Richard Wray (December 5, 1933 - January 9, 2011[1]) was an American abstract expressionist painter whose work had an influence on the art scene in Houston, Texas.

[6][non-primary source needed] Wray travelled to Europe in 1958 in order to discover what he believed was the "center" of the art world.

In effect, Wray deviated away from architecture and, equipped with new knowledge of European expressionism, returned to Texas at age 26 to begin his career as a painter.

According to the William Reaves Fine Art Gallery, Wray's work has been exhibited widely throughout the country, including in Texas, New York, California, and Oklahoma.

[2][better source needed] In 1962, Wray's submission to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH) exhibition, "The Southwest: Painting and Sculpture", received the Ford Foundation Purchase Prize.

[14] James Harithas, director of the Station Museum of Contemporary Art, explained that "As far as the locals were concerned, Dick was one of the only painters who had been working seriously and with commitment".

According to Koenig of the Houston Press, art collector Earl Weed described Wray's paintings as "irksome, messy explosions with no apparent rhyme or reason".

[14] Regarding Wray's display at the 1977 exhibit Texas Today: Three Exhibitions at the Fort Worth Art Museum, writer and critic Michael Mewsha of the Texas Monthly remarked that "Detracting from this fundamentally solid performance is the entirely arbitrary superimposition of crude, childlike scrawls in what appears to be a halfhearted effort to incorporate a sense of raw, funky 'Texas' personality".