Fall Landscape, oil on canvas, 15 x 26, signed lower right: Belle Austin, Despite sharing a bloodline with the “Father of Texas,” Stephen F. Austin, Belle Austin made a name for herself early in life as a child prodigy. She began painting seriously at the age of seven, selling her work to patrons by her early teenage years. Austin’s arts education included studying at the Art Students League in New York, and the Stickney Memorial Art School in Pasadena, California. A devoted landscapist, she traveled constantly to chase new views, but always returned to her studio on Hemphill Street in Fort Worth. In addition to landscapes, Austin frequently accepted commissions for portraiture, and executed a number of floral still lifes. Her work was featured in a number of exhibitions, including annual Texas shows held in Fort Worth, and exhibitions at Dow Art Galleries, where she had representation. Austin’s landscape offers a unique view of a path leading the viewer into the scene, and a river with a current moving in the opposite direction. The clever effect is cyclical in nature, and keeps the viewer’s eye moving around the canvas.