REGINALD ROWE (1920 -2007)

Artist Reginald Rowe Dies

Dan R. Goddard
Express-News

Reginald Rowe, an esteemed San Antonio' artist who spent most of his career in South Texas, died late Friday after becoming lost and dehydrated while walking his dog on property he owned near Blanco. Searchers found him alive Friday afternoon, but he went into cardiac arrest while being treated last night at Brooke Army Medical Center.

The 86-year-old artist, suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, was best known for his shaped, abstract paintings based on classical myths. Rowe was honored by the McNay Art Museum with a one-man retrospective in 1996.

“I've always tried to follow my own heart, not doing what's trendy or popular, but trying to do what's right for me and my art,” Rowe said at the time. “For me, art is a compulsion. I have to do it; I don't know what else to do.”

Rowe will be remembered as an artist's artist and a mentor to generations of San Antonio artists, said McNay Director William Chiego.

“He was a real pioneer in terms of abstract painting in San Antonio,” Chiego said. “So many artists here looked up to him as an example of what an artist should be. I have never met another artist whose life revolved so much around the studio. He also was a great teacher and could speak well about his work. His retrospective was a really important exhibit for us because it demonstrated that there were artists in San Antonio with major careers.”

Photographer Michael Mehl, a neighbor, said Rowe's death marks the end of an era. “He was the dean of contemporary art in San Antonio,” Mehl said. “A lot of artists owe Reggie for showing what it is to be an artist. He was always a hard worker, always in the studio producing. To me, he epitomized what it is to be an artist.”

Born in 1920 in Brooklyn, Rowe graduated from Princeton University, where he majored in Spanish literature, and was a World War II veteran. He also studied at the Art Students League in New York. He lived in Cuba for a short time and befriended Ernest Hemingway.

He moved to San Antonio in 1964 to become head of the faculty at the San Antonio Art Institute. He also became chairman of the exhibition committee at the Witte Museum, which featured visual art exhibits at the time.

Joan Grona, whose gallery is scheduled to have an exhibit of Rowe's work in December, said many artists she represents mention him as an influence.

“He was one of the city's best contemporary artists and the longevity of his career is a testament to his commitment,” Grona said. “He was a big influence on so many artists, and I still have young artists who tell me how much he meant to them.”

Rowe suffered a heart attack and underwent bypass surgery in 1988, which caused him to focus even more on his painting. Most of his days were spent working in his backyard studio at his home in Monte Vista.

Rowe's death at BAMC marked a sad end to an emotional two-day odyssey for his family and friends, which began when he disappeared Thursday morning while walking his dog Sam at his cottage in Gillespie County.

“We feel like he's just gotten turned around and confused,” Joan Thaggard, Rowe's sister in law, said during a break in searching Thursday around his 100-acre ranch near the small town of Albert.

Dozens of people desperately combed more than 200 acres of the rugged countryside using dogs, horses, all four-wheeled vehicles and a helicopter for 26 hours before locating him and Sam about 4:45 p.m. Friday not far from the cottage.

“They never gave up,” said Margaret Houston, a relative of Rowe's, praising the deputies, firefighters, game wardens and volunteers for their efforts.

Rowe was described as coherent when found, and hopes ran high as a helicopter ferried him from the scene, but he succumbed late Friday.

“He’d had a bad heart to begin with and being out the elements certaintly didn’t contribute to helping anything,” Robert Tips, Jan Tips' cousin, said Saturday. Funeral arrangements are pending.

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