TEXAS-Stories of the Land Reception Photo Gallery

The staff at J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art would like to thank everyone who joined us for the reception of Jay Hester's TEXAS-Stories of the Land.  View our photo gallery from the event:  CLICK HERE .

Mr. Mooney speaks to the crowd.

Gallery Prepares for Exhibition

The staff at J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art has been working hard to prepare for the upcoming exhibition for Jay Hester's TEXAS-Stories of the Land. Our opening reception is tomorrow, Saturday October 8 from 4-8pm at our Boerne location. Please join us!

TEXAS-Stories of the Land to Open at J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art

Celebrated artist Jay Hester weaves tales of western romanticism surrounding legends of the Texas Hill Country in his upcoming solo exhibition: “TEXAS: Stories of the Land.” Hester, a prolific painter with a long career steeped in traditional landscapes and western themes, has created commissioned works for Texas Tech University, USAA in San Antonio, the Zaragosa Theater at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, and the Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi, to name a few.  This exhibition, scheduled for October at the JR Mooney Gallery of Fine Arts in Boerne, is the artist’s first solo show in almost twenty years. For this show the affectionately known “Godfather” of the Boerne art scene applies his skills to the histories, legends and characters that helped shape the Hill Country of today.

Hester’s exploration of Western Romanticism is set against an unsure, sometimes violent backdrop of natives, pioneers, and rangers in “TEXAS-Stories of the Land”.  His storyboard includes raids, battles, and surgeries with characters such as one of Boerne’s founding fathers, Dr. Ferdinand Herff, and Texas Ranger John Coffee “Jack” Hayes. Hester used historical sources to corroborate with his artistic vision. He is aware of the discrepancies and contradictions that usually come up in historical research. He has many stories to choose from, and Hester tells them in his style using beautiful lighting and tough looking characters. He blends them into paintings that highlight moments of peace and courage during tense times.

The strongest example of the artist’s vision is the show’s center piece, “The Healer.” The painting shows Dr. Ferdinand Herff’s pioneering cataract surgery on a Comanche chief.  Dr. Herff was a German doctor for the Prussian army who eventually settled in Texas. He helped start the Bettina colonies as well as Boerne. This revolutionary surgery, possibly the first in the country, was performed in the 1840’s outdoors and without anesthesia. Needless to say, the event created a bond between the Comanche band and Herff‘s group which resulted in some peace.  Herff would go on to become the chief medical examiner for San Antonio, pioneering more surgeries and medical practice. He was one of the most sought after practitioners of his day. “Dr. Herff became a larger than life figure in our area with all he accomplished as a young doctor in this uncertain country. His fair treatment of all people gained him respect by many tribes of Indians, as well as the rugged settlers of this part of Texas,” says Hester.

 Another example of western romanticism inspired by legends about Boerne is Hester’s painting of the white arrow. By the 1880’s most surviving Native Americans lived on reservations. Quanah Parker had already surrendered and the Texas Indian Wars were over. However, there were still small resistance groups of Lipan Apache eking out their existence in the Hill Country. Legend has it that sometime during the 1880’s an elder Dr. Herff took his family to their Boerne homestead for a vacation from the busy city life in San Antonio. At the same time one of those groups of Lipan Apaches raided Boerne. The Herffs quickly boarded up their home and took shelter for the night, able to hear the sounds of pillaging in town. The next morning one of Herff’s sons went outside to survey the damage. To his surprise, their lands were untouched. There was a white feathered arrow shot into the homestead fence post.  This type of arrow was a Lipan Apache sign to the raiders to leave the homestead in peace.  It was said to have been shot by a Lipan Apache warrior who remembered the doctor had helped his family. Hester’s painting shows the dramatic moment raiding warriors arrive at the Herff homestead. The bold setting sun is surrounded by the dark storm clouds and the white feathered arrow stands out against the darker palette.  Hester captures the climactic moment when the leading raider, weapon drawn, turns away.  

Other paintings in “TEXAS: Stories of the Land” depict serene scenes that highlight the peaceful achievement of the communities. One showcases the unlikely friendship between Texas Ranger John (Jack) Coffee Hayes and Lipan-Apache chief, Flacco the Younger. Flacco would accompany Hayes on expeditions serving as a guide. The two became close and traveled together until Flacco was murdered, possibly by white settlers. Hester chose to reflect on happier times. The painting shows them riding through quiet, serene Joshua Creek.  The steep walls of the limestone cliffs reflect the warm afternoon light and the still creek.  Hester’s colorful foliage indicates it is fall and the two ride at a casual pace probably enjoying the nice weather. A sense of companionship permeates the canvas and far away is the fighting that preoccupied much of these men’s time.

Perhaps the most serene of the group, ”Lasting Friendship”  depicts the Meusebach Peace Treaty, which was also immortalized by Hester in bronze at the Markt Platz on the main square in Fredericksburg. The painting depicts chief Buffalo Hump offering the peace pipe to John Meusebach. The chief sits calmly with his legs crossed and Meusebach accepts the pipe on bended knee. The Comanche warriors and elders surround him in anticipation. What is of note is that the Comanche treaties were specifically with the Germans. The Comanche considered them displaced people. The tribe did not make peace with Mexico, Texas or the United States.

Finally, the painting “Lena’s Legend” represents hope. Pioneer times in Texas were rough and too often families were torn apart. Even once a settlement was established there was no guarantee it would prosper, let alone survive. There was disease, hunger and the constant fear of raids. No one living there was immune and it was common practice for Comanche to take prisoners of war, or slaves after battles or raids. Lena was a Mexican child living with the Comanche under these circumstances. As a gesture of friendship, she joined the settlers in Bettina colony shortly after Dr. Herff’s cataract surgery on the chief. Although she was not reunited with her biological family, Lena adopted a new one at the German colony. She learned the language and found her place in the community.  She married Hermann Spiess, a prominent settler, and had a family of her own proving that a person could survive and prosper in the wild, dangerous country.  

