"Zebra's Secret Place in Passage" by William Kelly Fearing (1918-2011)

19 3/4" x 22 1/2" x 1 1/2"

Kelly Fearing’s "Zebra's Secret Place in Passage" an etching, combines elements of both representational art and surrealism. A somber and  beautiful piece. This particular Artist Proof was a birthday gift to a beloved friend, seen on verso with a special hand drawn card by the artist,Kelly Fearing. The card in pencil titled "St. Paul in the Desert and the Bird with a Gift of Food." "To Chuck on his 49th...." A collector's piece. Wear on verso, consistent with age. Signed lower right and on birthday card. Intaglio etching. Framed.

Born in Arkansas in 1918, Kelly Fearing studied art at Louisiana Tech University and Columbia University, where he earned a master’s degree in 1950. Fearing came to Fort Worth, Texas in 1943 and joined a group of artists active between 1945 and 1955 known as the “Fort Worth Circle.” This group was responsible to a large extent for introducing modernist art and ideas to Texas. William Kelly Fearing was a visual artist who was termed, in his time, a “magical realist” and “Romantic surrealist”. He was a member of the Fort Worth Circle, a cohort of artists often credited with bringing modern art to Texas and the firsts to steer away from the then dominating regional aesthetic.

Fearing’s works are housed in the permanent collections of the Blanton Museum of Art,  Dallas Museum of Art,  Amon Carter Museum of American Art, and Old Jail Arts Center, Museum of Modern Art of Fort Worth.

American Artist

1995