Henri Gadbois (1930 - 2018)

1930    Born Houston, Texas St. Joseph's Hospital
1947    Ceramic Bowl accepted in the Texas General
1948    Graduated Lamar High School, Houston, Texas
Houston Artists Exhibit 1948 to 1960
1952    Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Houston
Instructor Museum of Fine Arts, Houston School (Now the Glassel School)

1952 to 1965:
"16 Texas Painters" Valley House Gallery, Dallas Texas
1953    Master of Letters, University of Houston
Registrar, Business Manager, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
One-man Exhibit, James Bute Gallery, Houston, Texas
1954    U.S. Army, Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, Camp Gordon, Augusta, Georgia
Archives of American Art, Personal Papers 1954 to 1970
"Red Tights" Allied Art Purchase Prize, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
"Clump of Trees, Hermann Park" Western Artists Exhibit, Denver, Colorado
Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Art Rental Exhibit
1955    One-Man Exhibit, Herbert Institute, Augusta Georgia
793 MP Battalion, Nurnberg, Germany
Studio space at University of Georgia, Furth, Germany
1956    Married Leila McConnell August 18, 1956
Art Teacher, Houston Public Schools
Chaired Exhibit "Contemporary German Graphics" Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Texas
Exhibit, Men of Art Guild, San Antonio, Texas
"Landscape-Stuttgart" Flaxman Purchase prize, Houston Artists Exhibit, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
1957    "Three Tiered Formation", American Federation of Arts Survey of Texas Painting
"Illogical Organism" Bute Gallery
1958    "Budding Stump", Feldman Collection
Exhibit, Little Studio, New York, New York
"Espaliered Burlap" Autumn Show, Delgado Museum, New Orleans, Louisiana
One-Man Exhibit, Rudi's Club, Houston, Texas
Texas Fine Art Association Exhibit, Austin, Texas
TFAA Circulating Exhibit 1958-1959, San Marcos, Seguin, Corpus Christi, Edinburg, Brownsville, and Kingsville
"Night Crossing", Four-man Exhibit Petroleum Club, Houston, Texas
"Gold Flow" Texas '58 Circulating Exhibit
"White Out" Honorable Mention, Houston Artists Exhibit, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
"Spring", Terrace Show, Handmakers, Houston, Texas
"Winter", "Start With Art" Exhibit, Junior League, Houston, Texas
1959    One-man Exhibit, Driscoll Gallery, Austin, Texas
One-man Exhibit, Houston Geophysical Club, Houston, Texas
Faculty-Student Exhibit, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
Dallas Art Rental, Dallas, Texas
"Winter", Western Artists Exhibit, Denver, Colorado
"Portrait of a Dress" Junior League, Houston, Texas
1960    "Field Patterns, Europe" One-man exhibit James Bute Gallery, Houston, Texas
1961    Instructor Hill Country Arts Foundation 1961 to 197?
" Katy Road", Texas Annual Exhibit, San Antonio Art league Purchase Prize, Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas
1962    "Field Pattern, Wurzburg" Western Arts Exhibit, Denver Colorado
One-man Exhibit, St. Luke's Church, Houston, Texas
"Mystic Road, Germany" Azalea Trail Exhibit, River Oaks Garden Forum, Houston, Texas
Art Teacher, Robert E. Lee High School, Houston
1963    One-man Exhibit, James Bute Gallery, Houston, Texas
"Landscape at Nysa", Longview Invitational, Longview, Texas
1964    Chaired Exhibit "Recent Acquisitions in Houston Collections" Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Texas
"Plants on the Terrace", Hill Country Arts Foundation, Ingram, Texas
"Aspen Mountain", Junior Service League, Longview, Texas
"Sunset", Museum Faculty Show, Music Hall, Houston, Texas
One-man Exhibit, Houston Baptist College, Houston
"Two Lemons", Laguna Gloria Museum, Austin, Texas
"Sunset", Longview Invitational, Popular Prize, Longview, Texas
"Painters and Partners", Jewish Community Center, Houston, Texas
"The Point", St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana
One-man Exhibit, James Bute Gallery, Houston, Txas
1966    Opening Exhibition, Dubose Galleries, Houston, Texas
Art Rental, Laguna Gloria Museum, Austin, Texas
"Port at Night", Educational TV, New Orleans
"The Big Landscape" One-Man exhibit Dubose Gallery
"Splash of Yellow", University of Houston Activities Center, Houston, Texas
"Sun Flowers", The Houston Club, Houston, Texas
1969    "Night Frost", Donated to The Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas
"Champions #4", Champions Golf Club
"Looking Back", Southwestern Savings and Loan
"The Ash Tree", Texas Commerce Bank
1970    "A Pleasant Place", Texas Heart Institute
1971    "Sunset in Peach and Blue", Petroleum Club of Houston
1974    "Prelude", Beaumont Country Club
"The Lake of the Nymphs", Bank of Mississippi
"Livingston Trail", Hycel, Inc.
1976    "Water Patterns", Corpus Christi Cotillion Club
"Morning Coffee", Terrace Community Hospital
1981    "A Christmas Heritage", River Oaks Bank and Trust
1984    One Man Exhibit, Imagination Gallery, Kerrville, Texas
1988    Started making faux food for display at Bayou Bend Yuletide
1990    Retired from Teaching after 34 year

