Texas in Spring by Julian Onderdonk - Limited Edition
Texas in Spring
Julian Onderdonk was not the first artist to paint our state flower, but pedigree, training, and timing combined to make him the acknowledged king of bluebonnet painters.
His father, Robert Onderdonk, a Marylander, set up his easel in San Antonio in 1878 after training at the National Gallery of Design under the great William Merritt Chase.
He only planned to stay in the Alamo City long enough to earn the funds to book passage to Europe. But he met a girl. You know how that goes.
Julian, born in 1882, took after his father. Julian loved to draw and paint, even while attending military school.
The father saw the son’s potential and sent nineteen-year-old Julian to New York to train under his old mentor, Mr. Chase. But there was only so much New York he could take, and returned to San Antonio in 1909 with his young family.
We’ve covered pedigree and training, but what about that third thing: timing?
Julian Onderdonk was born at precisely the right time. Texas art historian Esse Forrester-O'Brien put it bluntly: "Art is especially slow where scalping is in style."
The frontier had been pushed well west of San Antonio by the time Papa Onderdonk hit town. That’s a good thing, because people looking nervously over their shoulders don’t make good subjects for portraits.
Had Julian been born any earlier, it would not have been safe enough in Texas to encourage a young man’s artistic temperament.
He was also born at exactly the right time to catch the fever for color and light the Impressionists in France were spreading.
Before the Impressionists, the style in landscapes had been somber scenes for contemplation. Here was something bold, alive and full of light. Even old William Merritt Chase had adopted the new style. It’s what he taught to young Julian on excursions to the countryside where he revealed the secrets of painting en plein air (in the open air).
It was exactly the kind of work Julian wanted to do. He wrote home, "I long to get out in the open air with my palette in one hand and my brush in the other and be able to smear paint over the whole landscape."
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Julian Onderdonk at his easel. In the Spring 1909, back home in Texas, Julian took brush in hand to capture nature’s yearly symphony in blue and no painter had before. When these new Texas scenes were exhibited, the public was enthralled. Texas art lovers clambered to get ahold of an Onderdonk canvas. To this day his bluebonnet landscapes are the most valuable works of their kind, with some examples topping a half million dollars. |
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It makes you wonder wonder how his work might have changed over time. We'll never know. Julian Onderdonk painted Texas bluebonnets for just thirteen springs. In October of 1922 Julian suffered a an intestinal obstruction and sought medical help too late. He was just forty years old. |
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In the decades that followed, Julian Onderdonk became something of a mythical figure in San Antonio. His paintings were reproduced on Christmas cards and small prints were sold to tourists at the old Joske's department store a stone's throw from the Alamo. |
Physical Details
- 24 by 15 inches
- Limited Edition of 254 copies
- Each is hand-numbered
- Museum Quality Reproduction
The paper is acid free, cold press cotton with an elegant ever so lightly textured finish. This surface allows the inks to 'bite', reproducing the shading and tonality of the original map vividly, beautifully, and exactly.
The inks are guaranteed color-fast for 80 years, which means you won't need to lay out the extra money for UV glass. You can hang your map in direct sun and it will be just as bright when they are passed on to the next generation it is the day it ships.
It's an instant heirloom. Get yours before they're gone...and get one to give to a friend. He'll owe you!
