BILLY HASSELL (b. 1956)

Fort Worth-based fine artist Billy Hassell, who was recently referred to as “Mother Nature’s Stylist” by The New York Times, has been showing his artwork since the 1980s in galleries across the country. His bold colors and patterns inspired by nature have captured the imagination of collectors throughout the nation. Few artists use color as effectively as Hassell, and his graphically illustrative style contributes to his work’s emotional punch.

Elite museums in Texas such as the Dallas Museum of Art, the Modern in Fort Worth, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, and the Menil Collection in Houston, among others, have acquired Hassell’s oil paintings for their permanent collections. His works also hang in many other public art collections including a U.S. Embassy, the University of Texas, the offices of HBO, and the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

National art magazines such as Art News, Southwest Art, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal have featured Hassell’s paintings as well as many regional publications including the Dallas Morning News, the Houston Chronicle, the Fort Worth Star Telegram, D magazine, and 360 West. His artwork has also been displayed on several television shows.

Because of his dedication to conservation, Hassell has donated art throughout his career to conservation organizations. The Nature Conservancy, Ocean Conservation, and Audubon have used his artwork to raise money for environmental causes and celebrate the beauty of nature.

A unique passion is printmaking—in particular, lithographs. Hassell has collaborated with a number of master printers to produce a sizeable number of color lithographs. This increasingly rare and labor-intensive form of printmaking has been, and continues to be, sought after by collectors internationally.

His talents are not limited to the canvas. Hassell has produced and designed large-scale stained-glass murals, one of which is a large floor medallion for the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport; another, a 50 foot mural at a fire station in Fort Worth. He has also worked on various public art projects.

Academia has been an ongoing interest throughout his life. Hassell earned his BFA from Notre Dame, followed by his MFA from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Upon completion of his graduate degree, Notre Dame invited him back as a professor to teach etching and watercolor. He has also taught a variety of art classes—painting, drawing, printmaking, and studio practices—at universities including Davidson College in North Carolina.

Hassell is regularly invited to people’s ranches and other landscapes across the country, as well as out of the country, to capture the unique beauty of private places for their owners. Most recently, he completed a mural at a ranch in the Texas Hill Country that was featured in the Wall Street Journal.

Today, Hassell’s work continues to show the natural world charged with life, energy, and movement. On canvases that loom larger than life, both in size and vibrancy of subject, his distinctive use of color and stylized natural elements and animals reveal why he has become such a highly-respected painter.

Selected Biographical and Career Highlights

• 1956 Born in Dallas, Texas
• 1982 Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana
• 1987 Master of Fine Arts, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts
• Resides in Fort Worth, Texas

