Texas - Paintings

A Ray of Light is a new painting by Marthann Masterton completed in her Houston studio. It is 48" x 36" , acrylic on canvas. They say that if you do what you love, you’ll never work...

Figurative portrait painting by Houston-based artist Buford Evans. The work features a black figure dressed in red holding a spear. Signed and dated by the artist in the front lower ...

Modern abstract tropical landscape painting by the iconic Houston based artist David Adickes. The work features a group of three figures riding horses through palm trees against a ye...

E. Salazar Texas Artist Image Size: 60 x 36 Frame Size: 67 x 43 Medium: Oil Painted 2025 "Lakota Sioux Brave" depicted 1840s The Lakota; Lakota: Lakȟóta or Lakhóta) are a Native Ame...

This work is a part of the "Geometric Abstraction" series. Within the "Geometric Abstraction" series, the image happens in a moment - I create geometric forms, combining them in ecc...

Abstract expressionist oil painting by contemporary Houston artist Benji Stiles. The work features gestural marks in pastel orange, tan, blue, and green set against an off-white back...

Contemporary abstract figurative painting by Frisco Pete, The Wild West Art Wrangler. The work features a central female singer performing at a bar in front of a crowd. Signed, title...

Early historical portrait in the style of William Aikman believed to be of David Carnegie, 4th Earl of Northesk, a Scottish peer and politician. The work features the central figure ...

Oil painting measures 12 x 9; frame dimensions measure 19 3/8 x 16 3/8 x 3. Housed in an elegant gold-tone frame with decorative edges. Illegible signature, lower right.

Neutral toned gestural abstract painting by contemporary artist Ian Francis. The work features a variety of gestural marks accented by small beige, black, and yellow shapes set again...

A colorful burst of spring set in the hills of an Italian town. Oil on canvas board measures 12 x 16; frame dimensions are 16 3/4 x 20 3/4 x 1 1/2. Housed in a decorative silver-colo...

Waterline Fine Art, Austin, TX is pleased to present the following work: Oil on canvas. Signed lower right, titled and inventoried verso. 43.25 x 47.25 in. 44.75 x 48.5 in. (framed...

In The New York Times Arts in America column, Edward M. Gomez writes of Valton Tyler, "visionary seems the right word for describing his vivid, unusual and technically refined painti...

Colorful abstract cowboy portrait painting by contemporary artist Ian Francis. The work features a western inspired figure with a shadowed face dressed in orange set against a magent...

Abstract landscape by Stephen Thomas Rascoe, 1924 - 2008, oil on board. Stephen Rascoe is a classically trainer artist whose works can be found in countless museums and private colle...

Surrealist naturalistic jungle landscape painting by wildlife artist Bo Newell. The work features a pair of jaguars emerging from a picture of dense jungle foliage. Signed in the fro...

Neutral toned gestural abstract painting by contemporary artist Ian Francis. The work features a variety of gestural marks in white and black, accented by small beige shapes. Signed,...

As the Days wash over Me‐ Egg Tempera ‐ Tempera Prepped Aluminum panel ‐ 12 x 24 is by E. Melinda Morrison who lives in Fort Worth Texas. Also posted are other paintings available b...

Contemporary pop art inspired pixelated abstraction of Polish artist Tamara de Lempicka's painting 'Young Lady with Gloves.' Similar to pointillism, the individual hand-painted block...

Oil on canvas canvas size: 24 x 36 in. frame size: 37 x 49 in. A Texas Icon: abundant pastures blanket in breath-taking blue. This gorgeous landscape scene by Royce Roberts...

Neutral toned gestural abstract painting by contemporary artist Ian Francis. The work features a variety of gestural marks accented by black, pink, and yellow shapes set against a ta...

Realistic pastel toned desert mountain landscape painting by Texas artist David Caton. The work features a rolling mountain range with desert brush and grass in the foreground. Signe...

Donald Vogel was inspired by gardens throughout his painting career. Before moving to Dallas, as a student at the Art Institute of Chicago in the late 1930's, Vogel's studio was a block away from Chicago's Lincoln Park...

Contemporary colorful pastoral landscape by Texas based artist Jacob Spacek. The work features a windmill set against a vibrant blue sky and green field. Signed by the artist in the ...

Vibrant abstract gouache with purple, blues, oranges, and green colors by British artist Stephen Priestner, 2008. Displayed on a white mat with a gold border and fits a standard-size...

