Alice Naylor

"Portrait of a Young Lady"

Circa 1940

Jose Arpa (1858-1952) San Antonio Artist Image Size: 25 x 20 Frame Size: 29 x 24 Medium: Oil "Lady in Mantilla" From the Robert Tobin Collection. Robert Tobin (deceased) San Antonio, Texas Developer and Philanthropist. Details This painting was exhibited in 2016-2017 at Several Texas Museums including the Panhandle Plains Museum.  Exhibition tag on verso. Biography Jose Arpa (1858-1952) Born in Carmona, Spain, José Arpa y Perea was known as "The Colorist Painter" of figures and landscapes, especially in Texas where he brought a fresh approach to San Antonio painting in his bright, sunlit local scenes.  He was also an etcher, illustrator, and muralist as well as an art teacher, and he started and ended his career in Spain.  His subjects include the Grand Canyon of Arizona. He began his art study as the pupil of Eduardo Cano de la Pena at the Academy of Fine Arts in Seville and then spent six years in Rome followed by extensive travel through Africa and Europe.  His reputation was solid enough that the Spanish government sent four of his paintings as part of the exhibition to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. In 1894, as an illustrator, he accompanied a Spanish army expedition to Morocco where the Spanish had been defeated by Rifi tribesmen.  In the mid-1890s, he was brought to Mexico City, reportedly by a special Mexican naval vessel, to head the Academy of Fine Arts, but declined the position once he understood the responsibilities.  Instead he joined one of his Spanish schoolmates and went to his home in Puebla, Mexico, where his use of bright colors earned him the name of "Sunshine Man."  He became close to the children of this man, and in 1903, accompanied them as a guardian to school in San Antonio.  After twenty years of traveling in Spain, Mexico, the Southwest, and South America, Arpa settled in 1923 in San Antonio, Texas, where he became Director of the San Antonio Art School and painted bright, sun-filled landscapes.  He taught landscape and portrait painting and was exceedingly prolific, and several San Antonio collectors accumulated large numbers of his works.  Among his close artist friends were Robert and Julian Onderdonk, Tom and Joe Brown, and Charles Simmang.  They were members of a San Antonio group who painted together and called themselves the "Brass Mug...

Edward Lee Reichert (1919-2011) Texas Artist Image Size: 18 x 24 Frame Size: 23.25 x 29.25 Medium: Oil Dated 1976 "J. Frank Dobie at Paisiana Biography Edward Lee Reichert (1919-2011) Edward Reichert, architect, designer and artist, is a native Texan who has combined regional, national and international study and practice of the visual art and architecture since 1936. He is a versatile artist and designer, skilled in creating quality landscapes, portraits, architectural, western, religious and varied work in all media. After 36 years of architectural practice based in Houston in which he was involved in the design of more than 400 regional and international projects, he now devotes full time to painting. Best known of his art works are his designs of stained and faceted art glass which include 100 panels designed for the First United Methodist Church of Houston. In 1983, he wrote and jointly published with the Church, Windows Sharing God’s Caring, an art book with photographs by his wife Elizabeth, illustrating and describing these panels and the historic sanctuary windows. While attending The University of Texas in Austin he served as art editor of the university publication Architecture, Engineering and Industry (1938-41). After receiving his Bachelor of Architecture Degree and the Alpha Rho Chi Architectural Medal in 1941, he was awarded scholarships for continued studies a M.I.T., Harvard, and Yale. As a Naval Reserve Officer during World II, he authored and illustrated Naval Intelligence publications. He became a Registered Architect in Texas in 1947, AIA member since 1951 and NCARB certified since 1974. He has worked and studied in England, Europe and Canada. Invitational study and travel with Master Painter, Lajos...