Selected Solo Exhibitions

• 1983 McMurtrey Gallery, Houston, Texas, February
• 1983 The Texas Club, Houston, Texas, October
• 1984 McIntosh/Drysdale Gallery, Houston, Texas, July
• 1985 Galveston Arts Center, Galveston, Texas, May
• 1986 Caroline Lee Gallery, San Antonio, Texas, May
• 1986 DW Gallery, Dallas, Texas, January
• 1987 Adair Margo Gallery, El Paso, Texas, December
• 1987 DW Gallery, Dallas, Texas, September
• 1987 Joseph Gross Gallery, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, September
• 1988 Scott Alan Gallery, New York, New York, April
• 1989 Davidson College Art Gallery, Davidson, North Carolina, February
• 1989 Meredith Long & Company, Houston, Texas, October
• 1990 Scott Alan Gallery, New York, New York, April
• 1991 Hodges Taylor Gallery, Charlotte, North Carolina, February
• 1992 Meredith Long & Company, Houston, Texas, May
• 1993 Meredith Long & Company, Houston, Texas, October
• 1994 William Campbell Contemporary Art, Fort Worth, Texas, September
• 1995 Adair Margo Gallery, El Paso, Texas, November
• 1996 Martin-Rathburn Gallery, San Antonio, Texas, July
• 1996 Meredith Long & Company, Houston, Texas, November
• 1997 William Campbell Contemporary Art, Fort Worth, Texas, April
• 1998 Innsbrook Resort and Convention Center, Wright City, Missouri, July
• 1998 MB Modern, New York, New York, March
• 1998 Meredith Long & Company, Houston, Texas, September
• 1999 Conduit Gallery, Dallas, Texas, December
• 1999 Parchman Stremmel Galleries, San Antonio, Texas, July
• 2000 Elliot Smith Contemporary Art, St. Louis, Missouri, March
• 2000 William Campbell Contemporary Art, Fort Worth, Texas, December
• 2001 Meredith Long & Company, Houston, Texas, May
• 2002 Conduit Gallery, Dallas, Texas, December
• 2002 Longview Museum of Fine Arts, Longview, Texas, September
• 2002 D Berman Gallery, Austin, Texas, May
• 2003 Meredith Long & Company, Houston, Texas, April
• 2003 Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, September
• 2003 William Campbell Contemporary Art, Fort Worth, Texas, December
• 2004 Meredith Long & Company, Houston, Texas, April
• 2005 Bryant Gallery, Kingsville, Texas, April
• 2005 Conduit Gallery, Dallas, Texas, September
• 2005 McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas, Texas, April
• 2005 Parchman Stremmel Galleries, San Antonio, Texas, December
• 2006 LeMieux Galleries, New Orleans, Louisiana, May
• 2007 Migration, 15 Year Survey, Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas, September
• 2008 Field Notes, McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas, Texas, May
• 2008 Journal, Conduit Gallery, Dallas, Texas, January
• 2008 Migration, 15 Year Survey, Texas A&M International University, Laredo, Texas, August
• 2008 LeMieux Galleries, New Orleans, Louisiana, August
• 2008 Parchman Stremmel Galleries, San Antonio, Texas, November
• 2009 Migration, 15 Year Survey, Ellen Noel Museum of Art, Odessa, Texas, September
• 2009 Tangle, William Campbell Contemporary Art, Fort Worth, Texas, December
• 2010 Breath, Meredith Long & Company, Houston, Texas, February
• 2010 Distances, Conduit Gallery, Dallas, Texas, May
• 2010 Memento, Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art, Shawnee, Oklahoma, December
• 2012 Color Lithographs, LeMieux Galleries, New Orleans, Louisiana, March–May
• 2012 Watershed, McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas, Texas, April-May
• 2012 Wild Things (with David Everett), Grace Museum, Abilene, Texas, September–January 2013
• 2013 Illuminating Nature, Tyler Museum of Art, Tyler, Texas December – March 2014
• 2014 Ephemera: Winged Creatures of Texas, Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT), Fort Worth, Texas September-November
• 2014 Illumination, Conduit Gallery, Dallas, Texas April
• 2015 Compass, William Campbell Contemporary Art, Ft. Worth, Texas November-January 2, 2016
• 2016 Voices and Visions,  Conduit Gallery, Dallas, Texas May-June
• 2017 Trace, Survey Exhibition, Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for Art, Lubbock, Texas October
• 2018 Trace, Survey Exhibition, Michelson Museum of Art, Marshall, Texas February – April
• 2018 Vestiges, Dowd Gallery, Cortland College, Cortland, New York  October-December   
• 2018 Shadows, William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas November-December                                         

Selected Group Exhibitions

• 1980 Alumni/Faculty Exhibition, Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, October
• 1980 Boston Community Art Exhibition, Boston City Hall, Boston, Massachusetts, May
• 1980 Drawing Exhibition, Hampden Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, September
• 1980 Group Show, Kaji Aso Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts, February
• 1980 Juried Exhibition, Edison Community College, Fort Meyers, Florida, April
• 1981 Billy Hassell/Stanton Sears, Danco Art Gallery, Northampton, Massachusetts, September

