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Olive Vandruff: 100 at
100
April 12 - June 15, 2008
In honor of what would
have been her 100th birth year, the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum exhibits
works from Vandruff's personal collection in several media including pastel,
watercolor, casein, and oil. Vandruff became a renowned painter of animals
and birds and often was commissioned to paint horse portraits. In 1961,
Vandruff married H.D. Bugbee and succeeded him as curator of art at the
Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum from 1962 to 1982.
Wall text from the exhibition
Born at Martin's Ferry, Ohio, as a child Vandruff (1908-2003)
traveled the Southwestern United States with her geologist father. She studied
with painter Edmund Giesbert at the University of Chicago and with Chicago
sculptors Elisabeth H. Hibbard and Frederick C. Hibbard, becoming their
assistant. Vandruff moved to San Antonio in 1931 to assist sculptor Pompeo
Coppini. About 1937 she married engraver Charles F. Anderson; they later
divorced. Vandruff married psychologist William Zielonka in 1944 and they
moved to Florida; they later divorced. In 1950 she operated a sheep ranch
near Kerrville, Texas. She met Western artist H. D. Bugbee in San Antonio
in 1960, married him in 1961, and relocated to Clarendon, Texas. After Bugbee's
death in 1963, Vandruff succeeded him as curator of art at the Panhandle-Plains
Historical Museum, retiring in 1982. She continued to volunteer at the Museum,
driving the 150-mile round trip from Clarendon nearly every day. A car accident
on the way home from the Museum eventually caused her death at age 94.
Vandruff worked in several media, including pastel, gouache,
watercolor, casein, graphite, ink, and oil. She was a member of the Coppini
Academy of Fine Arts, in San Antonio, and began exhibiting there in the
early 1930s. While living in the Hill Country she became a renowned painter
of animals and birds, and often painted commissioned portraits of livestock
and pets. By the early 1960s, she had had numerous solo exhibitions and
there was a waiting list for her work. Vandruff's paintings are found in
private collections across the United States. Among her patrons were former
President Lyndon B. Johnson, Texas governors John Connally and Dolph Briscoe,
and Senator John Tower. Her public commissions include murals in Texas and
Oklahoma, including a mural of Palo Duro Canyon for the First National Bank
of Amarillo (now Bank of America). In 1976, she was included in the landmark
California exhibition, "The Woman Artist in the American West, 1860-1960."
Vandruff continued to paint until her death. The works of art presented
here are a testament to her skills with different subjects and in different
media.
Object labels for the exhibition
- YOUNG BARBARY SHEEP early 1930s
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- Charcoal and chalk
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- UNTITLED [BABY] circa 1930s
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- Crayon on paper
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- HOWDY FOLKS! 1939
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- Ink and gouache on pulp paper
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- UNTITLED [ORCHIDS] circa 1940
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- Pastel on paper
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT 1941
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- Ink on paper
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- UNTITLED [WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS] 1940s
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- Gouache on paper
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- SQUIRREL & FERN 1944
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- Watercolor on paper
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- UNTITLED [GREEN HERON] circa 1944
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- Oil on canvasboard
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- UNTITLED [SPANIEL] circa 1944
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- Charcoal and chalk on paper
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- CAMILLIAS 1945
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- Pastel on paper
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- UNTITLED [WOMAN'S PORTRAIT] circa 1945
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- Watercolor on paper
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- UNTITLED [ARCHWAY] circa 1945
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- Watercolor on paper
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- UNTITLED [KINGFISHER] circa 1945
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- Pastel on paper
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- UNTITLED [YOUNG GIRL IN STORM] circa 1945
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- Pastel on paper
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- Possibly a commentary on World War II, this painting may be one of
few examples of Social Realism in the artist's body of work.
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- UNTITLED [WOODCOCK] 1946
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- Pastel on paper
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- BAIT STORE 1947
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- Oil on canvasboard
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- This painting may be based on a San Antonio scene.
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- RESTING ON THE WIND 1947
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- Oil on canvasboard
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- BETWEEN MEALS SNACK circa 1950
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- Gouache on paper
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- UNTITLED [HANGING LAUNDRY] circa 1951
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- Gouache on paper
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- A SHOWER JUST PAST 1952
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- Gouache on paper
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- FAIRVIEW PRIDE 1953
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- Gouache on paper
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- Quarter horse Fairview Pride was four years old when Vandruff painted
his portrait. His sire was King and his dam Dipsydoodle Joe.
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- QUIET, DEER 1958
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- Casein on Masonite
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- Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum,
- Gift of the Artist
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- SYCAMORE AND TURKEYS 1959
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- Casein on Masonite
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- Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum,
- Johnie Griffin Collection
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- THE EVENING DRIFT 1959
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- Casein on Masonite
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- Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum,
- Gift of the Artist
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- TURBAN SQUASH 1960
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- Casein on Masonite
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- PROUD GOBBLER AND HEN (WILD GOBBLER AND HEN) 1960
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- Casein on Masonite
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- Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum,
- Gift of M. K. Brown
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- WILLOWS AT YOUNG-HUNTER'S circa 1960
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- Oil on canvasboard
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- Painted during a visit to the home of Taos artist John Young-Hunter.
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- TURKEY ON THE ROCKS 1961
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- Casein on Masonite
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- Given to H. D. Bugbee on Valentine's Day.
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- SPANISH OAK LOG before 1965
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- Casein on Masonite
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- Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum,
- Gift of Guy Carlander
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- FIRST SALT 1966
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- Casein on Masonite
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- Private Collection
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- MacKENZIE BATTLE GROUND 1967
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- Casein on Masonite
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- Collection of Dr. Kenneth Crossland
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- PINK WORLD 1968
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- Casein on Masonite
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- WATER SONG 1968
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- Casein on Masonite
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- ROADRUNNER IN UTAH 1969
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- Casein on Masonite
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- Olive Vandruff Bugbee Estate
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- The artist called this painting a "self portrait" as she
always liked to travel.