Brother Cletus Behlmann (San Antonio, Texas, 1933-2016), Western mountain landscape, oil on panel, with artist-painted border frame

sight: 23.5 x 24 in., panel frame: 30 x 30 in.

Provenance: Originally commissioned by the St. Mary's University Law Library, hung for decades, acquired from the above by the present owner

Brother Cletus Behlmann, known to most as "Brother Cletus" was a Marianist brother as well as a prolific artist of vivid expression across multiple mediums. In his many years based at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas, Brother Cletus gained fame for his brightly-colored depictions of both secular (San Antonio landmarks, landscapes, birds) as well as religious (churches, sacred figures, crosses) subject matter. Raised near St. Louis Missouri, Behlmann graduated from St Marys in 1956 and formally joined the Society of Mary in 1958. Receiving a dispensation from the congregation to pursue art as his vocation, he then studied at Chicago Institute of Art as well as at Washington University. He returned to San Antonio in 1977 and began to produce artworks in metal, acrylics, watercolor, batik, pastels, stained glass, ceramics, handmade paper, linoleum prints, crayon and other media. His high level of productivity was perhaps only matched by his generosity, with Behlmann often donating his artworks to charities. His legacy lives on in private and institutional collections across Texas.