ABOUT J.R. MOONEY GALLERIES OF FINE ART J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art is a full service fine art retail gallery, specializing in Texas vintage, local and regional, and contemporary art; coupled with a world renowned custom frame shop. J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art was founded in San Antonio, Texas in 1947 by Joe and Adelle Mooney. Emerging as Modern Paint Company in 1947, with the largest selection of professional artist grade art supplies in San Antonio, the Mooney family eventually expanded their business. Modern Paint Company became J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art to showcase local, regional and international artists while delving into custom framing, artist representation and other unique attributes. J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art has metamorphosed again with an identity reflective of over a half-century existence; becoming custom framing experts and specializing in an array of museum quality art services. J.R. Mooney Galleries is currently providing fine art services at their signature Broadway address in San Antonio, and in their Boerne location. J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art has provided framing services for every American President since John Kennedy and every Texas governor since John Connally. The galleries have also supplied the Vatican, the Royal Palace in Madrid, Queen Beatrix of Holland, as well as major collections and collectors in Europe, Asia, South America and Australia. J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art 8302 Broadway Street San Antonio, TX 78209 (210) 828-8214 J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art - Boerne 305 South Main Street, Suite 400 Boerne, TX 78006 (830) 816-5106 Gallery Hours: San Antonio: Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Boerne: Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Table of Contents
Forward 6 Jay Hester Biography 8 “TEXAS - Stories of the Land” Plates 10 Lena’s Legend 12 The Healer 14 White Feather 16 Sacred Ground 18 Tonkawa Reprisal 20 Leaving No Trail 22 The Discovery 24 Lasting Friendship 26 Frontier Code 28 Palo Duro Refuge 30 Appendix A - Supplementary Historical Information and Background A1 Appendix B - Reprinted Articles B1
Forward In February 2016, Texas artist, Jay Hester, and J.R. Mooney Gallery Director, Gabriel Diego Delgado, sat down to discuss a mutual endeavor. Hester was looking for a gallery to call “home,” a new space where he could progress his career and explore other avenues of the western genre of art making. Their discussions revolved around a new body of artwork that Hester wanted to delve into. This loose concept would become the foundation for the “Jay Hester: TEXAS - Stories of the Land” exhibition, which opened on October 8, 2016. The gallery wanted to give Hester an opportunity to explore aspects of the local western charm of his beloved Texas cities. Hester began to develop an artistic theme around his self-guided historical research on Texas folklore and oral tales pertaining to battles, ambushes, friendships, discoveries, and deeds done by the Comanche, Apache, Texas Rangers, and frontiersmen during the early formative years of Texas. His vision was to create a body of artwork that was based on these events and narratives and set within his own warm and serene cowboy art aesthetic. His new art selections became deeply rooted in the old archives of rural mythology and historical depictions of tales pertinent to Boerne, Texas. As the curatorial elements of the exhibition gave fruition to Hester’s ideas during the course of the next six months, the staff of J.R. Mooney Galleries came together to pursue national attention and acclaim for his newest body of artwork. They were able to garner the attention of major national publications, for both Hester and the gallery, concluding with media coverage and highlights in a variety of local magazines and securing national press in “Cowboys & Indians Magazine.” Jay Hester, his prominent role in Boerne’s art community, and the historical precedence of J.R. Mooney Galleries has brought the small town of Boerne, Texas into the national spotlight of western art. It is also important to note that as the historical aspects of the exhibition expanded and the importance of Hester’s new body of artwork became apparent, the civic leaders of Boerne and the philanthropic-minded public provided additional support to help promote the exhibition and give communal recognition to Jay Hester and his influence on the greater Texas art community.
