Brush Country Landscape 

Robert Julian Onderdonk painted this landscape of the Texas brush country, a landscape that for many, including Onderdonk himself, came to represent a very particular idea of Texan identity. Onderdonk was an American Impressionist, and though he studied in New York, he felt a calling to depict the Texas landscape. His choice to focus on the Texas landscape came at a time when the imagery of the ‘Wild West’ was being romanticized, and also served a political purpose. These images helped construct a narrative that often overlooked the complex history and displacement of indigenous peoples. Look closely, how the scene invites you in, but also holds you at a distance. Onderdonk’s paintings are not just landscapes; they are emotional and cultural statements that reflect a longing for a mythic past, while subtly obscuring more complex histories.