New Arrivals

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NEW ARRIVALS   ***ORIGINAL***  G. HARVEY Internationally Acclaimed Western Painter "Carriage Sketch II" Watercolor 3.5" x 4" $1,685.00 Framed in gold embellished frame with 100% linen liner and museum quality glass   **W.A. Slaughter** Texas Vintage Artist Fall Scene Oil 24" x 36" Call for pricing American Artist William A. or W. A. Slaughter b. 1923-2000. W. A. Slaughter grew up in Texas amid the splendor and beauty of the Hill Country. He was a unique fusion of Lutheran minister and artist. However, painting was always beckoning and he began painting full-time in 1972.  **Kahva** "Infusion" Oil 30" x 40" $600.00 Chinese Abstract Painter Lives in Beijing, China Graduated from the Beijing Art Academy   **Joe Peacock** Texas Vintage Artist Oil 24" x 18" $1,500.00 Joe Peacock, Texas claimed artist; spent 27 years in the Lone Star State. Born in Detroit, Michigan Peacock’s family moved to Del Rio when he was an infant. Recalling early memories of mesquite, sagebrush, and cactus, Peacock’s vivid Texas landscape recollections of the Pecos area were influenced by his father’s onsite vocation of water well driller. Accompanying his father into the field, Peacock witnessed firsthand the rugged life of the cowboy, oil field hand, and ranch hand in the sweltering heat of the Texas sun. Given rise in the 1970’s and 80’s Peacock is rarely see on the local Art Market. His following is primarily tied to Texas Artist Collectors, with only minimal originals ever leaving the collectors’ coveted compilations. **Porfirio Salinas** Texas Vintage Artist Oil 12" x 16" $10,250.00 "...It was in the early ‘60s when art from the J.R. Mooney Gallery began appearing in the residences of heads of state. Artist Porfirio Salinas was not only a client of the gallery but also one of the favorite artists of then-Vice President Lyndon Johnson. Johnson presented paintings created by Salinas and framed by the Mooney Gallery to President John Kennedy, who displayed them among his art collection in the White House. Salinas, whose artwork was subsequently displayed in the White House during the Johnson administration, continued to be represented by the gallery until his death in 1973. Since the Kennedy administration, J.R. Mooney Gallery has provided framing services for every American president and every Texas governor after John Connally." * Excerpt from Bob Mooney at JR Mooney Galleries,  Continuing in the family tradition at J.R. Mooney Galleries as seen in 78209 Magazine, Article by Chris Duel. http://78209magazine.com/featured/bob-mooney

W.A. Slaughter vs. Randy Peyton Bluebonnet wars

Bluebonnet landscape paintings have been revered, prodded and poked, coveted and chastised; an ongoing joke of over-produced Sunday painters- a favorite category to paint of “holiday” painters.

However, the history of such a genre of painting has deep roots in Texas and especially San Antonio. Home to the great blue bonnet painters like the Onderdonks, Salinas, Wood, Slaughter and a small legion of others, Texas takes pride in its namesake in Art History, knowing it has inspired these great artists to produce such magnificent work.

Along with this museum collected success story comes positive growth of this art form with subsequent generations of painters that have studied the Texas State flower masters and excelled the painting style to new levels; clearing the way for bluebonnets to be well-respected within the artistic landscape of modern painting.

Randy Peyton

In a compare and contrast study, two paintings back-to-back by master painter W.A. Slaughter and sought after contemporary painter Randy Peyton show a time honored scholarly application of technique, application, and compositional study; with Peyton playing the role of student as he methodically mimics the aesthetics of a signature impressionistic painting.

Slaughter’s rolling countryside landscape eases down into a valley, exposing the rustic rooftop of a barn; weathered from decades and decades of sun drenched Texas weather.  Peyton’s rooftop shows same pitch, same rustic quality, adding modern amenities like a metal roof and chimney, but unchanged, the rolling angles of land work in the same manner- providing movement for our eye to follow as we move from foreground to background in both paintings.

Live Oaks spot the sun bleached Texas grasses with Slaughter’s painted in more subtle approach with minimal contrasts in shadow and detail, while Peyton’s stark shadows create more depth- showing the tree’s character.