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The proceeding catalog is an archived publication designed to illustrate the artworks in the “Jay Hester: TEXAS- Stories of the Land” exhibition, and document the historical research that Jay and Judy Hester embarked on for both inspiration and content. The pages opposite the image plates for the exhibition contain Hester’s own words describing his inspiration for the paintings, as well as his own summary of the events as they happened and his understanding of how it might have appeared. Two appendices are included in the back of the exhibition catalog, documenting other aspects of the gallery exhibition. Appendix A illustrates and documents the gallery wall plaques that accompanied each painting on display during the exhibition at the Boerne, Texas gallery. They contain relevant information on the characters in the pictorial as well as contested inaccuracies and chronological events researched and written by the staff of J.R. Mooney Galleries in Boerne. Appendix B contains reprinted and republished articles that pertain to the exhibition. These are reprinted by permission from the original sources and include “Art Through the Historical Lens” in The Explore Magazine, “Jay Hester: Texas - Stories of the Land” in J.R.M. Quarterly Magazine, “Western Romanticism - A Term for This Generation” in The Boerne Business Monthly, and “Texas - Stories of the Land” in The Dominion Magazine. Note: Catalog, articles and wall plaques were researched, written and designed by Gabriel Diego Delgado, Katherine Shevchenko and Gina Martinez of the J.R. Mooney Gallery staff in Boerne, Texas.
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About Jay Hester A southerner by birth and a westerner by heart, that’s Jay Hester. Jay’s passion for western culture is evident in his work as a Native American and western artist. His ability to capture the rustic beauty and depth of the people and places that define the American West has gained him many honors and awards at national juried exhibitions. Although this subject matter is his passion, it by no means encompasses the spectrum of his talent. After college graduation in Alabama, Jay was accepted to the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles where he further refined his painting skills. He then worked as an illustrator for Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in Georgia. After several years in the commercial art business, Jay realized his dream to paint and sculpt full-time. He followed his passion along the East Coast art show circuit, and taught art to college students in Georgia and Tennessee before heading west. It was Santa Fe, with its rich environment, which sparked his interest in the Native Americans and other western subjects. While residing there he studied the character of the west and its culture and traditions, enabling him to capture on canvas and in clay the Native Americans, mountain men, and cowboys he so often depicts. Those artistic pursuits have gained him notable recognition. In addition to work in private collections across America, Jay has produced commissioned paintings for Texas Tech University and Methodist Hospital in Lubbock, the Zaragosa Theater at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, USAA in San Antonio, as well as many other public collections. His monumental bronze sculptures grace The Woodlands, near Houston, Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi, and Boerne’s Veteran’s Park. “Lasting Friendship,” a bronze in Fredericksburg’s Markt Platz, is represented by three heroic sized figures depicting the treaty signing between the Comanche Indians and the German settlers and was unveiled on the 150th anniversary of the city. Jay has resided in the beautiful Hill Country town of Boerne, Texas for over twenty years and has been an active leader during the expansion of the arts in this rapidly growing area. 8
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Appendix B
Reprinted Articles Gabriel Diego Delgado
History Told Through the Artistic Lens B1 Western Romanticism B4
Gina Martinez
Texas: Stories of the Land B6
Katherine Shevchenko
Jay Hester: Texas - Stories of the Land B8
History Told Through the Artistic Lens By: Gabriel Diego Delgado
“There is history that is based on hard, documented fact; history that is colored with rumor, speculation, or falsehood; and history that exists in what might be termed the hinterlands of the imagination.” - S.C. Gwynne In S.C. Gwynne’s Empire of the Summer Moon, a book on the rise and fall of the Comanche tribe, the nonfiction writer pens a simplistic sentence that encapsulates a complementing narrative to the preceding introduction of the upcoming solo exhibition by Boerne artist, Jay Hester, at J.R. Mooney Galleries. The statement addresses the chronological irregularities of scholarly history in which we draw historical conclusions based on writers, historians, and deemed academics’ biased or unbiased judgement of events that shaped these great lands. In Jay Hester: “TEXAS – Stories of the Land,” a solo art exhibition at the J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art