Albany to remember late Granbury artist
Granbury artist Cynthia Brants
(1924-2006)
A retrospective exhibition of the work of the late Granbury artist Cynthia Brants, titled “Beyond the Circle,” will be held Sept. 29 through Dec. 30 at the Old Jail Art Center in Albany.
Brants (1924-2006) was associated with the Fort Worth Circle, a group of artists who were active in the mid-20th century. As the title of this exhibition hints, she moved “beyond the Circle” as she continued to work for 50 years more.
Brants was a strong painter and an innovative printmaker who also experimented in small scale cast-bronze sculpture and model-making. This exhibition will feature her painting from the last half of the 20th century, into the 21st.
The works range from a 1946 still life, done the year she set up her first studio in her hometown of Fort Worth after graduating from Sarah Lawrence College, to a 2003 winter landscape depicting her final home in Granbury.
Margaret Blagg, executive director of the museum and curator of the exhibition, said, “Brants’ fertile intellect produced subject matter that runs the gamut from mythological subjects, to floral still life and landscape represented in refracted form, to bucolic and genre scenes depicted in evolving styles.
“Above all, she was dedicated to the tenets of Cubism, a style created by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque a full 40 years before she began her career. Brants’ paintings give a nod to Cubism but are fully her own.”
The Old Jail Art Center collection includes over 2,000 works that span important periods in Asian, European, American and pre-Columbian art.
The Old Jail Art Center is one of the few accredited fine art museums in Texas. With a focus on education, exhibitions and art programs are scheduled year-round to serve an audience of children, youth, adults and visitors from around the globe.
The Old Jail Art Center is located on Highway 6, two blocks east of Highway 180. The museum is open to the public Tuesday – Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.
Mary Vinson