Ralph White once wrote that painting is “an undeniable and personal declaration of the gift of life.” Just how passionately he believed this may be seen in the fact that, when he died Friday, Sept. 10, of complications from surgery, White left a painting on the easel. As long as he was alive, Ralph White was creating art. He leaves behind six decades of work, much of it intricate abstracts that reflected his longstanding interest in flight and in views of Earth from the sky. This interest was shaped by the artist’s Army Air Corps experiences during World War II, a period of service that also brought him from his native Minnesota to the Lone Star State, where he met Ward Lockwood, an officer who also happened to chair the still-new Department of Art at the University of Texas. He was interested in White’s teaching at UT, and after the war White made his way to Austin and joined the art department faculty. Over the next 36 years, he developed a program in graphic design and communication arts, taught an array of classes, and eventually even chaired the department himself in the early Seventies. In 1982, he retired as professor emeritus but continued to paint and develop an impressive career. White’s work was included in more than 100 solo and group exhibitions, nationally and internationally. In 2002, he had a 60-year retrospective exhibition at Gallery 1313 on South Congress, and the following year was named Texas State Two-Dimensional Artist and was inducted into the Austin Arts Hall of Fame. White was 83. He is survived by his wife, Ruby, and children, Ralph Jr., Brett, and Kathy. The family requests that memorial gifts be made to KMFA, 3001 N. Lamar, Austin, TX 78705.
This article appears in September 24 • 2004.