The Dallas Museum of Art opens Onderdonk’s bluebonnets this Easter Sunday

by Laura Seewoester

When someone says "impressionist", immediately people think Monet, Manet or Van Gogh, among other household names, but you don't have to cross an ocean over to Europe to find great impressionist artists. The Dallas Museum of Art is celebrating one great American impressionist from Texas' very own back yard with the exhibit Julain Onderdonk: Bluebonnets and Beyond.

For those looking for a little history (feel free to skip to next paragraph if you just want to read about the art), Onderdonk was born and raised in San Antonio. His father was also an artist and discouraged Julian from becoming an artist until he sent Julian to Art School in New York. Eventually Onderdonk attended the Shinnecock Summer School in Long Island under the instruction of American Impressionist William Merritt Chase (who also taught Julian's father). Chase served as a significant influence in Onderdonk's work and method. Eventually Onderdonk moved back to Texas with his family where he started focusing on the Texas landscape and worked a full time position organizing exhibitions for the Dallas State Fair. Onderdonk died after complications from surgery at the early age of 40.

The DMA's exhibit takes you on a tour of Onderdonk's life through is work, displaying first some of Chase's work to show commonalities. You also see a little of Onderdonk's process, with paintings of the same location yet painted from, in some cases, dramatically different perspectives. The exhibit contains a few landscapes from his time in Long Island, however the bulk of the exhibit consists of his Texas landscapes, and mainly his coveted bluebonnet paintings. Onderdonk painted bluebonnets over the course of 10 years (hey - they only come around a few weeks a year, it takes a little while to really study them). The paintings, often referred to as "Onderdonk's water lilies," are almost surreal in their striking beauty. There is something special about Texas' favorite flower that I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe it's their short-lived and unpredictable season or their propensity to grow in large groups like a temporary blue sea covering the Texas Hill Country. Onderdonk's bluebonnet paintings capture that "something special," and the exhibit does not disappoint. Aka: there are a healthy amount of bluebonnet paintings to sit and stare at in awe. Just don't whisk right by the paintings at the end of the exhibit from the final two year's of Onderdonk's life, which show a bit of a look into how his work was beginning to evolve.

The exhibit opens Easter Sunday (Mar. 23) in perfect time for bluebonnet season, and continues through July 20. Museum members have the lucky opportunity to have a little sneak preview at 7 p.m. Friday during the Museum's Late Night program.