Born near Jacksonville, Illinois, Frank Reaugh moved with his family to Terrell, Texas, at the age of sixteen. He soon began sketching the open range near the family homestead and documented several cattle drives from Texas to Kansas. Reaugh studied art formally at the School of Fine Arts in St. Louis, Missouri, and later taught art classes to finance his studies at the Académie Julian in Paris.
Reaugh became known as the “Dean of Texas Painters” for the many students he taught. As part of his teaching practice, he often led plein air painting expeditions, traveling with his students across the countryside in a specially constructed Model T Ford. Through his work, Reaugh sought to record the early days of the Texas open range, capturing the nuances of weather and atmosphere. Wild longhorn cattle frequently appear in his work and later became an iconic symbol of the state.
