Julian Onderdonk (1882-1922), "An October Afternoon, New Jersey", 1909, oil on board, 6.25 x 9.25", original frame from Onderdonk's New York City framer Louis Katz: 13.5 x 17.5"

Provenance: A Fort Worth, Texas collection

Known as the "Bluebonnet Painter", Robert Julian Onderdonk earned his title from the many wildflower paintings he did of the blooming fields near his hometown of San Antonio, Texas. He was the son and student of artist Robert Jenkins Onderdonk, also a prominent Texas painter, and teacher. In 1901, when he was nineteen, Onderdonk went to New York City and enrolled at the Art Students League. He became a student of Kenyon Cox, Robert Henri, and Frank DuMond. He also studied with William Merritt Chase at Chase's Shinnecock summer school on Long Island and the New York School of Art. Chase had a lasting influence on Onderdonk's work. As an adult he spent his summers in New York City and the remainder of the year in San Antonio. Onderdonk was a member of the Allied Artists of America, Salmagundi Club and San Antonio Art League. His paintings are in the permanent collections of the Dallas Museum of Art, Fort Worth Art Association, Museum of Fine Arts of Houston, San Antonio Museum Association and Stark Museum of Art, Orange, Texas.