GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Within the realm of early Texas art, Julian Onderdonk is recognized as the artist who most successfully applied the tenets of Impressionism to the portrayal of the state’s varied landscape and natural beauty. While he is most known for capturing the particular splendor of fields blanketed by bluebonnets, the present painting is a tour-de-force departure from that theme. Created at the height of his career, Road to the Hills reveals the artist’s exceptional observational skills and technical prowess in the mastery of the optical effects wrought by the bright, reflective light of mid-day sun on an isolated road in the Texas Hill Country.
Adapted from
Sue Canterbury, Label text, 2015.
NOTES
Created in 1918
The fun fact beginning "Road to the Hills was acquired in 1919..." is adapted from the extended label written by Sue Canterbury in 2015.
Loaned for Exhibition: Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, "Painting in Texas—the 19th century," 10/5/67-11/16/67.
University of Texas, Austin, Humanities Research Center, 12/8/67-1/31/68.
1974 University of Texas at Austin for Exhibition at The House of Representatives Chambers, "Texas Art Between Constitutional Conventions," Jan-Feb 1974.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Depicted location and Place of Origin: Texas (state/United States): TGN: 7007826
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
From 1919: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of the Dallas Shakespeare Club in memory of Elizabeth Patterson Kiest [1]
[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933 was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
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ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- This painting is one of the earliest gifts received by the DMA.
- Road to the Hills was acquired in 1919, well before the advent of modern climate control systems, and the annual fluctuations of heat and humidity played havoc with the adhesion of the paint layers to the canvas. These issues kept the painting off view for approximately 40 years. With the financial support of the Dallas Shakespeare Club—the organization that originally gave the painting to the museum in 1919—the DMA's conservation department was able to restore physical stability and aesthetic integrity to this work.
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Apply to objects where number equals 1919.2
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General Description
Within the realm of early Texas art, Julian Onderdonk is recognized as the artist who most successfully applied the tenets of Impressionism to the portrayal of the state’s varied landscape and natural beauty. While he is most known for capturing the particular splendor of fields blanketed by bluebonnets, the present painting is a tour-de-force departure from that theme. Created at the height of his career, Road to the Hills reveals the artist’s exceptional observational skills and technical prowess in the mastery of the optical effects wrought by the bright, reflective light of mid-day sun on an isolated road in the Texas Hill Country.
Adapted from
Sue Canterbury, Label text, 2015.
Fun Facts
- This painting is one of the earliest gifts received by the DMA.
- Road to the Hills was acquired in 1919, well before the advent of modern climate control systems, and the annual fluctuations of heat and humidity played havoc with the adhesion of the paint layers to the canvas. These issues kept the painting off view for approximately 40 years. With the financial support of the Dallas Shakespeare Club—the organization that originally gave the painting to the museum in 1919—the DMA's conservation department was able to restore physical stability and aesthetic integrity to this work.
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
Created in 1918
The fun fact beginning "Road to the Hills was acquired in 1919..." is adapted from the extended label written by Sue Canterbury in 2015.
Loaned for Exhibition: Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, "Painting in Texas—the 19th century," 10/5/67-11/16/67.
University of Texas, Austin, Humanities Research Center, 12/8/67-1/31/68.
1974 University of Texas at Austin for Exhibition at The House of Representatives Chambers, "Texas Art Between Constitutional Conventions," Jan-Feb 1974.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Depicted location and Place of Origin: Texas (state/United States): TGN: 7007826
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
From 1919: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of the Dallas Shakespeare Club in memory of Elizabeth Patterson Kiest [1]
[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933 was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
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object_notes_3_d-0011.xml.nores