G. Harvey (Gerald Harvey Jones) (1933-2017) San Antonio, Austin, and Fredericksburg Artist Image Size: 30 x 24 Frame Size: 44 x 38 Medium: Oil on canvas “ Gift Of Rain “ G. Harvey (G...

Modern abstract painting of grass and leaves in varying blues, grays, reds, gold, and browns by artist Spe, 2013. Signed lower right. Original artwork on paper displayed on a whit...

André Hambourg (French, 1909-1999) Les fruits d'automne, 1957 Oil on canvas Canvas Dimensions: 9 x 13-3/4 inches (22.9 x 34.9 cm) Framed Dimensions: 14.75 X 20 X 2.5 Inches Signed lo...

The overall dimensions including the frame are 70 x 42 inches. Donald Vogel’s paintings reflect his interest in seeking beauty in life and in sharing pleasure with his viewers. Voge...

G. Harvey (Gerald Harvey Jones) (1933-2017) San Antonio, Austin, and Fredericksburg Artist Image Size: 24 x 30 Frame Size: 33 x 39 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dated 1972 "Spring Shadows" B...

Contemporary abstract figurative painting by Frisco Pete, The Wild West Art Wrangler. The work features a central cowboy figure riding on horseback. Signed in the front lower right c...

Valley House Gallery is honored to present a selection of paintings from the estate of American artist, John Hartell (1902-1995). John Hartell taught two disciplines at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York: freshman architecture and graduate painting. He was a much-loved professor there from 1930 until his retirement in 1967; one of his most illustrious students is the architect Richard Meier. As an artist, Hartell's first solo exhibition was in 1937 at Kleeman Gallery in New York. He exhibited at Kraushaar Galleries in New York for four decades, beginning in 1943. The Hartell Gallery at Cornell University, under the Sibley Dome, is named for him. In describing John Hartell, the artist Michael Boyd...

Chuck Mauldin Born 1949 Fredericksburg Artist Image Size: 18 x 14 Frame Size: 22 x 18 Medium: Oil "Spring In Her Step" Cattle Landscape Texas A native of Texas, Chuck Mauldin has been painting in oil since the age of twelve. His interest in watercolor and pencil drawing grew during his years spent in Louisiana. With his move back to Texas, he has renewed his focus on oil painting, using this medium in a realistic yet painterly style. Striving to quickly capture color and mood with a direct "alla prima" technique is one of his main objectives in painting outdoors on-location. Cows, cowboys and Native Americans often enrich the landscape in his studio work, while anything can inspire his plein air paintings. Workshops with Charles Sovek, Kevin Macpherson, and many others have played a significant role in his development as an artist. He is a member of Oil Painters of America and has achieved Signature membership status in the Louisiana Watercolor Society and the Plein Air Artists of Colorado. Chuck has won numerous awards and has had work accepted into prestigious national juried competitions, such as the Oil Painters of America National Show (2020, 2021), Western Regional Show (2016, 2021, 2022) and Salon Show (2016, 2020). After 28 years in Louisiana, Chuck and his wife, Barbara, moved to Fredericksburg, Texas, in 2005, in order to pursue their passion for art on a full-time basis. In 2008, Chuck started teaching a beginner’s oil painting class and later intermediate classes in composition, landscape painting, and limited palettes. He is represented by Charles Morin Fine Art in Fredericksburg, Texas. Degrees in chemistry from Southern Methodist University (B.S.) and the University of Texas (PhD) led to Chuck's career in research at ExxonMobil Process Research Labs in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He presently holds 57 U.S. patents in the field of catalysis. He and Barbara have two sons and a daughter, and 8 perfect grandchildren. An Eagle Scout...

W. A. Slaughter (1923 - 2003) Dallas / San Antonio Artist Size: 30 x 40 Frame: 40 x 50 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dated 1974 "Banks of Blue" Texas Bluebonnets Biography W. A. Slaughter (1...

This geometric abstract painting belongs to the "Geometric Abstraction" series, a collection that explores the interplay of shapes, tones, and movement to create depth, balance, and ...

Fluid circular abstract in gold and blue with pop of yellow, circa 2000. Signed lower right. Original artwork on paper displayed on a white mat with a gold border. Mat fits a stan...

