Testing His Stirrups

Born at Paris, Texas, Bywaters moved to Dallas in 1917. He studied at Southern Methodist University, the Dallas Art Institute, and the Art Students League. He helped found the Dallas Artists League and the Lone Star Printmakers and exhibited in most of the major Texas art exhibitions held before World War II. In 1942 Bywaters became director of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, a post he held until 1964. Bywaters sketched the scene depicted in Testing His Stirrups at a rodeo in Fairplay, Colorado. Purchase funded by the Ned O. and Linda Miller Acquisition Fund