Fort Worth, September 14, 2025
News Summary
The Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth is showcasing the first public exhibition of the Charles Butt Collection, featuring over 80 modernist artworks. Spanning from 1900 to 1970, the exhibit includes works from renowned American artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe and Jackson Pollock. The exhibition runs through January and offers a rare glimpse into rarely seen pieces that bridge traditional practices and modern abstraction, organized into thematic sections to highlight the evolution of American modernist expression.
Fort Worth, Texas
American Modernism From the Charles Butt Collection opens at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art
The Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth is presenting American Modernism From the Charles Butt Collection, a public exhibition of more than 80 artworks spanning roughly 1900 to 1970. The exhibition, which marks the first public display of Charles Butt’s private collection, opened on September 7, 2025, and will run through January 25, 2026. The show brings together works that bridge traditional representational practice and modern abstraction, offering visitors a compact history of American modernist expression.
Key facts and highlights
The collection on view includes paintings, drawings, and works on paper by prominent American artists such as Romare Bearden, Edward Hopper, Joan Mitchell, Alice Neel, Georgia O’Keeffe, Alma Thomas, Andrew Wyeth, Jackson Pollock, Charles Sheeler, and Ralston Crawford. Significant pieces in the exhibition include Georgia O’Keeffe’s New Mexico buttes and an early Jackson Pollock work showing the influence of Thomas Hart Benton. The works are organized into four thematic sections labeled Intimate Perspectives, The Language of the Sea, Land Progressions, and Geometric Utopias/Dystopias.
Why this exhibition matters now
This presentation is notable for its combination of genre scenes and abstraction, with genre examples from artists such as Winslow Homer and Andrew Wyeth placed alongside abstract works by Alma Thomas and Joan Mitchell. The exhibition emphasizes landscape and natural scenery as recurring motifs in American visual culture and traces artistic developments across scale, technique, and vision. Many of the works have rarely been publicly exhibited and have remained in private hands for decades, so the show offers a rare opportunity to view pieces that have not circulated widely.
Curatorial approach and collection character
The exhibition was curated with substantial creative freedom, reflecting both the curatorial team’s interpretation and the collector’s personal taste. Charles Butt’s collecting is presented as the product of individual judgment rather than a prescriptive curatorial agenda. The curator, Shirley Reece-Hughes, noted that the collection has been largely private, which allowed for an exhibition shaped around the collector’s choices while organized into clear thematic groupings. The selection highlights both large-scale and small-scale works to demonstrate the evolution of artists’ ideas and techniques over time.
Audience engagement and programming
In-gallery engagement strategies are part of the exhibition experience, including hands-on opportunities designed to connect visitors with the themes on display. One interactive element encourages visitors to write memories of lost loved ones, linking personal remembrance to the show’s themes of presence, absence, and landscape. The museum frames these activities as ways to foster connection among visitors while engaging with the artworks’ emotional and formal layers.
Touring schedule and next venues
After its run in Fort Worth, the exhibition will travel to three additional Texas institutions: the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio. The touring plan is intended to bring the collection to a broader regional audience and to present its cross-section of American modernist styles in different museum contexts.
Collector background
Charles Butt, age 87, is the chairman of the H-E-B grocery store chain and the grandson of the chain’s founder, Florence Butt. His collection spans roughly seven decades of American art and aims to connect viewers across different modes of making, from precise painterly treatments by artists such as Charles Sheeler and Ralston Crawford to expressive abstractions by Joan Mitchell and Alma Thomas. Butt has characterized his interest in art as a way to uplift spirits during stressful times and to create opportunities for shared experience.
Context and significance
American modernism is shown here as a continuum rather than a single movement, with representational and abstract works presented in conversation. The exhibition’s four thematic sections map recurring subjects and formal concerns—intimacy, maritime motifs, land, and geometric form—allowing visitors to observe how artists across decades engaged with similar materials, climates, and ideas. For many works on view, this is a rare public encounter, offering an expanded view of American modernist practice drawn from a private collection.
FAQ
What are the exhibition dates and location?
The exhibition opened on September 7, 2025, at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth and runs through January 25, 2026.
How large is the collection on display?
The show presents more than 80 artworks dating approximately from 1900 to 1970.
Which artists are represented?
Featured artists include Romare Bearden, Edward Hopper, Joan Mitchell, Alice Neel, Georgia O’Keeffe, Alma Thomas, Andrew Wyeth, Jackson Pollock, Charles Sheeler, Ralston Crawford, and others.
How is the exhibition organized?
The works are arranged in four thematic sections: Intimate Perspectives, The Language of the Sea, Land Progressions, and Geometric Utopias/Dystopias.
Will the exhibition travel?
Yes. After Fort Worth, the exhibition will travel to Austin (Blanton Museum of Art), Houston (Museum of Fine Arts), and San Antonio (McNay Art Museum).
Are there interactive elements or programs?
Yes. The exhibition includes audience engagement opportunities, such as spaces for visitors to write memories of lost loved ones, intended to foster connection and reflection.
Key features at a glance
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Location | Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas |
| Dates | September 7, 2025 – January 25, 2026 |
| Collection size | More than 80 works (circa 1900–1970) |
| Thematic sections | Intimate Perspectives; The Language of the Sea; Land Progressions; Geometric Utopias/Dystopias |
| Notable artists | Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, Joan Mitchell, Alma Thomas, Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth, Romare Bearden, Alice Neel |
| Touring venues | Blanton Museum of Art (Austin); Museum of Fine Arts (Houston); McNay Art Museum (San Antonio) |
Deeper Dive: News & Info About This Topic
HERE Resources
Fort Worth Museums Showcase Diverse Art Exhibitions
Additional Resources
- Dallas News: Review of Fort Worth Art Show
- CBS News: Art Collection of H-E-B Chairman Charles Butt
- San Antonio Express-News: Charles Butt Art Exhibit
- Glasstire: American Modernism From the Charles Butt Collection
- Texas Monthly: Charles Butt H-E-B Art Collection
- Wikipedia: Amon Carter Museum of American Art
- Google Search: American Modernism
- Google Scholar: American Modernism
- Encyclopedia Britannica: American Modernism
- Google News: Charles Butt Exhibit
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