This beautifully illustrated biography of S. Seymour Thomas is the compelling tale of a young boy from Texas who grew up to achieve artistic fame in Europe. A leading international artist in his day who studied at the Art Students League in New York and at the Academie Julian in Paris, Thomas is little known today. This new book by eminent art historian Cecilia Steinfeldt serves both as a tribute to a man of substantial artistic accomplishments and as an effort to revive interest in his distinguished career.
Born in San Augustine, Texas, in 1868, Thomas moved with his family to Dallas a...

At a crucial moment in the development of Texas art, an eccentric oil wildcatter turned to the prestigious San Antonio Art League with a proposal. He would fund a national art competition featuring the state's wildflowers if the league would handle the details. Thus were born the Texas Wildflower Competitive Exhibitions.
A transplanted "Yankee trader," Edgar B. Davis had the mystical conviction that his success was intended for the public good. After developing the Luling oil field in the early 1920s, he established charitable foundations and gave generously to the arts. With a wordly...