Southwest Texas 1919

Robert Julian Onderdonk made this painting of Southwest Texas with oil on canvas, although when, I'm not sure. Look at the colours, they are really close in tone, creating a very particular mood, but without being too overworked. It gives the impression of having been made very quickly, which speaks of an interest in conveying immediacy and process. I find myself looking at the clouds, those big white puffs! The paint there is really built up, contrasted with thinner washes of colour in the sky, and the dry brushstrokes used for the arid landscape. This contrast is so powerful, it feels like the painting is saying something about time, about how the process of making something allows you to stop time, to preserve something that is always changing. I am reminded of Van Gogh, who also had an interest in landscape, but Onderdonk brings a particular American sensibility to this theme. Ultimately, it is the tension between representation and abstraction that makes this piece so compelling, a testament to the endless possibilities of painting.