Forrest Clemenger Bess (Texas, 1911-1977), self portrait in studio, 1953, oil on canvas, with artist's typical handmade longleaf pine stretcher bars

sight: 35 in. x 23 in., frame: 37 in. x 25 in. 

Provenance: Property from a Bay City, Texas collection, purchased from the Dickerson Estate, a large collection of Forrest Bess paintings in Bay City, Texas

Forrest Clemenger Bess was born in Bay City, Texas. He studied at Texas A&M University and then later at the University of Texas at Austin, but then started work in the oil fields. After that period he moved to Mexico to paint, during that time he produced work in a post-impressionist style influenced by Van Gogh and Maurice Vlaminck.
He served in WWII with the US Army Corps of Engineers and a period at a Veterans hospital in San Antonio, from which he suffered emotional trauma. He returned to Bay City to care for his family business.
Bess was recognized as a talent by Betty Parsons an art critic and dealer from New York specializing in Abstract Expressionism. When she chose to represent his work, demand for his work drastically increased. Bess's works were shown at the Corcoran Gallery Biennial, the Witte Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Andre Emmerich Gallery Houston and the New Arts Gallery, Houston, among many others.
Bess's work is abstract, many of the paintings are emanated from visions in his dreams; or include lines, eyes, crosses and other simple forms.
His works can be found in the following permanent collections: Museum of Fine Arts Houston; The Menil Collection, Houston; The Witte Museum, San Antonio; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston."
(excerpt from "Texas Painters, Sculptors and Graphic Artists", by: John & Deborah Powers)