Julian Onderdonk (1882-1922)
Sunset on Wular Lake, c. 1914
oil on canvas
32 x 49 inches
39.75 x 56.75 inches (frame)
signed lower right: Julian Onderdonk after Maj E. Molyneaux [sic]

Julian Onderdonk was a native of San Antonio and son of important Texas artist, Robert Jenkins Onderdonk. In 1901, at the age of nineteen, he moved to New York City and attended the Art Students League. He then studied plein-air painting with William Merritt Chase at his summer school in Shinnecock, New York. He returned to Texas in 1909 and continued to enjoy considerable success during his lifetime. He became best known for his paintings of bluebonnets, but he also loved to depict the Texas Hill Country in all its incarnations. He suffered an early death at the age of 40.

Sunset on Wular Lake is a copy of a watercolor originally painted by Major Edward Molyneux. Molyneux (1866–1913) was a British painter. During his years in the Himalayan Valley of Kashmir, Molyneux painted Sunset on Wular Lake along with many scenes of the capital city of Srinagar and other areas which inspired him. The paintings were published in a book titled “Kashmir” (1909), accompanied by descriptions of the Valley by Sir Francis Younghusband.

This monumental work is a truly unique commission created by the artist for prominent Texas patrons, JH and Alice Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick graduated from the University of Texas Law School and served in the 22nd session of the state legislature in 1890-1891. Kirkpatrick was later involved in real estate in the San Antonio area. He and his wife, Alice, with their only son Oran, traveled around the world for four years at the turn of the century.

The Kirkpatricks had a friendship with Julian Onderdonk’s father, Robert, along with other prominent artists in San Antonio. Robert spent time with JH and Alice at Grand Lake, Colorado at a home they owned there. Pompeo Coppini, the renowned sculptor, was another friend of the Kirkpatricks, and he sculpted busts of several of the Kirkpatrick family members.

The group of men that included JH Kirkpatrick, Robert Onderdonk, Pompeo Coppini, and others would meet at the Original Mexican Restaurant along the river in downtown San Antonio and named themselves the “Chili Thirteen”. It could be the friendship that JH had with Julian Onderdonk’s father that provided an opportunity for the Kirkpatricks to commission this work from Julian Onderdonk.

The Kirkpatricks had traveled to areas throughout India during their trip around the world, and after returning to Texas, Kirkpatrick delivered sixty-eight lectures on his travels. It is likely that he and his wife had been to Kashmir and had seen works of Major Molyneaux either in person, or in a copy of his illustrated book “Kashmir”, which included a depiction of the painting Sunset on Wular Lake. This passion for exotic travel explains the Onderdonk commission of a scene from India, instead of his typical Texas landscape.

LITERATURE
Harry A. Halff, "Complete Catalogue of the Works of Julian Onderdonk", 2016, published as "Copy after Major E. Molyneaux, c. 1914", cat. no. 743, p. 207.

The painting appears to be in good condition. Under UV examination, there is no evidence of restoration or inpainting.