Ancel Nunn

Study for Old House. Texas

1972

Born in Seymour, Texas, Ancel Nunn began drawing at age 12. He added to his early art education through summer workshops under noted artists such as Dong Kingman and Alexander Hogue. In 1944, his drypoint etching, The Domino Players, won an honorable mention in the prestigious Ingersoll competition. The following year his watercolor, The Cockfight, was awarded first place. Nunn graduated from high school in Abilene in 1946. He entered the U.S. Army in 1947, spending several different active duty periods and attaining the rank of Major. During this period, he did little or no painting. Nunn was recalled to active duty in 1963 and produced no paintings during that year. In 1964, he was again released from the army and at that time committed himself to becoming a professional artist. While much of his early work was nostalgic and reflected regionalist images, many of his later works possessed somewhat surreal elements. Using common objects such as chairs, doors and gates he examined the themes of life, change and death. Nunn's art was full of paradox and irony. Nunn maddeningly appropriated all history and events to reconstruct his parables of life. His appropriations were as likely to come from the history of art as from the personal events of his own life. Nunn playfully involved others in his journey of mental and metaphysical gymnastics.