Richard Gordon Stout discovered art at an early age. According to Stout, “among my early paintings there really seems to be a destination on the horizon. You never know quite what is out there, or where it is going to take you. Getting there is always something of an adventure, and when you do arrive, the destination is often different from what you presumed it would be.” When looking at Great Emblem, created by Stout in his early thirties, the viewer is lured into an adventure. This adventure begins at the composition’s horizon. In the foreground, the viewer is immediately confronted by two triangular shapes, two mountains. At the peak of the mountains sits a celestial body of sorts outlined in vibrant blue. Compositionally centered and surrounded by blueish black, this cloudy, trefoil emblem is evocative and inviting. It offers a conceptual path forward. The path forward is clearly defined, yet the territory is unknown. The destination of Great Emblem is subjective, found whenever and wherever the viewer chooses. But its invitation to search, to adventure, is readily apparent.

Stout was born in Beaumont in 1934. While in high school, Stout spent his summers studying at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. He attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago on a full scholarship. He graduated with a BFA in 1957. In 1958, Stout had his first solo exhibition at the Beaumont Art Museum. The following year, he took a faculty position at the Museum School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Stout earned a MFA from the University of Texas at Austin in 1969. He served as a professor of art at the University of Houston from 1969 until his retirement in 1996. Stout’s art is represented in the collections of the Butler Institute of American Art, the McNay Art Museum, the Menil Collection, and the MFAH.