Melvin Charles Warren

For western art to achieve the distinction of fine art, it must first satisfy an artistic criteria and only then deal with the particularity of western subject matter. Melvin Warren understands this concept. His work is an accomplished artistic statement that also presents images which are faithful to western reality. Warren was born in California in 1920 and lived in Arizona and New Mexico before coming to Texas at the age of 14. He has seen the beauty and felt the lure of the Southwest and it stimulated his boyhood desire to be an artist. After service in World War II, Warren entered Texas Christian University and received a degree in fine arts. During the day, he worked in the best tradition of commercial art work, and in the evenings he painted out the western fantasies that crowded his mind. These paintings and the process of creating them encouraged Warren to seek a gallery outlet. The subtle sensitivity to his subject matter and an obvious control of the technical elements of painting made his work readily acceptable to a broad range of collectors. He became a special favorite of Lyndon Johnson, who ultimately acquired many Warren oils. He is buried at Clifton Memorial Park, Clifton, Bosque County, Texas. His palette emphasizes earth tones -browns, reds and yellows. His subject matter emphasizes the history of the West - cattle trails and frontier forts. He was a member of the Cowboy Artists of America. His work is extensively exhibited at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and is housed at the LBJ (Lyndon Baines Johnson) Library in Austin.