Plate~Dashby Kilns Texas Bluebonnet 1952 Porfirio Salinas First Ed. Vtg.

Plate~Dashby Kilns Texas Bluebonnet 1952 Porfirio Salinas First Ed. Vtg. (image 3/[null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null])

Plate~Dashby Kilns Texas Bluebonnet 1952 Porfirio Salinas First Ed. Vtg. (image 4/[null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null])

Plate~Dashby Kilns Texas Bluebonnet 1952 Porfirio Salinas First Ed. Vtg. (image 5/[null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null])

Plate~Dashby Kilns Texas Bluebonnet 1952 Porfirio Salinas First Ed. Vtg. (image 6/[null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null])

Plate~Dashby Kilns Texas Bluebonnet 1952 Porfirio Salinas First Ed. Vtg. (image 7/[null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null])

Plate~Dashby Kilns Texas Bluebonnet 1952 Porfirio Salinas First Ed. Vtg. (image 8/[null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null])

Plate~Dashby Kilns Texas Bluebonnet 1952 Porfirio Salinas First Ed. Vtg. (image 9/[null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null])

Plate~Dashby Kilns Texas Bluebonnet 1952 Porfirio Salinas First Ed. Vtg. (image 10/[null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null])

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Porfirio Salinas (November 6, 1910 -- April 18, 1973) was an early Texas landscape painter who is recognized for his depictions of the Texas Hill Country in the springtime. He was one of the first Mexican American artists to become nationally recognized for his paintings. He was described by The New York Times as being United States President Lyndon B. Johnson's favorite painter. Works by Salinas are displayed in the Texas State Capitol, the Texas Governor's Mansion and in a number of museums including the Witte Museum in San Antonio, Texas and the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum.Early history:Salinas was born on November 6, 1910 near Bastrop, Texas. He came from a family of Mexican American tenant farmers, his father Porfirio G. Salinas and his mother Clara G. Chavez Salinas leaving the farm for San Antonio when Porfirio was a child. Salinas was a precocious talent who drew and painted from the time he was a small boy and received encouragement from his teachers. He had little formal education and left school when he was young in order to work in an art supply store. When he was fifteen he met the English-born landscape artist Robert William Wood (1889--1979) at the store.Salinas went to work in Wood's studio in 1925, where he learned the basics of being a professional painter. He stretched Wood's canvasses, and learned to frame paintings, how to mix paints and how to prepare canvas under Wood's supervision. Wood was a very capable businessman, and Salinas learned how to sell and market his art from the English painter. Salinas accompanied Wood and the Spanish-born artist and teacher José Arpa (1858--1952) on sketching trips to the hills and valleys surrounding San Antonio where they painted blooming wildflowers in the spring and the Texas Red Oak in the fall. With his talent and hard work he was soon capable of professional work.Professional career:Salinas began painting professionally in 1930, when he was twenty years old. His early work was influenced by his mentor Robert Wood's paintings. He painted many scenes of Texas bluebonnets, the state flower, which were sold to tourists by the artists and galleries in San Antonio, Texas. In 1939 he began working with the art dealer Dewey Bradford (1896--1985), who sold paintings, frames and art supplies in the state capital of Austin.National recognition:While Salinas sold his work steadily, by 1960 he was known primarily to Texas collectors and tourists who visited San Antonio. In 1961, this changed rapidly with the election of his collector Lyndon B. Johnson (1908--1973) to the Vice Presidency of the United States. With his ascension from the United States Senate to being Vice President, Johnson and his wife Lady Bird Johnson (1912--2007) purchased a large French-style chateau from the socialite and heiress Perle Mesta (1889--1975). They decorated the house with French antiques and tapestries that were already in the home, but the foyer was hung with Texas wildflower paintings by Salinas. Lady Bird Johnson was quoted as saying, "I want to see them when I open the door, to remind me of where I come from." Lyndon Johnson told the Washington press that Porfirio Salinas was "his favorite artist." President Johnson also presented a Salinas painting to President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz of Mexico as an official gift from the United States. The patronage of the President was a tremendous boost to the artist's career and during the 1960's, his work sold briskly for ever higher prices. The Johnsons' Salinas paintings remain in the collection of the LBJ Ranch today. President and Lady Bird Johnson were both advocates and admirers of wildflowers. Lady Bird Johnson will always remain linked to the subject of wildflowers because of her "Beautify America" campaign and the Highway Beautification Act, which was passed by the United States Congress in 1965. As part of that effort, many miles of Texas roadsides were seeded with Texas bluebonnets, Lupinus texensis, the flowers that Salinas is known for painting.Death and posthumous reputation:Salinas was recog... read more

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