Robert Jenkins Onderdonk (Texas / Maryland, 1852-1917), "Tranquil Scene", oil on canvas, signed lower right, circa 1895

sight: 16 x 20 in., frame: 21.5 x 25.5 in.

Provenance: Property from a Fort Worth, Texas collection

Exhibited: "An American View: The Hosek Collection of American Art", at the Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts in Spring, Texas, 2009

Robert Jenkins Onderdonk is noted for his landscape and portrait paintings and also for his fine art teaching. Onderdonk was born in Catonsville, Maryland in 1852. He was the father of Robert Julian Onderdonk and Eleanor Rogers Onderdonk, also distinguished Texas artists. He studied at the College of St. James, Catonsville, followed by the National Academy of Design in 1872 under the instruction of Lemuel Everett Wilmarth. In 1875, Onderdonk attended Art Students League of New York and received instruction from Walter Shirlaw, James Carroll Beckwith and William Merritt Chase. Onderdonk moved to San Antonio, Texas in 1878 where he made a living teaching and selling his paintings. In 1889 he moved to Dallas, where he painted several portraits for the Huburt Portrait Company, followed by employment with the Art Students League of Dallas. In 1896, Onderdonk returned to San Antonio, Texas where he continued to paint until his death in 1917.