Julian Onderdonk (Texas / New York, 1882-1922), untitled scene of farmhouse with figure and scattered bluebonnets, with restoration work by Dwight Clay Holmes (Texas / California, 1900-1986), with explanatory note by Holmes affixed to verso reading "This 11 x 14" canvas on stretcher was very badly cracked so it was restored. It's a back barn yard with windmill and other buildings with woman and hoe as central figure. Cloudy sky, fall or winter trees. Given to Mr. Carl Hoppe by Eleanor Onderdonk -- Julian's sister. See slides of before and after restoration [slides lost]. D. C. Holmes" ; oil on canvas, no visible signature

sight: 11 x 14 in., frame: 17.5 x 22 in.

Provenance: Originally "given to Mr. Carl Hoppe by Eleanor Onderdonk" according to Holmes's note to verso; thence property from a prominent South Texas estate collection; proceeds from the sale of this lot will benefit the Briscoe Western Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas

Julian Onderdonk is perhaps the premier landscape artist of the Texas art tradition. His many vibrant and naturalistic plein-air wildflower paintings are renowned for their treatment of the bluebonnet, a hitherto unexploited subject. He was the son and student of artist Robert Jenkins Onderdonk, also a prominent Texas painter. At the turn of the 20th century, Onderdonk painted in the tradition of the Hudson Valley School in New York, later traveling to Texas for the balance of his career. His paintings are in prominent institutions and collections in the United States.

Dwight Clay Holmes began his study of art early, in Galveston, Texas, under the instruction of artist William de Leftwich Dodge. He entered Texas Christian University in 1918, studying formal art technique under instructor Dura Brokaw Cockrell. Impressively, Holmes was able to pay his way through college from the sale of his artwork, and after graduating he began to travel across Texas looking for landscapes to depict. He was especially drawn to the beauty of the Davis Mountains and surrounding country in West Texas. He also painted landscapes in Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Mexico, also traveling abroad to Germany and Austria. However, he often returned home to paint in the parks of Fort Worth.