Wanda Northen "Blue Abstract" c. 1960s Oil paint on board 20.25"x24.25" silver period frame Signed in paint lower right artists label on reverse

Blue and white abstract contemporary concentric oval shaped painting by Houston, TX artist David Hardaker. Signed, titled, and dated by the artist on the reverse. Artist Statement: ...

Pretty Peach Excess from Chloe Hedden’s Excess series captures the interplay between material abundance and emotional depth through thick, sculptur...

Contemporary abstract painting by Houston, TX artist Tra' Slaughter. The painting features two amorphous circles balanced on each other set against a light yellow background. Signed,...

Contemporary large scale abstract floral painting by Texas based artist Wood Anthony Francher. Inspired by Mexican floral embroidery patterns and textiles, the work is a burst of bol...

Neutral toned abstract cowboy portrait painting by contemporary artist Ian Francis. The work features a western inspired figure with a shadowed face dr...

Modern abstract ink and watercolor drawing by Houston born artist Arthur Turner. The work features energetic black lines accented with blocks of purple. Signed and dated along the ri...

Pink and orange abstract contemporary circular painting by Houston, TX artist David Hardaker. Signed, titled, and dated by the artist on the reverse. Artist Statement: The work is ...

This geometric abstract painting belongs to the "Geometric Abstraction" series, a collection that explores the interplay of shapes and tones to create depth, balance, and harmony. G...

Contemporary colorful painting by Houston-based artist Peter Healy. The work features expressive pink, blue, yellow, and red strokes against a light gray background. Signed, titled, ...

Donald Stacy "Purple Head" c.1950s Gouache and oil pastel on paper 13.75" x 17" unframed Unsigned Came from artist's estate Donald Stacy (1925-2008) New Jersey Studied: Newark School of Fine Art The Art Students League Pratt Graphic Arts Center University of Paris 1953-54 University of Aix-en-Provence 1954-55 Faculty: Art Department of the New School Museum of Modern Art School of Visual Arts Stacy Studio Workshop Exhibitions: Grand Central Moderns George Wittenborn The New School Print Exhibitions, Chicago University of Oklahoma Honolulu Museum Monclair Museum Wisconsin State College Louisiana Art Commission Philadelphia Print...

Neutral toned gestural abstract painting by contemporary artist Ian Francis. The work features a variety of gestural marks in white and tan, accented by a black circle in the upper l...

G. Harvey (Gerald Harvey Jones) (1933-2017) San Antonio, Austin, and Fredericksburg Artist Image Size: 12 x 9 Frame Size: 26 x 23 1985 "My Garden" G. Harvey (Gerald Harvey Jones) (19...

Sylvia Rutkoff (1919-2011) Sr5-1 c.1960s “Crossed Arms” Acrylic on Masonite 36x42 period frame Unsigned Collection acquired from family estate

Pedro Lazcano (1909-1970) San Antonio Artist Image Size: 8 x 10 Frame Size: 15.75 x 17.75 Medium: Oil "Bluebonnet Hills" Pedro Lazcano (1909-1970) I was always curious about Pedro La...

Donald Vogel’s paintings reflect his interest in seeking beauty in life and in sharing pleasure with his viewers. Vogel entreats us to "rejoice and celebrate each new day, knowing it...

G. Harvey (Gerald Harvey Jones) (1933-2017) San Antonio, Austin, and Fredericksburg Artist Image Size: 20 x 24 Frame: 30 x 34 Medium: Oil On Canvas "Gathering Strays" Hereford Cattle...

E.G. Edward Eisenlohr (1872 - 1961) Dallas Artist Image Size: 11 x 14 Frame Size: 14 x 18 Medium: Oil "Old Path Home" Biography E.G. Edward Eisenlohr (1872 - 1961) Edward Gustav Eise...

Patricia Zippin View Through the Window 1980s Mixed Media 20"x 14.25" white wood gallery frame float mount 24.5"x19.5 Patricia Jayne Zippin (1930-2015) She was born to Ben and Dorot...

Named by the New York times as an outstanding artist of the mid 20th century, David A. Rhodes (1933-2019) was an award winning Artist, Author and Woodworker from Absecon, NJ. This ac...

