Old Live Oak Tree and Bluebonnets on the West Texas Military Grounds, San Antonio 1920

This landscape, titled "Old Live Oak Tree and Bluebonnets on the West Texas Military Grounds, San Antonio," comes from the hand and eye of Robert Julian Onderdonk. Looking at this painting, I imagine Onderdonk, squinting in the Texan sun, trying to capture the light as it filters through the old oak. He must have been using a pretty dry brush to dab at those leaves and petals, building up this incredible shimmering surface. The paint's not trying to hide anything, you know? It’s just out there, raw and present. I can almost feel the heat radiating from the canvas, the air thick with the smell of wildflowers. Onderdonk captures something that feels uniquely Texan. He’s definitely talking to other painters through time, like the Impressionists, but doing his own thing. It’s like he’s saying, "Hey, I see you, and I’m gonna riff on that, but make it Lone Star style." That's how painting works, and how it keeps moving forward.