The life of Julian Onderdonk almost perfectly brackets the Impressionist movement in the United States: "The period from about 1885 to 1920 constitutes the years of [Impressionism's] ascendancy [in the United States] and the achievements and innovations of the principal American masters of the movement," writes William H. Gerdts, a leading authority on American Impressionism. One of the "principal masters" was Onderdonk's mentor, William Merritt Chase (1849 - 1916), with whom Onderdonk studied in the Shinnecock Hills on Long Island by 1900. Chase provided the younger Onderdonk with the tools to paint the south-central Texas landscape in the Impressionist style. Onderdonk's and Frank Reaugh's Impressionist landscapes kept Texas in the national avant-garde mix until the former's untimely death.
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| Frank Reaugh "Untitled" oil on canvas |
Julian Onderdonk's Impressionist landscapes certainly inspired exhibitions of paintings of Texas wildflowers in San Antonio from 1927 to 1929, and ultimately gave rise to the ubiquitous "Bluebonnet School," prevalent in Texas even today. In turn, San Antonio reached its zenith as the center for Texas art during this period as the lucrative prize monies offered by the San Antonio Competitive Exhibitions drew artists from other parts of the United States and native-Texan talent blossomed.
The San Antonio Art League sponsored the exhibitions, first called the Texas Wildflower Competitive Exhibition, which revealed "the great possibilities of art in Texas." Wealthy oil man Edgar B. Davis of Luling, enamoured of the state's wildflowers, sponsored the exhibitions, which not only popularized the "Bluebonnet school," but also helped make the flower a state symbol. Ironically, and perhaps paradoxically, Julian Onderdonk wasn't around to see their success.
When President Lyndon B. Johnson hung the works of San Antonio painter Porfirio Salinas in the White House, bluebonnet painting reached a national stage. Salinas and his mentor Robert Wood subsequently helped push central Texas and Hill Country landscapes to their current place at the top of "juste milieu" painting in Texas today.
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| Porfirio Salinas "Springtime in Texas" oil on canvas 63.5 x 76.2 cm |
This is part 1 of a 2-part post on the works of Julian Onderdonk:
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| 1901 Springtime oil on canvas 66 x 91.4 cm |
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| 1902 View of City Rooftops in Winter oil on canvas 39.4 x 55.9 cm |
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| 1903 Arrochar Park, Staten Island oil on board 29.2 x 21.6 cm |
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| 1908 East Loyal Field, New York oil on canvas 49.5 x 75.2 cm |
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| 1909 Autumn Birches, Central Park oil on panel 15.2 x 22.9 cm |
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| 1909 Fall Scene near Sisterdale oil on canvas 49.5 x 74.9 cm |
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| 1910 On The San Antonio River oil on canvas 50.8 x 40.1 cm |
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| 1910 San Antonio River oil on canvas 40.6 x 50.8 cm |
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| 1910 Sunlight and Shadow oil on canvas 40.6 x 61 cm |
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| 1911 A Winter Morning on the Guadalupe River oil on canvas 64.1 x 76.8 cm |
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| 1911 Golden Evening, Southwest Texas oil on canvas 30.5 x 45.7 cm |
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| 1911 Hill Country Lane oil on canvas 63.5 x 77.5 cm |
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| 1911 October Sunlight oil on canvas 22.9 x 30.5 cm |
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| c1911-13 Spring Morning oil on canvas 50.8 x 76.2 cm |
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| c1911-13 Morning in Spring oil on canvas 76.2 x 101.6 cm |
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| 1912 Bluebonnet Field oil on canvas 50.8 x 76.2 cm |
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| 1912 Hudson River View oil on canvas 45.7 x 30.5 cm |
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| 1912 Moonlight in South Texas oil on canvas 76.2 x 91.4 cm |
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| 1913 A Spring Morning, Bluebonnets, San Antonio oil on canvas 76.2 x 101.1 cm |
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| 1913 Sunlit Hillside oil on canvas 40.6 x 61 cm |
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| 1914 On the Guadalupe oil on canvas 20.3 x 24.8 cm |
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| 1915 Blue Bonnets at Late Afternoon oil on canvas 25.4 x 35.6 cm |
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| 1915 Bluebonnets in Texas oil on canvas 108.3 x 138.8 cm |
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| 1915 Cactus in Bloom oil on canvas 30.5 x 40.6 cm |
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| 1915 Live Oak Trees On Williams' Ranch, Bandera County oil on canvas 30.5 x 40.6 cm |
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| c1915 Morning in the Live Oaks, Boerne, Texas oil on canvasboard 30.5 x 40.6 cm |
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| c1917 In the Hills of the Spanish Oaks |
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| 1918 A Cloudy Day, Bluebonnets near San Antonio, Texas oil on canvas 63.8 x 76.5 cm |
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| 1918 Bluebonnets at Late Afternoon, near La Grange, Texas oil on canvas 50.8 x 76.2 cm |
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| c1918 Near San Antonio oil on canvas 76.2 x 101.6 cm |
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| 1919-20 Bluebonnets at Twilight, near San Antonio oil on canvas 50.8 x 76.2 cm |