“TEXAS-Stories of the Land” runs through November 5th, 2016 at J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art in Boerne. More information for this exhibition can be found at www.jrmooneygalleries.com. Please join us for the opening reception at JR Mooney Galleries of Fine Art in Boerne on Saturday October 8 from 4-8pm.

by: Gina Martinez, art and framing consultant for J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art-Boerne. Originally published in The Dominion Magazine, October 2016

New Works by Margie Barker

 



Margie Barker has several new cactus paintings available now at JR Mooney Galleries of Fine Art in Boerne. She has released three small 6” x 8” and three 8” x 6” artworks that showcase her traditional subject matter, the beautiful prickly pear cactus that surrounds her Hill Country home. These pieces depict the cacti close up and with blooms. The blooms range from the usual red and yellow to deep purple and combinations of colors.




 The new small works are affordable, and at $235 framed, they will sell out as quickly as previously released sets.

detail from Cactus Wren


 In addition to the cacti paintings, Barker has a rare gem available. Her habitat painting, Cactus Wren, is a unique depiction of the bird and its nest. Birds are rare subject matter for Barker; she has only painted one other in her career.  Barbs and Bobs, made in the 1980’s, showed three quail birds nesting among yellow blossom prickly pear cacti.



Cactus Wren is an 18” x 24” framed original acrylic painting by Margie Barker available at JR Mooney Galleries of Fine Art for $1014.00. Reasonably priced, it is an opportunity for a sharp-eyed collector to acquire an original Barker with unique subject matter. It is overall a lovely painting.  Set among prickly pear cacti, the tightly coiled twigs and stems form the bird’s home. The wren, which Barker depicts with detailed accuracy, is perched on the cactus pad, poised to settle inside the nest. What is also unique about the works is Barker’s uses of a darker color palette to render her skies and shadows. Typically, her cacti scenes show the bright blue Texas sky with or without clouds. By contrast, in these paintings she explores hues of grey and dark blues that she attributes to the stormy skies present when she captured her images and while she worked on the paintings.

 Call or come by the gallery in Boerne to view and pick up an early holiday gift or make an addition to a collection.

These prized works will not be around for long!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

South of Town by Randy Peyton

South of Town

Randy Peyton

Oil

24 x 36”

$4,850.00

Randy Peyton represents the new cohort of Texas Landscape Painters; leading a post Onderdonk generation of Bluebonnet Bounty.  Peyton has captured the Texas landscape like a scenic shaman, creating emotional and nostalgic reminiscences of days nurtured by the Texas heat- causing the viewer to relax in an art induced medicinal meditation.

South of Town, a 24 x 36” oil painting by Peyton is a classic example of a signature style; complete with Bluebonnets, Live Oaks, a small barn, a horse carriage trail, and semi-arid vegetation.  Peyton knows his role in the historical timeline of Texas Landscape painters and this prosperity allows his a certain freedom evident in his images.

Bluebonnets bookend the sides of the gravel path that snakes through the painting like a question mark- pulling your eye straight to the horizon line and over to the dominate Live Oak on the left side of the mid-ground.   To balance out the composition, Peyton places the wood paneled brown barn opposite of the ominous and mature tree.  The humbled hay hangar opens its wide doors showing a shadowed interior.  Deep obscurity hides straw bales and husbandry necessities. The roof peaks and pitches slant down to a diminutive corral- vacant of any animals.  Although the dirt trail shows signs of wear, the total intuitive emptiness of the location implies an abandoned site-a ranch hidden deep in the backwoods of Texas; a product of the times. 

Impressionistic bluebonnets are minimally detailed, allowing for assumptions of validity.  The official state flower of Texas is arranged in 7 neat patches of underbrush- each lining the trail to the barn. Spotted with yellow and pink flower variations, we see a deliberate attempt to establish geography, but not caring for a realistic rendition of regional Botany.  

The main players of this scenic sonata are the three Live Oaks that secure a stoic trifecta of Quercus fusiformis; each placed in strategic areas in the composition –far left, far right, and exact middle.

Accented with spare cactus and open skyline, Peyton’s work of art compels us to imagine ourselves in the typical barren desert-scape of the Southern United States- feeling the arid heat and listening to the sounds of crickets.

-By: Gabriel Diego Delgado

Art Consultant

J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art

Ferenc Tulok

Ferenc Tulok

Evening Repast

Oil on Copper

5 x 7”

..."Tulok, a native to Budapest has always enjoyed painting and drawing.  He credits his break from his professional career in 1989 as a life changing decision that jumpstarted his professional artistic endeavors. Refining his trade and using a little fine art finesse, Tulok’s art is very distinguishing with a characteristic Renaissance style.

 Having mastered the art of painting on copper, Tulok has found a unique ground that has allowed his colors to flourish.  Part old master painter, part Realist, Tulok has rediscovered the chiaroscuro aesthetic; allowing a new generation of patrons to explore the blackened surroundings and out of view light source- accentuating the traditional still-life compositions.  His soft shadows, deep crimsons, and vibrant hues could not be achieved any other way, but with the exploration of this unusual metallic undercoating.

Often exaggerating the dew, moisture, and condensation on the elements in the composition, Tulok redefines a classical conception with a still life reemergence."

By: Gabriel Diego Delgado

Art Consultant

JR Mooney Galleries