FRED DARGE (American, 1900-1978)
The Approaching Storm
Oil on canvas
18 x 24 inches (45.7 x 61.0 cm)
Signed lower right: F. Darge
Titled verso: THE APPROACHING STORM

Born in Germany, Darge came to America in 1924 and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. During the early 1930s, he worked as a cowhand in the Southwest. After 1945, Darge began making annual sketching trips to West Texas and New Mexico. With its stylized clouds, windmill, and Hereford cattle-its "artificial geometries" in the words of Grant Wood--The Approaching Storm could hold its own in any Texas Regionalist exhibition, hanging alongside the work of such Lone Star Regionalist pillars as Alexandre Hogue or Jerry Bywaters.

All proceeds from the sale of this painting will go to Dispute Mediations Service, a thirty year-old non-profit agency that helps reduce crime and violence in Dallas county. The funds will support community outreach programs that assist victims of domestic violence, at-risk youth, and others from the community's most vulnerable citizens.