Louisiana Parish shows the people gathering for the Sunday worship in the countryside of Louisiana. Many people would go to the service in the morning,m go home for lunch and a nap and come back for the evening service. Sunday was a day of rest for these people. No shopping, no cell phone, a day devoted to the Lord. A versatile and prolific painter and sculptor, Kirby Daniel Rogere was born in Jeanerette, Louisiana on February 14, 1929 to Marguerite Minvielle and Kirby Serafin Rogere. He painted still lifes, landscapes and abstracts. Rogère's art was influenced by both his Cajun upbringing as well as by great artists, classical musicians and places from around the globe. His work is populated with dancers...

Porfirio Salinas (1910-1973) San Antonio Artist Image Size: 27 x 33 Frame Size: 35 x 41 Medium: Oil On Canvas Late 1940s-Early 1950s "Bluebonnet Time" Texas Hill Country Landscape Biography Porfirio Salinas (1910-1973) Porfirio Salinas was a self-taught artist who painted landscapes of Central Texas with an emphasis on the vast bluebonnet fields that grow there in the springtime. Born in 1910 in Bastrop, Texas, he attended public schools in San Antonio. He also observed works in progress by the director of the San Antonio Art School, Jose Arpa, as well as landscape painter, Robert Wood. Wood is said to have paid Salinas five dollars a picture to paint bluebonnets because "he hated to paint bluebonnets". Salinas served in the military from 1943 to 1945. Although he was assigned to Fort Sam Houston, he was allowed to live at home. At the fort, Colonel Telesphor Gottchalk assigned him to paint murals for the officer's lounge and various other projects, and Salinas continued to be able to paint during his entire conscripted period. Even before he achieved notoriety among galleries, dealers, and museums, Salinas was widely followed and appreciated by many Texans, including former President Lyndon B. Johnson, who may be considered responsible for launching Salinas popularity beyond the boundaries of Texas. In 1973, Texas capital, Austin, honored Salinas for having "done much to bring the culture of Mexico and Texas closer together with his paintings". Salinas died in April 1973 in San Antonio, Texas. From the years of the Great Depression through President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society of the 1960s, Texan Porfirio Salinas (1910-1973) remained one of the Lone Star State's most popular artists. Today, his works remain popular with Texas collectors and those who love landscapes of the beautiful "Hill Country" that lies in the center of the state. One of the first Mexican-American painters to become widely recognized for his art, Salinas was a favorite of President Lyndon Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird Johnson, as well as of Sam Rayburn, the longest-serving Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Texas Governor John Connelly. In fact, President Johnson was so enamored with his Salinas paintings that the artist will forever be associated with America's first Texas-born President. Works by Porfirio Salinas are in a number of museum collections, grace the halls of the Texas State Capitol and the Governor's Mansion in Austin, and are included in virtually every major private collection of Early Texas Art. Porfirio Salinas was born on November 6, 1910 near the small town of Bastrop, Texas, about thirty miles from Austin. His father, Porfirio G. Salinas (1881-1967), and his mother, Clara G. Chavez, struggled to make a hardscrabble living as tenant farmers, but eventually were forced to give up farming. The family moved to San Antonio, where Salinas' father was able to get a job working as a laborer for the railroad, but the scenic area around Bastrop, with its pine trees and the wide expanse of the Rio Grande River, would forever remain a touchstone for the artist. For the rest of his life, Salinas and his brothers went back frequently to visit their grandmother in her little farmhouse. When in Bastrop, Porfirio painted on the banks of the Rio Grande or in the groves of pine trees. The Salinas family was close-knit and Porfirio was the middle child of five children, so he had an older brother and sister as well as a younger brother and sister. His mother was a native of Mexico, so throughout his childhood the family made the long drive to Mexico to visit Clara Salinas' family. As a child growing up in the bi-lingual section of San Antonio, Salinas drew and painted incessantly and by the time he was ten, he was already producing work that was mature enough to sell to his schoolteachers. Many years later in an article in the New York Times he was described as a "boy whose textbooks were seldom opened and whose sketchbook was never closed." Instead of studying, the young artist spent his spare time watching artists paint in and around San Antonio. As an aspiring painter, Salinas was fortunate to grow up in the historic city, which had the most active art scene in Texas. It was his exposure to older, professional painters that encouraged the precocious young painter to leave school early in order to help his family and pursue a career as a professional artist, despite his father's inability to see art as a career with any future for his son. When Salinas was about fifteen he came to know the artist Robert W. Wood (1889-1979). He met Wood