• 1981 Four Painters, Agusta Savage Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, May
• 1981 Group Show, Pratt Gallery, Amherst, Massachusetts, December
• 1981 Rocky Mountain National Watermedia Exhibition, Foothills Art Center, Golden, Colorado, July
• 1982 Anything Goes, Zone Gallery, Springfield, Massachusetts, January
• 1982 Eleventh Annual Competitive Art Exhibition, Ely Art Gallery, Westfield, Massachusetts, February
• 1982 Group Show, Boston State House, Boston, Massachusetts, May
• 1982 Noir Blanc and The Chromatics, Leverett Craftsman and Artists, Leverett, Massachusetts, April
• 1982 Thesis Exhibition, Herter Gallery, University of Massachusetts, February
• 1982 Works on Paper, Hampden Gallery, University of Massachusetts, January
• 1983 Maps: A Mail Art Show, Diverse Works, Inc., Houston, Texas, December
• 1983 Synergy ’83, Glassell School of Art, Houston, Texas
• 1984 19th Annual Juried Art Award Exhibition, Juror: Jane Livingston, Jewish Community Center, Houston, Texas, March
• 1984 Artist Call, Lawndale Annex, Houston, Texas, February
• 1984 Competition ’84, Juror: Peter Marzio, 2 Houston Center, Houston, Texas, April
• 1984 Four Texas Artists, Galveston Arts Center, Galveston, Texas, August
• 1984 Houston Profile, Art League of Houston, Houston, Texas, November
• 1984 Texas Only, Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Texas, September
• 1985 Austin Annual, Mexi-Arte, Arts Warehouse, Austin, Texas, September
• 1985 East End Show, Lawndale Annex, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, September
• 1985 Houston Artists in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Gallery for Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California, February
• 1985 Propaganda, Midtown Art Center, Houston, Texas, September
• 1985 Self-Image, Midtown Art Center, Houston, Texas, April
• 1985 Southwest ’85, Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, March
• 1985 Texas: A State of The Arts, The Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, March
• 1985 Texas Visions, Transco Tower, Houston, Texas, December
• 1985 The Horses’ Mouth, DW Gallery, Dallas, Texas, August
• 1986 Billy Hassell/Ken Saville, Janus Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, October
• 1986 Faculty Exhibition, Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, November
• 1986 Inaugural Exhibition, Scott Alan Gallery, New York New York, May
• 1987 Going to the Dogs, Janus Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, October
• 1987 Mythmakers, William Campbell Contemporary Art, Fort Worth, Texas, October
• 1987 The Fictional Figure, Caroline Lee Gallery, Houston, Texas, December
• 1988 American Artists’ Beastiary: Armadillo to Zebra, Amarillo Art Center, Amarillo, Texas, March
• 1988 Zoomorphism: Animals in Art, Trammel Crowe Center, Dallas, Texas, September
• 1989 31st Annual Invitational Exhibition, Longview Museum of Fine Arts, Longview, Texas, December
• 1989 A Family of Artists, 500X Gallery, Dallas, Texas, December
• 1989 Artists of Oak Cliff, Modern Dallas Art, Dallas, Texas, September
• 1989 Counter Signals, Curator: Kevin Curry, Hickory Street Annex, Dallas, Texas, August
• 1989 Earth Day 1990, William Campbell Contemporary Art, Fort Worth, Texas, April
• 1989 Feather, Fur & Fin, Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Texas, March
• 1989 Fish Tales, William Campbell Contemporary Art, Fort Worth, Texas, July
• 1989 Print Makers, Aquinas College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, February
• 1989 Small Works, Edith Baker Gallery, Dallas, Texas, December
• 1989 The Nature of The Beast, Hudson River Museum, Westchester, New York, April
• 1990 Forty Texas Printmakers, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas, November
• 1990 Primal Impulse: Billy Hassell and David Winston, Adair Margo Gallery, El Paso, Texas, November
• 1991 Chords and Discords, Hudson River Museum, Westchester, New York, July
• 1991 Group Exhibition, Peregrine Gallery, Dallas, Texas, December
• 1991 Paintings by Joanne Brigham, Billy Hassell, Jeff Delude, Hickory Street Annex Gallery, Dallas, Texas, April
• 1991 Time is Relative, Beverly Gordon Gallery, Dallas, Texas, December
• 1991 Ship Shape, Galveston, Texas, September
• 1992 100 Anniversary Exhibition: Masterworks from Fort Worth Collections, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas, April
• 1992 Contemporary Prints: The Peregrine Press Archives, Curators: Alan Govenar and Jo Ann Hart, traveling exhibit, September 1992–August 1995
• 1992 Flatbed: The First Two Years, Tarrytown Gallery, Austin, Texas, February
• 1992 On Death y Los Dios De Los Muertos, Bridge Center for Contemporary Art, El Paso, Texas, November
• 1992 Printmaking in Texas: The 1980’s, Laguna Gloria Museum, Austin, Texas, June
• 1992 Second Nature, Adair Margo Gallery, El Paso, Texas, September
• 1992 The Big Show, Juror: Annegreth Nill, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Texas, September
