvas, light that penetrates the medium and refracts and bounces around to give the subjects an eye-catching radiance. Technique notwithstanding, the paintings also demonstrate an artist’s timeworn familiarity with western scenes, horses, landscapes and rustic architecture on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Dancing Mexican girls, cowboys, rural village scenes, and a cattle drive in a blizzard suggest that the artist reflects on memories, “Been there, done that.” Butler started kicking around in Texas’ abundant subjects, messing around with paint, canvas, and frames, about 30 years ago, but considers he’s actually been selling his art since the age of 19. Trained in studio and fine art at Texas State University, Butler moved to Santa Fe to study and refine his work under artists there, among them impressionist Marilyn Bendell and Native American artist Robert Orduño. Bendell died in 2003, but was trained by famed Taos artist Nicolai Fechin, and his impact on her work can be seen. Fechin’s, Bendell’s and Orduño’s works are easily found on various Web sites. Their collective influence on Butler is starkly evident, illustrating the importance of great artists’ generosity among succeeding generations. He’s fuzzy on the specifics, but Butler believes he’s completed at least 1,500 paintings in his career. About 80 paintings each year spring from Butler’s easels, nearly all into the hands of private collectors. Many find public exposure in offices and businesses in Eagle Pass and Del Rio, and as far afield as the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association headquarters in Fort Worth. Butler is convinced that the arts are a reflection of economic vitality, and that there’s no better illustration than Eagle Pass. “In fact, I won’t be here at the bank tomorrow because I’m going to meet with Robert Gonzalez, director of Eagle Pass waterworks department. They’ve just built a brand new building, and he wants me to help him decide on décor for it,” Butler said. Art lovers can see Butler’s work at Del Rio National Bank through Friday (Dec. 15), and after that in Eagle Pass offices of Foster Realty, Laredo National Bank, IBC Bank, the law offices of Joaquin Rodriguez, and at Butler’s home on the city’s northwest side. “No, I have people come to the house all the time; I don’t mind,” he said. Best to call ahead though, at 830-757-2507. Do you like or dislike this story? Please take a quick survey to help us improve. Click here.
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I have been a Bob Butler fan ever since I met him when I worked for Ann Stool at the Del Rio Council for the Arts. The Firehouse even hosted the first exhibition of Bob's other art -- his "abstract" work. I own three of those -- two over my mantle and one in my office at the Library. The painting in my office is titled "Stairway to Heaven" and its image was derived from the song of the same name. I invite anyone to come to the Val Verde County Library and see it hanging behind my desk.
Willie at the Library