DALLAS, TX.- Texas Landscape with Bluebonnets — a newly discovered oil Julian Onderdonk — sold for $437,000 to become the second most-valuable work ever offered by the artist in
Heritage Auctions' Texas Art Auction Nov. 7 in Dallas. The auction marked the first time that the painting was seen in color after it spent the last 40 years in a private collection.
"Texas Landscape with Bluebonnets is the second record-setting Onderdonk Heritage has brought to auction," said Atlee Phillips, Director of Texas Art at Heritage. "We now have the distinction of offering the top two most valuable works. We can hardly wait to start work on our next auction May 21, 2016." Heritage Auctions set a world record for the most valuable Onderdonk canvas ever offered at public auction in November 2013.
Texas Landscape with Bluebonnets was last published in black and white in "A Family of Texas Painters" by scholar Cecilia Steinfeldt in 1975. Additional classic landscapes by Onderdonk placed among the top lots as Bluebonnets in the Misty Morning, 1917 sold for $143,000 and Bluebonnets in Spring ended at $75,000.
A rare portrait by Onderdonk of his sister Eleanor sold for $21,250 and a newly-discovered work produced during his stint in New York City, Stone Bridge in Winter, Central Park, sold for $21,250.
Artworks by two of Texas' most respected landscape artists handily surpassed pre-auction estimates as Robert William Wood's Texas Spring sold for $27,500 against a $15,000 estimate and Morning in the Hill Country by Porfirio Salinas sold for $23,125 also against a $15,000 estimate.
Much of the auction was composed of fresh-to-market finds, such as Porch, 1950, by William Lewis Lester, which sold for $16,250 form a private Houston collection. Present Personas, 1952, by Bill Bomar, sold for $16,250 after it was obtained directly by the artist and descended in the family of the owner. Sun-Up, 1984, by Billy Hassell sold for $11,250 against a $5,000 estimate.
Additional highlights include, but are not limited to:
• Dream See Saw by Bill Bomar: Realized: $12,500.
• Lupin by Robert William Wood; Realized: $11,250.
• Whales, 1954, by Bror Utter: Realized: $10,625.