• 1993 Animal Attraction, University of Dallas Art Gallery, University of Dallas, Dallas, Texas, April
• 1993 Art and the Animals, Longview Museum of Fine Arts, Longview, Texas, February
• 1993 Talleres en Fronteras: An Exhibition of Contemporary Art from South Texas and Baja California, Weil Gallery, Corpus Christi State University, Corpus Christi, Texas, traveling exhibit, April
• 1993 Texas Art Celebration ‘93, Juror: David Ross, Cullen Center, Houston, Texas, February
• 1993 Texas Select Invitational Exhibition, Guest Curator: Richard M. Ash III, Wichita Falls Museum and Art Center, Wichita Falls, Texas, October
• 1994 All Creatures Great and Small, Curator: Jo Ann Hart, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, June–July
• 1994 Anonymous, West End Gallery, Houston, Texas, March
• 1994 Collector’s Choice: Living with Art, Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Texas, June
• 1995 Glenn Lane: Remembering, Trammell Crow Center, Dallas, Texas, April
• 1995 Images of Nature III, Martin-Rathburn Gallery, San Antonio, Texas, March–April
• 1995 Opening the Border: Landscapes of Texas and Mexico, The Parc Royale, Houston, Texas, January–March
• 1995 Texas Myths and Realities, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, October
• 1996 MB Modern Artists, Babcock Galleries, New York, New York, May
• 1996 Rediscovering the Landscape of the Americas, Curators: Alan Gussow and Gayle Maxon-Edgerton, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, traveling exhibit, July–January 1997
• 1996 Sacred Matter, MB Modern, New York, New York, July
• 1996 Shared Passions, MB Modern, New York, New York, September
• 1997 New Horizons 1997, Meredith Long & Company, Houston, Texas, August
• 1998 Texas Roots, Center for the Visual Arts, Denton, Texas, September
• 1998 Inaugural Exhibition: New Works by Contemporary Artists, Gerald Peters Galleries, Santa Fe, New Mexico, August
• 1998 The Hurlbutt Bestiary, Hurlbutt Gallery, Greenwich, Connecticut, April–May
• 1999 Inaugural Exhibition, G.O.C.A.I.A. Gallery, Tucson, Arizona, October
• 2000 Summer Show, Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, June
• 2001 Faculty Biennial Exhibition, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, October–November
• 2001 Five Star Texans, Adair Margo Gallery, El Paso, Texas, September
• 2001 Fresh Voices, Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, June–July
• 2001 Invitational Group Exhibition, D Berman Gallery, Austin, Texas, November–December
• 2001 Made in Texas, Art Center of Waco, Waco, Texas, September
• 2001 The American Landscape Today, Meredith Long & Company, Houston, Texas, May
• 2002 42nd Annual Invitational Exhibition, Longview Museum of Fine Arts, Longview, Texas, April
• 2002 Landscapes, Elliot Smith Contemporary Art, St. Louis, Missouri, July
• 2003 Art in the Metroplex, Juror: Diane Karp, Moudy Gallery, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas, September
• 2003 For the Birds, Galveston Arts Center, Galveston, Texas, April–May
• 2004 30th Anniversary Exhibition, William Campbell Contemporary Art, Fort Worth, Texas, October
• 2004 Fall Group Exhibition, Parchman Stremmel Galleries, San Antonio, November
• 2006 Artists for the New Century, Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, Vermont, August
• 2006 Blurring Boundaries, Ellen Noel Art Museum, Odessa, Texas, September
• 2007 Margarita Cabrera and Billy Hassell, The Gallery, University of Texas at Arlington, Texas, January
• 2008 Art, Science and the World Around Us, Curator: Margie Crisp, Art Center of Waco, Waco, Texas, October
• 2008 Public Art in Fort Worth, Billy Hassell, Benito Huerta, and Anitra Blayton, Curator: Janet Tyson, Forth Worth Public Library, Fort Worth, Texas, April
• 2009 Recess, Conduit Gallery, Dallas, Texas, December
• 2010 25 Years of Adair Margo Gallery, Satoa Gallery, El Paso, Texas, December
• 2010 Advancing Tradition: 25 Years of Printmaking at Flatbed Press, Austin Museum of Art, Austin, Texas, December
• 2010 Collections, Cultures & Collaborations, Curator: Tracee Robertson, Art Gallery, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, January
• 2014 Texas Critters, McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas, Texas, September–October
• 2014 Second Nature (with David Everett), Davis Gallery, Austin, Texas, April
• 2015 Painting in the Texas Tradition: Contemporary Texas Regionalism, Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts, Spring, Texas, February–April
• 2015 Ties that Bind: Contemporary Texas Regionalism, Turner House, Dallas, Texas, February
• 2015 William Havu Gallery, Denver, Colorado August
• 2015 In Good Company, Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri April
• 2015 Texas Visions: Contemporary Texas Regionalism, Nave Museum, Victoria, Texas June
• 2018 In/Sight, Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri September-October
• 2018 Texas Aviary, William Reaves/Sarah Foltz Fine Art , Houston, Texas February-March