while he was employed in an art supply store and he soon began to work as an assistant to the English-born painter, who had moved from Portland to San Antonio in 1924. Although the diminutive Englishman was already an established professional artist, he did not have a great deal of formal art training and so he was then studying with the academically trained Spanish painter Jose Arpa (1858-1952) in order to augment his knowledge and give his work a more polished look. Salinas was an eager young man, and while working in Wood's downtown San Antonio studio he learned to stretch canvases, frame paintings and to sketch in larger compositions from small plein-air studies for the English artist. He began to accompany Wood and Arpa to the hills outside San Antonio, where they painted small Plein-air studies of fields of blue lupin - the state flower, the famous "Bluebonnets" of Texas - in the springtime and scenes of the gnarled Red Oaks as they changed color in the fall. He was soon assisting Wood in the tedious work of painting the tiny blue flowers that collectors wanted to see in the landscapes they purchased of central Texas. According to a 1972 newspaper story, "Legend has it that one day in the 1920s artist Robert Wood decided he could not bear to paint another bluebonnet in one of his landscapes. He hired young Porfirio Salinas to paint them in for him at five dollars a painting." Whether this story is accurate or apocryphal isn't clear, but the ambitious and independent young Salinas wasn't destined to be anyone's assistant for very long. The formative event of Porfirio Salinas' teenage years was the Texas Wildflower Competitive Exhibitions, a Roaring-Twenties dream of the eccentric oilman Edgar B. Davis (1873-1951). These competitive shows of paintings of wildflowers and Texas life were mounted in San Antonio from 1927 to 1929. Held at the newly opened Witte Museum each spring, the exhibition featured large cash prizes donated by the philanthropic Davis, which were an inducement for artists to travel from all over the United States to paint in the Hill Country of Texas. The "Davis Competitions," as they were known, helped to cement San Antonio's reputation as an art center, a legacy that remains with the "River City" today. The shows generated a great deal of excitement in the area, helping to make celebrities of the some of the artists who had already settled there and encouraging others to make San Antonio their home. Over the three years that the wildflower competitions were held, more than 300 paintings were exhibited, and many thousands of viewers saw the paintings at the Witte Museum and on tours throughout the state and in New York. Each year Davis would generously purchase the winning paintings and then donate them to the San Antonio Art League. Young Porfirio Salinas would have been able to not only watch his two mentors - Robert W. Wood and Jose Arpa - paint the works that they entered in the Davis Competitions, he would have been able to see Arpa take several of the major prizes, receiving the judge's accolades for "Verbena," "Cactus Flower" and "Picking Cotton," works that are still on view at the San Antonio Art League Museum today. Unfortunately, Davis eventually put his donations to work in other charitable endeavors, bringing to an end the wildflower events, but only after they inspired Salinas and other young painters and had helped to make wildflower paintings the most sought-after subject for traditionalist Texas collectors. In 1930, when he was only twenty, Salinas hung out a shingle and began to paint professionally, augmenting the sales of his easel paintings with what little business he could garner by painting signs for local concerns. It was a struggle for the young artist to make a living, as the effects of the Great Depression were settling in. His early works are very similar to those of Robert Wood's, both in subject matter and treatment. Salinas did small paintings of Bluebonnets for the tourists who visited San Antonio to see the famous Alamo as well as paintings of the Texas missions. While a few of his early works have a soft, tonalist quality, with subtle gradations of sunset colors, most were painted in a style that fits well within the currents of the late American Impressionist style, with solid drawing and a warm, chromatic palette. Like Robert Wood's works of the 1930s, the paintings Salinas produced as a young man were usually well composed and detailed views of the spring wildflowers in full bloom in the Texas countryside. In contrast to Wood's work, however, early Salinas compositions were usually pure landscapes without the pioneer farms or dilapidated fences that Wood often used to add visual interest to his wildflower scenes, and he also painted scenes of San Antonio itself as his mentor Jose Arpa had done. To residents of the Hill Country, Salinas was especially adept at accurately capturing the palette of the region and its unique atmosphere. In 1939 Salinas began working with Dewey Bradford (1896-1985), one of the great characters of Texas art. Bradford was a second-generation dealer whose family operated the Bradford Paint Company in Austin, where they sold art supplies, framed artwork, restored paintings and exhibited paintings by Texas artists. Salinas was struggling when he met Bradford, but the older man took the young artist under his