Docent, Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens

1995    Started Company, Faux Foods, Earthenware Foods in the 18th and 19th Century manner. Suitable for Museum display.
1998    Early American Life Magazine Top 200 American Craftsmen
1999    Early American Homes Magazine Top 200 American Craftsmen
Pineapple Ornament for The White House Christmas Tree
2004    "17-15, Seventeen Houston Artists 1950-1965" Brazos Project, Houston

Henri Gadbois is married to artist Leila McConnell.

HENRI GADBOIS (b. 1930)

Born in Houston, Texas to a father working as a commercial artist for Madison Southwest, Henri Gadbois was exposed to art all his life. His father was vehemently opposed to abstract art and, although arguments regarding the subject matter were frequent, Gadbois was greatly influenced by his father. Gadbois was also strongly influenced by Noma Henderson, his high school art teacher. She introduced Gadbois to ceramics, leading to his first exhibition which featured a small bowl he created while still in high school.

Gadbois graduated from Lamar High School and earned his bachelor of fine arts and master of letters from the University of Houston in 1952 and 1953, respectively. Gadbois studied under Texas greats Robert Preusser and Lowell Collins, stating that his time at the University of Houston was one of great change. During his U.S. military service in Germany, he had studio space at the University of Georgia in Furth which allowed him to continue to paint.

Shortly before retiring from public school teaching, Gadbois began making faux food for the Yuletide Celebration at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens. In 1995, he started Faux Foods, a company that makes earthenware foods in the 18th and 19th Century manner for museums.

Selected Biographical and Career Highlights

1930 Born in Houston, Texas
1952 BFA, University of Houston, Houston, Texas
1952 Instructor, Museum School, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
1953 Master of Letters, University of Houston, Houston, Texas
1953 Registrar, Business Manager, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
1954-55 Served in U.S. Army
1956 Married artist, Leila McConnell
1956-90 Teacher, Houston Independent School District, Houston, Texas
1995-present Owner, Faux Foods©
Resides in Houston, Texas

Selected Prizes, Awards

Houston Annual: Purchase Prize 1954, 1955; Cash Prize 1953, 1960; Materials Prize 1957; Honorable Mention 1958
1953 Cash Prize, Portrait, oil
1954 Purchase Prize/Allied Art, Red Tights, oil
1955 (December) Purchase Prize, Londschaft, Stuttgart, oil
1957 Materials Prize, Illogical Organism, oil
1958 Honorable Mention, Whiteout, oil
1960 Cash Prize, Three, oil
Texas General/Annual: Purchase Prize 1961
1961 Purchase Prize/SA Art League, Katy Road, oil

Selected Exhibitions

· 1948 10th Texas General Exhibition 1948–1949, circulated: Witte Museum, San Antonio; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas

· 1949–51 24th–26th Annual Exhibition of Works by Houston Artists, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

· 1951 Houston Post Easter Art Contest, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

· 1952 27th Annual Exhibition of Works by Houston Artists, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

· 1952–65 16 Texas Painters, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas

· 1953 28th Annual Exhibition of Works by Houston Artists, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas (cash prize)

· 1953 15th Annual Exhibition of Texas Painting and Sculpture 1953, circulated: Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas

· 1954 Texas Watercolor Society 5th Annual Exhibition, Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas

· 1954 29th Annual Exhibition of Works by Houston Artists, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas (purchase prize)

· 1954 16th Annual Exhibition of Texas Painting and Sculpture 1954, circulated: Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas; Witte Museum, San Antonio; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Fort Worth Art Center, Fort Worth, Texas

· 1955 (March) 30th Annual Exhibition of Works by Houston Artists, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

· 1955 (December) 31st Annual Exhibition of Houston Artists, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas (purchase prize)

· 1955 Solo, Herbert Institute, Augusta, Georgia

· 1956 D. D. Feldman Collection of Contemporary Texas Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

· 1956 18th Annual Texas Painting and Sculpture Exhibition 1956–1957, circulated: Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas; Witte Museum, San Antonio; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Texas Fine Arts Association, Austin; Museum, Texas Tech, Lubbock, Texas

· 1957 Survey of Painting in Texas, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, circulated by American Federation of Arts (catalogue)

· 1957 32nd Annual Houston Artists Exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas (materials prize)

· 1958 Texas Oil ’58, A Salute to the Oil Industry of the State by Texas Painters, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, traveled to: Bank of the Southwest, Houston; Dallas Public Library, Dallas; Republic National Bank of Dallas, Texas (catalogue)

· 1958 33rd Annual Houston Artists Exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas (honorable mention)

