Evening - Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas
Artist:
Julian Onderdonk
(American, 1882 - 1922)
Date: 1911
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
framed: 27 1/4 × 37 1/4 in. (69.2 × 94.6 cm)
canvas: 20 × 30 in. (50.8 × 76.2 cm)
Credit Line: San Antonio Museum of Art, Purchased with funds provided by the Kelso Endowment for Texas Art
Object number: 2022.6
Signed: Signed, lower left. Signed, titled, and dated, en verso on canvas.
Provenance: with Mr. & Mrs. Jacob Patton, Tyler, TX, by 1955 (possibly purchased from a Dallas gallery); by inheritance to Mr. John J. Patton, Houston, TX, mid-1990s; (Foltz Fine Art, Houston, TX); purchased by San Antonio Museum of Art, 2022.
Label Text
Between 1890 and the 1920s, San Antonio’s population grew fourfold. Yet, based on this painting from 1911, one would never know it. Rather than focusing on the city’s growth, Onderdonk chose to focus on the natural beauty of its landscape devoid of any signs of urban development. Here, two scarcely discernable figures gather around a campfire—their tents almost blending into the brush. The only other sign of human intervention is the tracks that lead the viewer’s eye from the foreground to the campsite. Despite the presence of the figures and their camp, they might be lost to their surroundings if not for the glowing, crackling fire.
Established in 1876, Fort Sam Houston became the largest Army post in the United States by 1912—shortly after this painting was executed. Yet Onderdonk, in his typical fashion, decided to pay homage to the land and expansive Texas sky, rather than our development of it.
(Regina Palm, 2022)
Established in 1876, Fort Sam Houston became the largest Army post in the United States by 1912—shortly after this painting was executed. Yet Onderdonk, in his typical fashion, decided to pay homage to the land and expansive Texas sky, rather than our development of it.
(Regina Palm, 2022)
On view
In Collection(s)
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