wing and began to sell his work reliably, even though the prices that people would pay for a painting were still low due to the lingering effects of the Great Depression. Bradford was a born salesman with a gift for storytelling, and truth be told, a bit of embroidery. The relationship between Bradford and Salinas was often rocky, but it was to last the rest of the artist's life and give him a modest sense of loyalty and security, things which are all too rare in the art world. While Bradford could be critical of his work, Salinas knew that he had a dealer who encouraged him, believed in him and was not shy about singing his praises to anyone who entered Bradford's store on Guadalupe Street. During the early years of World War II Salinas met a pretty Mexican woman from Guadalajara named Maria Bonillas, who was working as a secretary for the Mexican National Railways office in San Antonio. While he was walking downtown with a painting of a bullfighter under his arm, he started a conversation with the young woman, and things progressed rapidly. The couple were married on February 15, 1942 and settled into life in bi-lingual San Antonio and they eventually purchased a tidy stone home on Buena Vista street that had a detached studio in back. By the time the United States entered World War II, Salinas was starting to make a decent living selling his art and beginning to garner recognition across Texas. However, in 1943, like millions of other young men, he was drafted into the service of his country. Fortunately, as an older Army draftee with special talents, after his training he was assigned to Fort Sam Houston, right in San Antonio, allowing him to remain at home while still completing his obligation to "Uncle Sam." Because of his artistic abilities, Salinas was asked to do paintings for the Army as well as a mural for the Officer's Club, which has been re-discovered in recent years. In his spare time he kept working on landscapes and when the war ended in 1945, he was not faced with the same rocky transition from military to civilian life as many veterans. That same year, Salinas became a father as he and Maria celebrated the birth of his only child, Christina Maria Salinas. Like most landscape artists of the era, Salinas was an avid Plein-air painter, and he took his easel and paint box with him on trips throughout Texas and into Mexico. He and his wife traveled deep into her native country, where the artist painted the majestic volcanic peaks of Iztaccihuatl (known as the "Sleeping Woman" because of its unique shape) and Popocatepetl (called the "smoking mountain" because the volcano is still active), south of Mexico City. Salinas also painted studies of rustic villages and their residents. While his most popular paintings were always the scenes of the Texas Bluebonnets and other wildflowers that bloom all over the Hill Country in the spring, he also painted scenes of the twisted Texas oak trees of central Texas, the more arid landscapes of the Texas panhandle and West Texas, and the historic Texas missions; he even sold rapidly executed scenes of bullfights and cockfights for Mexican-American collectors. By the late 1940s, the American economy was finally growing again and wealthier Texans began to collect Salinas paintings, purchasing them from galleries in San Antonio and Dallas and at Dewey Bradford's County Store Gallery in Austin. Salinas also sold work to the Atlanta dealer Dr. Carlton Palmer, who represented Robert W. Wood for many years. In 1948 Palmer sold two large Salinas paintings to the Citizen National Bank in Abilene, Texas. Because Austin was the state capitol, Bradford counted many of the state's elite among his patrons, and due to his interest in history and literature, he played a large role in the cultural history of central Texas. Bradford introduced a number of the major Texas political figures to Salinas' work, including Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973), who was then in the House of Representatives and on his way to winning a controversial election that vaulted him in the United States Senate. Johnson became an enthusiastic collector, as did his political mentor, the legendary House Speaker Sam Rayburn (1882-1961). Johnson decorated his Washington offices with Salinas paintings and he brought a number of them home to his vast LBJ Ranch, near Johnson City, Texas. In spite of his important patrons, Salinas went through a fallow and difficult period in the late 1950s. He had a volatile temperament, which made relationships difficult, and it took great patience for his wife to help him manage his career. As Salinas entered middle age his work began to sell steadily, but except for tourists who purchased his paintings in San Antonio, he was known primarily only to Texas art collectors. All that changed in 1961 with the election of John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) to the Presidency of the United States and his running mate Lyndon Johnson to the Vice Presidency. Johnson was an expansive, larger-than-life character and his status as a long, tall Texan in a cowboy hat was a large part of his imposing political image. During his storied career in the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson (1912-2007) spent their time in Washington in a modest house on the edge of Rock Creek Park, but this home would not do for a