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...