· 1958 20th Annual Texas Painting and Sculpture Exhibition 1958–1959, circulated: Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas; Witte Museum, San Antonio; TFAA, Laguna Gloria Gallery, Austin; Beaumont Art Museum, Beaumont; San Angelo Art Club, San Angelo; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

· 1959 Made in Texas by Texans, Dallas Museum of Contemporary Art, Sheraton-Dallas Hotel, Dallas, Texas (catalogue)

· 1959 34th Annual Houston Artists Exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

· 1960 22nd Annual Texas Painting and Sculpture Exhibition 1960-1961, circulated: Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas; Witte Museum, San Antonio; Beaumont Art Museum, Beaumont; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

· 1960 35th Annual Houston Artists Exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas (cash prize)

· 1961 23rd Annual Texas Painting and Sculpture Exhibition 1961–1962, circulated: Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas; Witte Museum, San Antonio; Beaumont Art Museum, Beaumont; Museum, Texas Tech, Lubbock, Texas (purchase prize)

· 1962 24th Annual Texas Painting and Sculpture Exhibition 1962–1963, circulated: Witte Museum, San Antonio; Centennial Art Museum, Corpus Christi; Beaumont Art Museum, Beaumont; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas

· 1962–63 Museum School Faculty Exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

· 1963 25th Annual Texas Painting and Sculpture Exhibition 1963–1964, circulated: Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas; Centennial Art Museum, Corpus Christi; Beaumont Art Museum, Beaumont; El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso; Witte Museum, San Antonio; University of Texas at Austin, Texas

· 1965 Longview Invitational, Longview Museum of Fine Arts, Longview, Texas

· 1965 Solo, Houston Baptist College, Houston, Texas

· 1965 Painters and Partners, Jewish Community Center, Houston, Texas

· 1966 Opening exhibition of DuBose Gallery, Houston, Texas

· 1971–72 Texas Painting and Sculpture: The 20th Century, Pollack Galleries, Owen Arts Center, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, traveled to: Witte Confluence Museum, HemisFair Plaza, San Antonio; University Art Museum, University of Texas at Austin; Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth; The Museum, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas (catalogue)

· 1984 Solo, Imagination Gallery, Kerrville, Texas

· 1998 Early American Life Magazine Top 200 American Craftsmen

· 1999 Early American Homes Magazine Top 200 American Craftsmen

· 2004 A Selection of Art Made in Houston 1950-1965, Brazos Projects, Brazos Bookstore, Houston, Texas

· 2004–05 Rice Institute and the Visual Arts in Houston: 1900–1960, Fondren Library, Rice University, Houston, Texas

· 2006 Houston Art in Houston Collections: Works from 1900 to 1965, Heritage Society Museum, Houston, Texas

· 2007 Texas Modern: The Rediscovery of Early Texas Abstraction (1935-1965), Martin Museum of Art, Baylor University, Waco, Texas (catalogue)

· 2007–08 Urban Texas: Changing Images of an Evolving State, Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, Canyon, Texas

· 2008 Founders of Houston Art: Thirty Artists Who Led the Way, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas

· 2009 Back to the Future: Elements of “Modern” in Mid-Century Texas Art, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas

· 2009 Leila McConnell and Henri Gadbois: Side by Side, O’Kane Gallery, University of Houston/Downtown, Houston, Texas

· 2010 The Presence of Light: Sky and Light in the Texas Landscape, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas

· 2010 Third Anniversary Show: A Tribute to Houston Artists, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas

· 2011 Lone Star Modernism: A Celebration of Mid-Century Texas Art, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas

· 2011 Southeast Texas Art: Cross-Currents and Influences, 1925–1965, Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, Texas

· 2011 Portrait of Houston: 1900–2011, Alliance Gallery, Houston Arts Alliance, Houston, Texas (catalogue)

· 2012 A Survey of Texas Modernists, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas

· 2012 Interpretations of the Texas Hill Country by Henri Gadbois, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas

· 2013 Restless Heart: The Collectors’ Quest to Find Texas in Art, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo, Texas

· 2013 A Tribute to Texas Rivers, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas

· 2013 Rhythms of Modernism, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas

· 2013 Summer Encore Exhibition, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas

· 2013 Hill Country Love Affair: Interpretations of a Texas Heartland, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas

· 2014 Houston Founders at City Hall Art Exhibition, City Hall, Houston, Texas

· 2014 A New Visual Vocabulary: Developments in Texas Modernism 1935-1965, One Allen Center, Lobby Gallery, Houston, Texas

· 2014 Lone Star Masters of Modernism, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas

· 2015 Bayou City Chic: Progressive Streams of Modern Art in Houston, Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas (catalogue)

· 2015 The Texas Aesthetic, Annual Exhibition, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas

Selected Public Collections

University of Texas at Austin, Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas
Longview Museum of Fine Arts, Longview, Texas
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
Old Jail Art Center, Albany, Texas
San Antonio Fine Arts Association, San Antonio, Texas
Texas Heart Institute, Houston, Texas (1970 A Pleasant Place)