"History like that of Texas is rare. . . . Is it not discreditable to the people of Texas, that they should leave the collection of material for the history of the State to the great endowed Northern libraries? . . . Let Texas arouse herself for very shame, and begin at once the discharge of her filial duty."
So wrote George Pierce Garrison in the first issue of the Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, published in July 1897, just months after the establishment of the organization on March 2. The state of Texas was just half a century old; the city of Austin, going...

Famed for his bluebonnet landscapes, San Antonio native Julian Onderdonk may be the most well-known artist Texas has ever produced. Onderdonk spent several years outside the state, though, seeking to make a name for himself in New York City. He spent much of his time in New York as the very definition of a starving artist.
In "Julian Onderdonk: The Lost Years, the Lost Paintings," James Graham Baker explores the artist's New York years, so often neglected by previous scholars. Through painstaking research, Baker reveals that Onderdonk painted hundreds of images under pseudonyms during...

J. P. Bryan, whose monumental collection of Texas art is the source of this traveling exhibition, determined that he would collect only those artists who had actually participated in the settlement of Texas--not artists who imagined the events after they were history. Thus, as editor Michael Duty observes, Deep in the Art of Texas constitutes not just a tour of Texas artists, but a virtual tour of the romantic history and vast geography of the state itself.

Recognition that art is an essential part of Texas culture came late. Ron Tyler points out that if you searched art in the...