The Jerry Bywaters Special Collections at SMU has a good archive of Wingren’s materials, which is so appropriate considering that he graduated from SMU, taught at SMU, and he was greatly admired by Bywaters. However, Wingren’s SMU connections are a small part of his distinguished career as an excellent painter and as a highly respected professor of art and art history. Dan Wingren was one of my professors at SMU in the mid-1970s. By that time he had an extensive resume of major exhibitions of his paintings, of teaching at important museums and universities, and of numerous publications and critical reviews of his art. However, Wingren was modestly quiet about his accomplishments.
As a graduate student in art history, I was fortunate to have Wingren as a professor of art history when I took his courses on the history of photography and surveys of modern art. He was a demanding professor who challenged his students to think critically about art and art history. He asked me to view art “as though I had no eyelids,” admonishing me to not only look closely at art, but more importantly to look critically, without preconceived notions or assumptions. Wingren’s courses required memorization of details of names of artists, titles, and dates of artworks, as well as the larger more substantive understanding of stylistic analysis, cultural context, and visual literacy. I found his courses difficult, but highly rewarding. I admired Wingren for pushing me to move from art appreciation to connoisseurship, and I credit him for beautifully preparing me for my own successful career as an art history professor, a museum educator, and a museum director.
Blog post courtesy of Francine Carraro, Ph.D., Retired Museum Director.
Image credit: Dan Wingren, photograph by Beau and Martha Mood, San Antonio, Texas; Gift of Dianne Schlies and courtesy of the Dan Wingren Collection, Bywaters Special Collections, Hamon Arts Library, Southern Methodist University.
Exhibition, Dan Wingren: The Image and Magic, on the 2nd floor, Hamon, continues to May 31, 2021.