Current Exhibitions

JANUARY 20 - JULY 15, 2012
RICK RIORDAN’S WORLD OF MYTH & MYSTERY

New York Times #1 best-selling author Rick Riordan is creator of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, the Kane Chronicles, the Heroes of Olympus, and the storyline and first volume of the 39 Clues. He is also the author of the multi-award-winning Tres Navarre mystery series for adults. A resident of San Antonio, Texas, Riordan was a schoolteacher for fifteen years before becoming a fulltime writer. In recognition of his distinctive achievements and his inspirational impact on readers young and old, Texas State’s Wittliff Collections present this exhibition showcasing the Riordan Collection—now one of the major archives at the Wittliff—to which the author has been generously donating since 2004. Among the objects on view are Riordan’s early journals, unpublished manuscripts, and his first rejection letter (received as an eighth grader), book proposals, story ideas, and materials that illuminate his working process, such as hand-drawn plot maps. Numerous photographs and other artifacts testify to the phenomenal worldwide appeal of his Percy Jackson series. One highlight is the original sword, “Riptide,” used in the 2010 film adaptation of The Lightning Thief. Exhibition curated by Steve Davis with assistance from Kenneth Fontenot.

MAY 11, 2012: A TALK BY RICK RIORDAN:  The Wittliff Collections present a talk by Rick Riordan followed by an audience Q&A on the Texas State campus. TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT.

JANUARY 23 – AUGUST 5, 2012    
TIMELESS MEXICO: The Photographs of Hugo Brehme

Texas State’s Wittliff Collections present Timeless Mexico, an exhibition of over 120 of Hugo Brehme’s masterful photographs of early twentieth-century Mexico. One of that country’s first modern photographers, Brehme focused on iconic subjects ranging from the Mexican Revolution to scenic landscapes, colonial architecture, and the everyday life of indigenous peoples. Included are his vintage real photo postcards and hand-tinted photographs published in Timeless Mexico: The Photographs of Hugo Brehme by Susan Toomey Frost, the newest volume in the Wittliff’s Southwestern & Mexican Photography Book Series with UT Press. A longtime Brehme expert, Frost donated her major collection of the photographer's work to the Wittliff in 2009. Exhibition curated by Carla Ellard, with assistance from Kenneth Fontenot.

SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 2012:
The exhibition reception and book launch will feature Susan Frost and Dennis Brehme, grandson of Hugo Brehme, as guest speakers, and a book signing with Frost, Brehme, and the author of the foreword, art historian Stella de Sá Rego. See the Events page for details.

^{[above] Taxco, State of Guerrero, by Hugo Brehme}

JANUARY 23 – AUGUST 5, 2012  
FACE TO FACE: Portraits from the Photography Collection

More than 50 photographs bring viewers face-to-face with a study in humanity—from the famous to the homeless—in portraiture from the permanent holdings of Texas State’s Wittliff Collections. Among the images of authors, artists, and ordinary people, musicians, cowboys, and revolutionaries are icons Che Guevara by Rodrigo Moya, Georgia O’Keefe by Yousuf Karsh, Willie Nelson by Annie Leibovitz, Horton Foote by Keith Carter, Frida Kahlo by Héctor García, and Texas State Distinguished Alumnus George Strait by Michael O’Brien. The exhibition presents traditional portraits, candid images, and a variety of environmental and creative approaches. Conventional darkroom printing, tintype, and other processes are represented in works by 35 photographers, including Jayne Hinds Bidaut, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Ave Bonar, Earlie Hudnall, Graciela Iturbide, Robb Kendrick, O. Rufus Lovett, Lee Marmon, Jeff Wilson, Dan Winters, Kathy Vargas, Will Van Overbeek, Laura Wilson, and Bill Wittliff. Exhibition curated by Carla Ellard.

^{[above] Frida Kahlo hugging one of her xoloitzcuintles, Coyoacan, Ciudad de Mexico, 1952 by Héctor García}

MAY 14 – 18, 2012: The Lonesome Dove Exhibit will be CLOSED all week due to an electrical outage. All other exhibits are open and will be on view from 8am-5pm, Monday – Friday.

ON PERMANENT DISPLAY
THE LONESOME DOVE COLLECTION

From hats to gun belts to boots, the complete outfits of Augustus “Gus” McCrae, Jake Spoon, and Woodrow F. Call (played by Robert Duvall, Robert Urich, and Tommy Lee Jones) are just a few of the many “making of” materials on permanent display from the beloved miniseries based on Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. This exhibition from the Wittliff’s major Lonesome Dove production archive takes visitors behind the scenes of the Emmy-winning show, with a look at props and principal costumes, set designs, costume sketches and production notes, Bill Wittliff's screenplay drafts, script pages, and photographs, plus much, much more.

Tour the Lonesome Dove Collection online.

Purchase A Book of Photographs from Lonesome Dove by Bill Wittliff.

^{[above] Texas Rangers Gus McCrae, Jake Spoon, and Woodrow Call, photograph used on set during the filming of Lonesome Dove}