I read on the Lee Alumni page on FB that our beloved Henri Gadbois passed away this past Saturday, October 13, 2018. He was loved by so many students, and certainly those of us who were fortunate enough to have him as our homeroom teacher. He will be missed dearly by students and the art world, and we thank him for the beauty he put into this world.
Henri Gadbois, a founding member of Houston’s early contemporary art scene, died Saturday. He was 87.
The prolific Gadbois, who was primarily a painter and ceramicist, never tired of making art, sharing a large home studio until his final days with his wife of 62 years, the painter Leila McConnell.
One of Houston’s first and longest-surviving art power couples, Gadbois and McConnell both showed at DuBose, one of the city’s first major contemporary art galleries, in the 1960s before the rise of younger generations in the 1970s.
Both were rediscovered in the past decade or so through the work of the Houston Early Texas Art Group, a cadre of active collectors who want to preserve the city’s art history and now regularly stage exhibitions of work produced during the mid-20th century or earlier. Gadbois’ paintings are included in a pair of related shows this fall, “South and North of the Border,” which are showing at the Heritage Society Museum and the Houston Public Library’s Julia Ideson Building.
Gadbois began painting in the 1940s as a teenager in his parents’ Houston garage. In some ways, he was following footsteps: His father painted billboards, and one of his grandfathers painted religious scenes for churches. Gadbois veered toward modern art with the encouragement of a teacher at Lamar High School, then earned art degrees at the University of Houston and staged his first solo show in 1953, at James Bute Gallery.
Although his paintings were selling well in the late 1960s, Gadbois turned his focus to teaching in that decade, inspiring multiple generations of students during his 30 years as an art teacher at Lee High School. He founded a highly successful Faux Foods enterprise in the 1980s almost by accident, after creating a painted clay trophy for the winner of the school’s annual Key Club grapefruit sale.
For many years, Gadbois provided realistic-looking food displays for Bayou Bend, becoming known as one of America’s leading craftsmen. (He made the pineapple ornament that topped the White House Christmas tree in 1999.)
Most recently, he had taken up the fine craft of art glass. “I’m an addict,” he jokingly told the Chronicle in 2016.
His Facebook page filled with tributes Monday, as friends and former students heard the news of his passing. “He was the most creative person I ever met,” wrote his niece Gaynor Adbois Lubojasky. She also praised his kind nature: “He loved people gently and well.”
Gadbois is survived by McConnell; son David Gadbois, daughter Laura Gadbois, and their families. Reaves|Foltz Fine Art, 2143 Westheimer, will host a reception honoring Gadbois from 3-5 p.m. Saturday.