in Boerne, opening October 8, 2016, the artist visually pieces together a multitude of historic ‘stories’: encounters between the Texas Rangers and the Comanche and Apache tribes; raids and battles in Linnville and Plum Creek, Texas; stoic pioneering personas; and monumental peace treaty signings. Historians have spent years, decades and centuries putting together accounts of famous and not so famous encounters, battles, raids, and ambushes of the Native American tribes on western migratory settlers and European immigrants as they built homesteads, colonies and compounds to fulfill their need for a place to call home. As an artist, Jay Hester deeply commits himself to preserving the historical value of these narratives of heartache and triumph. In the new artworks, Hester is influenced by the early era of Texas independence, its seceding mentalities, the Texas Rangers, Native American tribes, cultural skirmishes, pioneering visions, religious and political freedoms, harsh realities and the people that lived and died in the frontier lines of Comancheria. “This show gives me a perfect opportunity to retell these stories and other historical events in the only way I know...through my art,” he says. By sharing their ‘stories’ through his artistic talent and signature western genre of painting, Hester strives to be true to the city he calls home, the families he respects, and the heroes and antiheroes he holds in high esteem. B1
In an article in the September/October, 2016 edition of Cowboys & Indians Magazine, writer Dana Joseph quotes Hester as stating, “I developed Texas stories through the colorful characters of the times.” This is an accurate description of his newest visual selections that give remembrance, credence, and reverence to an era wrought with swift justice, vigilante mobs, vast armies and the unforgiving principles of manifest destiny. Not always culturally sensitive, empathy driven or politically correct, these ‘stories’ are, however, important to remember and Hester dives deep to accomplish summarized compositional renditions for the gallery. The largest artwork in the exhibition is a masterful piece titled The Healer. This 48” x 60” oil on canvas painting has Hester elegantly leading the audience through Dr. Herff’s pioneering cataract surgery in the 1800’s that saved a Comanche Chief’s eyesight. Derived from online research, published accounts, passages from Early Texas Physicians, 1830-1915: Innovative, Intrepid, Independent by the Texas Surgical Society, as well as a rewarding conversation with Juanita Herff Chipman, a direct descendant of Dr. Herff, Hester was able to piece together a panoramic view of how the surgery actually occurred. He alludes to the fact that the surgery laid the groundwork for a mutual understanding between some of the Native Americans and the early settlers of Boerne. “Dr. Herff became a larger than life figure in our area with all he accomplished as a young doctor in this uncertain country. His fair treatment of all people gained him respect by many tribes of Indians, as well as the rugged settlers of this part of Texas,” says Hester. Hester also references this medical driven truce in other paintings in the “Stories of the Land” exhibition, as he walks through the days, months, and years that followed that memorable operation. We learn of the Mexican girl that was gifted to the Herff family as a sign of gratitude for the doctor’s care, her rise within the Herff family and her fairytale-like marriage into an astute and reputable German family. In another painting we see the white feathered arrow that was shot into the fence post of the Herff family ranch (currently the Cibolo Nature Center and Farm) years later by raiding Native Americans, a visual indication of “peace” to this property, a signal that spared the Herff homestead during their pillaging, looting and attacks on settlers in the Boerne area. Through Hester we can witness the discovery of Edge Falls by the Comanche Nation. This mystical waterfall and swimming hole on the border of Boerne and Bergheim, Texas later became a sacred watering ground for several of the tribes that roamed these southern lands. Balancing the narrative between Native American portrayals and the “white man’s” western expansion, Hester relies on his formulaic teeter tottering of serene imagery. B2
For Hester, Texas Ranger John “Jack Coffee” Hays plays an intrinsic role in Texas history and is present in several of his new artworks. With his trusted scout Flacco, Hays and their horses trot through Joshua Creek, creating a picturesque landscape painting complete with the majestic limestone quarries, cliffs, and bends of the riverbed that runs perpendicular to Interstate 10 West outside Comfort, Texas. In another, Hester places the audience in a tense shoot-out with Hays and a Comanche party in a crevice at Enchanted Rock. In this painting the artist visually references the role that the new five-shooter Paterson Colt played in Hays’s survival; an often-deliberated fact trundled in Texas folklore. Sometimes history is too jumbled to be believed, where ‘truth is stranger than fiction.’ Case in point, Hester indulges us with his unique perspective of the Linnville raiding war party on their way to Plum Creek (now Lockhart, Texas). We see the incoming party silhouetted with their looted bounty of stovepipe hats, parasols, long pigeon-tailed coats and ribbons. Tonkawa Indians served as Hays’s scouts, outfitted with white armbands and headbands to serve as visual indicators to separate them from the incoming aggressors. Hester delivers a composition that sets the audience behind the front line of Tonkawa scouts; we are, in essence, Hays’s Ranger outfit, poised for battle. Rounding out the exhibition is a painting titled “Lasting Friendship” with a subject matter more familiar to Hester, the Meusebach Peace Treaty of Fredericksburg, Texas. In 1996, Hester created a monumental bronze sculpture of John O. Meusebach and Chief Buffalo Hump sharing a tobacco peace pipe; a visual depiction of the treaty signing between the Comanche Indians and the German settlers that was unveiled on the 150th anniversary of the city of Fredericksburg, and is currently installed at Fredericksburg’s Markt Platz. When asked about the “Lasting Friendship” painting, Hester states, “Once again, learning about the German influence and the relationship with the Comanche tribes that roamed the Hill Country…gave me inspiration for my artistic creations” -----Disclosure: Gabriel Diego Delgado is the Gallery Director of J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine ArtBoerne and the acting curator of Jay Hester: “TEXAS – Stories of the Land” Originally published in the September 2016 edition of Explore Magazine B3
Western Romanticism A Term for this Generation By: Gabriel Diego Delgado
Writer, Peter Cowey, once published a statement about the western art genre and how portrayers often emulate the “...mythic vision of the plains and deserts of the American West.” Yes this is true. As a collective consciousness for nostalgic moments, authors, artists, musicians and the like often portray the turn of the century western identities with cowboys fighting Native Americans back dropped by the mysterious and vast expanses of the desert plains. Art writer, Arnold Hauser, goes on to talk about the divisions within the ideals of romanticism, the negative connotations and well as the progressive. His credence is geared toward restoration and reaction to historical allegories. But, let’s examine the term within the context of modern-day art discussions. Much is documented, discerned and debated on historical battles and the events of the push for expansion during the early formative years of the United States. These insights into history are pieced together like a conceptual puzzle of who was where and when. Yet, sometimes these acknowledged circumstances from over 100 years ago are inevitably crisscrossed with historical inaccuracies, created by an individual addressing events long before their time. History is so often recorded by those that won, resulting in biased accounts that are seemingly one sided. This we know. However, the time is now to re-coin the notion of “western romanticism” in such a way that it encapsulates all consensual understandings in debatable history. Now is the time to feel free to cling to sensibilities of nostalgic comfort. Collectively, we are allowed to arrive at conclusions that balance the “truth,” historical narratives and events perceived through our own concepts of history. All of us can acknowledge the fact that yes, indeed, maybe some things did not happen the way in which certain scholarly events are taught, but sentiment-wise these perceptions are construed in our collective minds, so let’s agree that we each can investigate historical inaccuracies further and accept the possibility of different, yet logical conclusions of certain accounts. Illustrative art is no different. From a pre-Remington art era to Howard Terpning to the Cowboy Artists of America, a significant number of cowboy and western artists, both living and dead, all have continued B4
to paint timeless masterpieces reclaiming history in their own unique artistic voices. They paint with passion, driving toward a need for an enriched visual aesthetic but fed by history. From this artistic vision, the reevaluation of western romanticism is welcome and refreshing and can be found as a thriving genre of fine art. The smaller art community of Boerne can be included in this conversation as well. Jay Hester, the “Godfather” of the Boerne art scene, has been diligently pressing ahead in the creation of a new body of artwork for his forthcoming solo exhibition titled, “TEXAS – Stories of the Land.” In this selection of masterpieces he reveals legends, stories, and western ballads that are rooted deep in the old archives of rural mythology; historical depictions of tales pertinent to Boerne, Texas and the southern United States. In the exhibition, “TEXAS - Stories of the Land,” Hester unveils a mix of nine new dramatic masterpieces that tell the story of his beloved Texas. The subjects of his paintings range from the mystical Edge Falls waterhole in Kendalia; the raid at Linnville, Texas and ambush in Lockhart; Texas