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Onderdonk

Onderdonk paintings in peak season at Heritage Auctions

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
Julian Onderdonk (American, 1882-1922), ‘Texas Landscape with Bluebonnets,’ oil on canvas, 25 x 30 inches (63.5 x 76.2 cm). Estimate: $150,000-$250,000 Heritage Auctions image
Julian Onderdonk (American, 1882-1922), ‘Texas Landscape with Bluebonnets,’ oil on canvas, 25 x 30 inches (63.5 x 76.2 cm). Estimate: $150,000-$250,000. Price realized: $437,000. Heritage Auctions image

 

DALLAS – 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.

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.”

Heritage Auctions set a world record for the most valuable Onderdonk canvas ever offered at public auction in November 2013.

LiveAuctioneers.com provided absentee and Internet live bidding.

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 (below) ended at $75,000.

 

Julian Onderdonk (American, 1882-1922), ‘Bluebonnets in Spring,’ oil on canvas 12 x 16 inches (30.5 x 40.6 cm). Estimate: $60,000-$80,000. Heritage Auctions image
Julian Onderdonk (American, 1882-1922), ‘Bluebonnets in Spring,’ oil on canvas, 12 x 16 inches (30.5 x 40.6 cm). Estimate: $60,000-$80,000. Price realized: $75,000. Heritage Auctions image

 

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 (below), sold for $21,250.

 

Julian Onderdonk (American, 1882-1922), ‘Stone Bridge in Winter, Central Park,’ oil on canvas laid on Masonite, 10-3/4 x 13-3/4 inches (27.3 x 34.9 cm). Estimate: $10,000-$15,000. Heritage Auctions image
Julian Onderdonk (American, 1882-1922), ‘Stone Bridge in Winter, Central Park,’ oil on canvas laid on Masonite, 10-3/4 x 13-3/4 inches (27.3 x 34.9 cm). Price realized: $21,250. Estimate: $10,000-$15,000. Heritage Auctions image

 

Artworks by two of Texas’ most respected landscape artists handily surpassed 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.

 

OnderdonkClick here to view the fully illustrated catalog for this sale, complete with prices realized.

Onderdonk