Vice President. So, in 1961, the Johnsons purchased a French chateau-styled home in the Spring Valley section of the Capitol. Obtained from the famed socialite and ambassador Perle Mesta (1889-1975), the house came with a fine collection of French furniture and tapestries, and the designer Genevieve Hendricks was hired to meld the French look with objects from the Johnsons' overseas travels and paintings of the flora and fauna of their native Texas. Featured prominently in the foyer were the paintings of Porfirio Salinas. Because of the Johnsons' patronage, his work was mentioned in Time Magazine and other national publications. Lady Bird Johnson loved her landscapes of the Texas Hill Country and told reporters that, "I want to see them when ever I open the door, to remind me where I come from." After President Kennedy's death thrust Lyndon Johnson into the Presidency, he brought his Salinas paintings into the historic halls of the White House, further enhaning the Texas painter's national reputation. At the time of the President Kennedy's assassination, Salinas had completed a scene of a horse drinking titled "Rocky Creek" that was to have been presented to Kennedy during his ill-fated visit to Dallas. Instead, in an effort to memorialize the fallen President, Salinas painted a symbolic work of a lone horse depicted against foreboding clouds. During his tenure in the White House, President Johnson presented a Salinas landscape as a state gift to the President of Mexico, Gustavo Diaz Ordaz (1911-1979). During the 1960s, Salinas paintings sold briskly and, thanks to Presidential patronage, for escalating prices. In an interview with a writer from the New York Times, President Johnson enthused about the work of "his favorite artist" and said that, "his work reminds me of the country around the ranch." Salinas was invited to the LBJ Ranch frequently during the Johnson administration and his paintings were hung throughout the ranch, in the President's offices and even in the private quarters of the White House. The connection to President Johnson was a great boon to sales of Salinas paintings, and in 1964, when the demand was at its height, Texas Governor John Connelly (1917-1993) was told that all Salinas'work was sold and that he would have to wait for a painting. In 1960, a half century after his birth, Salinas was honored by his home town of Bastrop, a celebration that touched the modest artist. In 1962 Salinas was given a solo exhibition at the Witte Museum in San Antonio that featured more than twenty of his works. By the early 1960s, sales of reproductions of the artist's landscapes by the New York Graphic Society and other publishers grew rapidly, enlarging his audience throughout the United States. In 1967, Dewey Bradford helped to organize the production of a book of Texas stories titled "Bluebonnets and Cactus" (Austin: Pemberton Press: 1967), which was profusely illustrated with paintings by Salinas. His works were still popular when Salinas died after a brief illness in April of 1973, just a few months after former President Johnson's passing. He was memorialized in the City of Austin by Porfirio Salinas Day, which honored him for having "done much to bring the culture of Mexico and Texas together with his paintings." Bastrop, Texas, the city of the artist's birth, has been holding a Salinas Art Exhibition annually since 1981. He painted hundreds of scenes of the wildflowers, including the various varieties of Blue Lupin, the state flower, as well as other flowering flora. These show the influence of his artistic mentors Robert W. Wood and Jose Arpa Y Perea. Salinas also painted a number of scenes of Prickly Pear Cactus that show the influence of the English painter Dawson Dawson-Watson (1864-1939), who painted many such works during his tenure in Texas. He painted the more arid Texas landscape infrequently and these works are very rare today and sought after by collectors from the Texas Panhandle and West Texas. Salinas also painted many river landscapes along the Guadalupe, Rio Frio, the San Antonio and the Rio Grande. On trips to his wife's homeland of Mexico, he painted a number of scenes of the volcanic peaks as well as scenes of peasant villages and villagers. Figurative paintings are rare among Salinas' works and these scenes of bullfights, fandangos and cock fights are probably the least sought after of his paintings. There are also a small number of modest marines, painted on trips to the Texas and California coast. Salinas paintings are highly prized by collectors of early Texas art, with the paintings of wildflowers in greatest demand. Works by Porfirio Salinas can be found in a number of public collections, including the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum in Canyon, Texas; the Texas State Capitol; the Texas Governor's Mansion; the Lyndon Baines Johnson Ranch; the Sam Rayburn Library and Museum in Bonham, Texas; Amarillo High School; the Witte Museum in San Antonio; the historic Joan and Price Daniel House in San Antonio; the Stark Museum in Orange, Texas; the R.W. Norton Art Gallery in Shreveport, Louisiana; the Sangre de Cristo Arts Center in Pueblo, Colorado; Texas A & M University and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Salinas has been featured in a number of reference works as well as anthologies devoted to American Western Art...