Ranger Jack Hays at Enchanted Rock; the scout, Flacco the Younger, and Hays on Big Josh Creek; the infamous cataract surgery performed by Dr. Herff on the Comanche Chief in 1847; the Meusebach treaty with John O. Meusebach and Chief Buffalo Hump; a Comanche Chief and captive, Lena, at the Bettina settlement in 1847/1848; Texas Rangers with Alford Giles surveying land south of Fredericksburg to the renegade Apache Indians shooting the white feathered arrow onto the fence post of the Herff Ranch in 1888. All of these paintings by Jay Hester have been well researched by the artist and his wife to arrive at a debated conclusion of how these events, scenes, and portraits might have looked and are coupled with Hester’s signature serene nostalgic warmness. “TEXAS – Stories of the Land” is Hester’s accumulation his understanding of these happenings arranged in his own sense of western romanticism. Join the J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art - Boerne on Saturday, October 8th, 2016 from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. for an exciting evening of western fine art honoring our great state of Texas in Jay Hester: “TEXAS Stories of the Land,” a blockbuster exhibition in which Hester draws on historical happenings to give an artistic voice to stories long forgotten. In his first solo exhibition in almost 20 years, J.R. Mooney Galleries in Boerne allows Hester to dominate and demonstrate as to why he is regarded as the “Godfather” of Boerne. Originally published in the September, 2106 edition of the Boerne Business Monthly
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TEXAS - Stories of the Land By: Gina Martinez
Celebrated artist Jay Hester weaves tales of western romanticism surrounding legends of the Texas Hill Country in his upcoming solo exhibition: “TEXAS - Stories of the Land.” Hester, a prolific painter with a long career steeped in traditional landscapes and western themes, has created commissioned works for Texas Tech University, USAA in San Antonio, the Zaragosa Theater at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, and the Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi, to name a few. This exhibition, scheduled for October at the J.R. Mooney Gallery of Fine Arts in Boerne, is the artist’s first solo show in almost twenty years. For this show the affectionately known “Godfather” of the Boerne art scene applies his skills to the histories, legends and characters that helped shape the Texas Hill Country of today. Hester’s exploration of western romanticism is set against an unsure and sometimes violent backdrop of natives, pioneers, and rangers in “TEXAS - Stories of the Land.” His storyboard includes raids, battles, and surgeries with characters such as one of Boerne’s founding fathers, Dr. Ferdinand Herff, and Texas Ranger John “Jack” Coffee Hayes. Hester used historical sources to corroborate with his artistic vision. He is aware of the discrepancies and contradictions that usually come up in historical research. He has many stories to choose from, and Hester tells them in his style using beautiful lighting and tough looking characters. He blends them into paintings that highlight moments of peace and courage during tense times. The strongest example of the artist’s vision is the show’s centerpiece, “The Healer.” The painting shows Dr. Ferdinand Herff’s pioneering cataract surgery on a Comanche chief. Dr. Herff was a German doctor for the Prussian army who eventually settled in Texas. He helped start the Bettina colonies as well as Boerne. This revolutionary surgery, possibly the first in the country, was performed in the 1840’s outdoors and without anesthesia. Needless to say, the event created a bond between the Comanche band and Herff‘s group which resulted in some peace. Herff would go on to become the chief medical examiner for San Antonio, pioneering more surgeries and medical practices. He was one of the most sought after practitioners of his day. “Dr. Herff became a larger than life figure in our area with all he accomplished as a young doctor in this uncertain country. His fair treatment of all people gained him respect by many tribes of Indians, as well as the rugged settlers of this part of Texas,” says Hester. B6
Another example of western romanticism inspired by legends about Boerne is Hester’s painting of the white arrow. By the 1880’s most surviving Native Americans lived on reservations. Quanah Parker had already surrendered and the Texas Indian Wars were over. However, there were still small resistance groups of Lipan Apache eking out their existence in the Hill Country. Legend has it that sometime during the 1880’s an elder Dr. Herff took his family to their Boerne homestead for a vacation from the busy city life in San Antonio. At the same time one of those groups of Lipan Apaches raided Boerne. The Herffs quickly boarded up their home and took shelter for the night, able to hear the sounds of pillaging in town. The next morning one of Herff’s sons went outside to survey the damage. To his surprise, their lands were untouched. There was a white-feathered arrow shot into the homestead fence post. This