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Critics' Verdicts:
"Thumbs
Up"
Alex Burton, Senior News Source:
" ...For
students of Texas history the twelve court house set is a must, just as they
would go a long way toward smartening up any office or business reception and
lobby areas." See: Extended
Review
Kent Biffle,
Dallas Morning News Texana columnist:
"Mr. Morgan is an
expert on Texas courthouses...Morgan, a historian-artist, is to Texas
courthouses what Claude Monet is to water lilies...and, yes, he does justice to
courthouses."
Mavis P.
Kelsey, Sr., MD-co-author of The Courthouses of Texas (Texas A&M University
Press, 1993) and author of several other books on Texas history:
"I think his work will rank up there with Buck Schiwetz's in its
contribution to Texas history." Note: Edward Muegge "Buck" Schiwetz
(1898-1984), Texas' Official State Artist in 1977-78, produced several books
and specialized in painting Texas scenes with courthouses prominent among them.
Southwestern Historical
Quarterly, published by the Texas State Historical Association (October
1994):
"A new look at Texas' old courthouses and how they
came to be is on the market..."
James Steely, Southwestern Historical Quarterly (July
2001):
"…a style that trims the trees, cars and
business districts away to focus on the fine details of each building…his
generous horizontal format combines a highly detailed pen-and-ink framework for
each courthouse, seemingly delineating each brick and stone, with brilliant
watercolors that highlight the broad palette of finish materials on his
examples…these landmarks are constantly changing and the latest trend of
rehabilitation, rather than demolition, is change for the better. If you've
visited only one, or reached the aficionado's goal of 254, it's time to tank
up, gather your maps and courthouse books, and visit them again."
Bob Phillips, Texas Country
Reporter:
"It's made him a celebrity of sorts but it's the
buildings, he says, that are the real stars…it's the buildings, he says,
that are the brick and mortar reminders of Texas' past, present and future."
Texas Highways
Magazine:
"Artist and courthouse historian Bill Morgan's
detailed paintings and extensive histories make it fun to learn…."
Susan Parrott, Associated
Press:
"Morgan took courthouse chronicling to new
levels…he turned his love of the grand structures into intricate color
drawings…Morgan's trading in some Old Friends for hundreds of new ones-a
devoted base of clients who send him heartfelt letters, snippets of historical
trivia and stories of yesteryear."
Ken Ellsworth, The Abilene Reporter-News:
"(his works) feature Morgan's beautifully detailed, color drawings of Texas
courthouses…sadly, the 1999 edition concludes the series…I've got
mine hanging up already. It is brightening my 1999 even before the new year
gets here."
Burke Watson,
The Houston Chronicle:
"Some folks like beefcake/cheesecake
calendars…others go for cartoons, adorable little kittens or majestic
scenes of natural beauty. And then there's Bill Morgan…with his finely
detailed paintings."
Jim
Lewis, editor of County Magazine, published by the Texas Association of
Counties, in a review of Morgan's final calendar:
"The bad
news is that Morgan has decided to hang up his paint brushes for now."
Betsy Craig, Texas County
Progress, The Business Magazine of Texas County Government:
"Courthouse buffs saddened by the publication this year (1999) of Bill Morgan's
fifth and final calendar series can take heart-the five editions of Old
Friends: Great Texas Courthouses are being combined into a hardbound
coffee-table book."
Bill
Sanderson, Texas Co-op Power Magazine:
"Morgan has fun with
his courthouse illustrations…perhaps only a sense of romantic mystery
could fuel Morgan's artistic drive for such detail: - drawing thousands of
bricks in each courthouse wall...Morgan simply says, "It's kind of like eating
an elephant. One bite at a time and it's not so hard'."
See: Extended Review
Lyn Blackmon, The Texarkana
Gazette:
"Morgan not only gives us wonderful color
drawings, he also gives us a lively account of history."
Sam Wyckoff, The Alice Daily
Echo:
"Bill Morgan combined his talents in a unique
way…he put art and history together."
Texas Illustrated Magazine:
"Bill Morgan has
been producing some fine calendars…focusing them around his own artistic
renderings…the Gillespie County courthouse at Fredericksburg: doesn't it
look just like a courthouse in Fredericksburg ought to look?" |
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