Slaughter’s bluebonnets are more like the original Onderdonk style, with cool blues spotted with white highlights, while Peyton’s bluebonnets demand more attention.  They are painted text-book Impressionistic, but are detailed in a way that anchors them more to the ground than Slaughter’s.

W.A. Slaughter

Cactus litter the ground in both paintings, but again detail and shadow are treated different; each artist giving grace to the solar qualities of light, playing color on color with more emphasis on the direct sunlight, its angle in the sky and the projected shade it transmits onto the vegetation around it.

The Texas sky, a signature trait of these parts is often portrayed as ever expanding.  However, Slaughter attacks his heavens with billowing clouds that compliment his overall painterly palette.  But, Peyton’s hard edged aesthetic does not lend itself to a detailed atmosphere.  Peyton’s clouds lack the softness projected by Slaughter’s applications. On the other hand, owning his own style, Peyton works in his own artistic voice while paying homage.

And not in any way to be overlooked, Peyton has indeed studied intently on artists like Slaughter and Onderdonk, among others, and his dedication to craft has proven a successful career in the fine arts.

Now semi-retired, Peyton might one day sit among the great blue bonnet painters of Texas as the next generation attempts to tackle such a widely recognizable Texas icon.

Look for both paintings available for sale at J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art.

© Gabriel Diego Delgado

Texas Landscape

W.A. Slaughter

Oil

16 x 20

$5,250.00

http://www.jrmooneygalleries.com

Grand Oak

Randy Peyton

Oil

16 x 20

$1,745.00

http://www.jrmooneygalleries.com

See a wonderful article by Michael Grauer titled, " Texas Impressionism, 1885-1935"
From an exhibition at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.316511298436866.75504.100002339960067&type=3&l=0b2d43010b

This is an an article about Texas Impressionism which

covers some of the artists J. R . Mooney Galleries has 

handled in the past

June 2012 edition of American Art in Review

“Blooming Cactus”

Porfirio Salinas

Oil

16 x 20

New to the selections of great paintings at J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art San Antonio location is a wonderful Masterpiece by the Renowned Early Texas Artist Porfirio Salinas, titled: Blooming Cactus. Although this pictorial desert is not a typical coveted bluebonnet painting; ones that are routinely sought after, “Blooming Cactus” is a gem of its own.

A mostly monochromatic desert-scape spotlights the lonely world of a cactus bush; secluded by itself on a winding pathway deep in the Texas Hill County. Salinas captures the early morning light with subtle shadows and mountainous misty haze.

On the right hand of the pictorial plane sits the blooming cactus of orange and red flowers, soaking up the daytime sun. Evening-out the compositional scale is a ragged, non-leaved dry brush on the left side, showing varied undergrowth that is characteristic of Texas climates.  The title references the foreground vegetation, but the visual focus is primarily the snaking and trodden rocky pathway- winding back, off into an unobservable curve and over a knoll. Salinas peaks our interest with what is around that unseen corner and into the oblivion.  As viewers, we know this is a heavily traveled path by the degree of impression on the dirt and rock; alluding to various needs to make the travels.

In analyzing the painting, we see that Salinas is very aware of his middle ground as well as his background. There is a repeated motif of outcrops of branches that jet out well above their spatial limitations that show character; both on the left side of the pathway, exposing naked branches and slightly bloomed foliage.

Fifty yards beyond the foreground cactus plant exists a small cropping of cactus that looms in the mid-ground; a spotty undergrowth that adds much needed pathway jump of color. The orange dots of paint on this visually suppressed cluster allow the viewers’ eye to move deeper into the painting; bring hue and lively conversation between the two.

Salinas’s treatment of the sky adds another luster of artistic genius with sporadic cloud formations that do not distract for the subject matter. Whimsically painted, the clouds act as a hint of overcast promise, shielding the trail traveler from the hot desert sun.

Adding to the market value of “Blooming Cactus” is the artist’s signature. Salinas has a very clean and recognizable signature on lower left corner; something that is favorable to all collectors.

-Gabriel Diego Delgado

Call the gallery at 210-828-8214 to ask about pricing.

Or come on by the gallery and see the painting in person at 

8302 Broadway , San Antonio, TX 78209.