William Lewis Lester’s story is one of inspiring success in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Studying his career through scholarly articles and publications on Texas art reveals a detailed list of prestigious exhibitions and associates, but very little about Lester as an individual artist. If the oft quoted phrase “the art reveals the artist” is true, then the art, life and times of Lester is a case study that warrants discovery and re-examination.
Lester’s journey began on a rural dirt farm 12 miles east of Graham. Born in 1910, he grew up in a blended family of 11 children, without a father, during an era later labeled the “worst hard time.” Lester’s aspirations to become a successful artist arose early, and spanned the years of financial and personal hardships of World War I, The Great Depression, The Dust Bowl, World War II and the Cold War.
Like many people seeking better working conditions and wages, Lester’s mother moved the family to Dallas in 1924. This was a life-changing event for the 14-year-old aspiring artist. While in high school, Lester met and studied under several prominent and well-connected Dallas artists, which greatly influenced him and bolstered his goal of working as an artist.
Lester’s career was just starting when the Depression hit hard. He spent most of those early years barely scraping by. However, working in Dallas gave him the intellectual and artistic stimulus he needed to overcome his discouragement. He became part of a circle of younger artists who would dominate Texas art in the 1930s: Jerry Bywaters, Alexandre Hogue, Harry Carnohan, Perry Nichols, Otis Dozier and John Douglass. He also met older Dallas artists like Frank Reaugh, Edward G Eisenlohr and J.B. Martin. Because of these connections, Lester began exhibiting his art in his early twenties. In 1934, still strapped for income, he enrolled for a tour as an artist in a Civilian Conservation Corps camp. He continued to work for meager wages as a draftsman with Dallas Power & Light Company.
Lester was never far from his childhood experience of struggling to live off the land, but he eventually achieved success, sharing his personal visions through exhibitions in the major centers of the art world.
He also became an influential art professor at the University of Texas, Austin. According to former student and artist Roger Winter, “Lester’s patient and positive style of teaching proved to be an inspiring role model of a successful artist teacher.” Lester remained an active exhibitor and influential teacher into the 1970s. In a recent interview, his son Paul said, “My father was not interested in self-promotion. He enjoyed spending time with students.” Perhaps mentoring aspiring artists was Lester’s act of “paying it forward” in honor of the people who supported him through his most difficult times.
You can see Lester’s artwork in person in The Grace Museum’s current main gallery exhibition, William Lester: True to Form, through Feb. 22. The show highlights the arc of Lester’s career with works selected from major public and private collections. This long overdue solo exhibition offers new insight into the life and times of a major American artist.
Contributed By Judy Tedford Deaton, Chief Curator, Director of Exhibitions and Collections, The Grace Museum
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