Selected Honors and Awards

• 1981 Best in Show Cash Award, New England Artist Festival & Showcase, NEAF Gallery, Northampton, Massachusetts
• 1983 Synergy ’84, Arts Symposium of Houston, Houston, Texas
• 1984 Cash Award, 19th Annual Juried Art Exhibition, Juror: Jane Livingston, Jewish Community Center, Houston, Texas
• 1984 Cash Award, Competition ’84, Juror: Peter Marzio, Assistance League, Houston, Texas
• 1984 Best of Series, Emerging Artists, 1984; Galveston Arts Center, Galveston, Texas
• 1984 Cover of the 1984 Houston Arts Calendar & Directory, Houston, Texas
• 1985 Anne Giles Kimbrough Award, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas
• 1989 Honorable Mention, 31st Annual Invitational Exhibition, Longview Museum of Fine Arts, Longview, Texas, December
• 2002 Best of Show, 42nd Annual Invitational Exhibition, Longview Museum of Fine Arts, Longview, Texas

Selected Public Art Commissions

• 1981 New England Artist Festival, Northampton, Massachusetts, poster
• 1982 University of Massachusetts, Fine Arts Center Auditorium, Art for a Public Space, Amherst, Massachusetts, two murals (4 x 25 feet)
• 1983 Butler & Binyon, Allied Bank Building, Houston, Texas, mural (5 x 25 feet)
• 1983 Foreman and Dyess, Interfirst Plaza, Houston, Texas, mural (6 x 18 feet)
• 1991 Methodist Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, oil on canvas (72 x 60 inches)
• 1991–92 Cistercian Abbey, Irving, Texas, Tabernacle door (bronze)
• 1992 Home Box Office (HBO), Dallas, Texas, oil on canvas (72 x 60 inches)
• 1992 Texas Nature Conservancy, San Antonio, Texas, color intaglio edition printed at Flatbed Press in Austin, Texas
• 1994 8.0 Club, Houston, Texas, mural (8 x 25 feet)
• 1994 Mesa Restaurant, Houston, Texas, mural (15 x 50 feet), ironwork (4 x 44 feet), and painted wood wall relief (4 x 7 feet)
• 1995 VHA, Inc., Dallas, Texas, two oils on canvas (each 50 x 50 inches)
• 2002 University of Texas at Austin, A.C.E.S. Building, Austin, Texas, oil on canvas (72 x 96 inches)
• 2002–05 Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Terminal D, DFW, Texas, design for mosaic floor medallion, Early Morning Flight, 2005 (20 feet in diameter)
• 2002–07 Audubon Society of Texas, Austin, Texas, five limited-edition color lithographs (editions of 30 each)
• 2007–08 Fire Station #34, Sendera Ranch, Fort Worth, Texas, design/implementation of exterior mosaic (3 x 50 feet)
• Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, Dallas, Texas, 2015 - 2018; 5 limited edition color lithographs (editions of 30 each), collaboration with Master Printer Peter Webb, Lucky Strike Press, Austin, Texas

Selected Public Collections

• Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
• Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City, Iowa 
• Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas
• Cistercian Abbey, Irving, Texas
• Crescent Collection, Dallas, Texas
• Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas
• Ellen Noel Museum of Art, Odessa, Texas
• Frito-Lay, Inc., Department of Research and Development, Plano, Texas
• George W. Bush Presidential Center, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, Indian Blanket, South Texas, oil on canvas, 60 x 70 inches
• Home Box Office (HBO), Dallas, Texas
• Longview Museum of Fine Arts, Longview, Texas
• Menil Collection, Houston, Texas
• Methodist Medical Center, Dallas, Texas
• Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas
• Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
• Texas Instruments, Dallas, Texas
• Tyler Museum of Art, Tyler, Texas
• University of Texas, Austin, Texas
• U. S. Consulate General, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Perdenal, 2007, oil on canvas
• VHA, Inc., Dallas, Texas
• Wichita Falls Museum and Art Center, Wichita Falls, Texas