type of arrow was a Lipan Apache sign to the raiders to leave the homestead in peace. It was said to have been shot by a Lipan Apache warrior who remembered the doctor had helped his family. Hester’s painting shows the dramatic moment the raiding warriors arrive at the Herff homestead. The bold setting sun is surrounded by the dark storm clouds and the white-feathered arrow stands out against the darker palette. Hester captures the climactic moment when the leading raider, weapon drawn, turns away. Other paintings in “TEXAS - Stories of the Land” depict serene scenes that highlight the peaceful achievement of the communities. One showcases the unlikely friendship between Texas Ranger John (Jack) Coffee Hayes and Lipan-Apache chief, Flacco the Younger. Flacco would accompany Hayes on expeditions serving as a guide. The two became close and traveled together until Flacco was murdered, possibly by white settlers. Hester chose to reflect on happier times. The painting shows them riding through quiet, serene Joshua Creek. The steep walls of the limestone cliffs reflect the warm afternoon light and the still creek. Hester’s colorful foliage indicates it is fall and the two ride at a casual pace probably enjoying the nice weather. A sense of companionship permeates the canvas and far away is the fighting that preoccupied much of these men’s time. Perhaps the most serene of the group, ”Lasting Friendship,” depicts the Meusebach Peace Treaty, which was also immortalized by Hester in bronze at the Markt Platz on the main square in Fredericksburg. The painting depicts chief Buffalo Hump offering the peace pipe to John Meusebach. The chief sits calmly with his legs crossed and Meusebach accepts the pipe on bended knee. The Comanche warriors and elders surround him in anticipation. What is of note is that the Comanche treaties were made specifically with the Germans. The Comanche considered them displaced people. The tribe did not make peace with Mexico, Texas or the United States. B7
Finally, the painting “Lena’s Legend” represents hope. Pioneer times in Texas were rough and too often families were torn apart. Even once a settlement was established there was no guarantee it would prosper, let alone survive. There was disease, hunger and the constant fear of raids. No one living there was immune and it was common practice for Comanche to take prisoners of war, or slaves, after battles or raids. Lena was a Mexican child living with the Comanche under these circumstances. As a gesture of friendship, she joined the settlers in Bettina colony shortly after Dr. Herff’s cataract surgery on the chief. Although she was not reunited with her biological family, Lena adopted a new one at the German colony. She learned the language and found her place in the community. She married Hermann Spiess, a prominent settler, and had a family of her own proving that a person could survive and prosper in the wild, dangerous country. Originally published in the October 2016 edition of the Dominion Magazine
Jay Hester: “TEXAS - Stories of the Land” By: Katherine Shevchenko
Jay Hester, a well respected artist also affectionately known as the “Godfather” of the Boerne art scene, returns in a prodigious and monumental fashion with his first solo exhibition of paintings in almost twenty years. “TEXAS - Stories of the Land” is his inaugural showing at J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine ArtBoerne. This show will open on October 8th with a reception with the artist in attendance and will be on display until November 5th at the Boerne gallery location. Mr. Hester decided to chronicle pivotal events from the Texas historical canon that have taken on near mythic proportions due to their legendary status in their significance in shaping Texas’ socio-cultural landscape. Hester has prominently focused on the early days of the first settlers in the Texas area and the pivotal trials and tribulations of their encounters with the native Indian tribes of the land in times of war and the eventual culmination of treaty signings and the first sowings of peaceful relations. Gallery director, Gabriel Diego Delgado further discusses his motivations in the show’s formulation, “I thought we could curate an exhibition directly related to this endeavor. I feel with his unique artist’s voice of Texas history, he would develop a wonderful sensibility; a kind of mystical approach mixed with self-imposed artistic liberties… depicting these often violent times.” The gallery shall become a platform in which “to give Jay Hester a voice in telling the various historical legends of Texas…” Hester has been a seasoned and avid scholar in the story of the American Southwest for B8
many years. According to his wife, Judy, “Jay has a deep interest in Western and Native American art and has read and researched these subjects for years following his relocation to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1980.” exhibition is another chapter in the artistic journey of Hester, with his knowledge and aesthetic interest in preserving Texas’ rugged past in oil paint. “This passion has overlapped an opportunity through J.R. Mooney Gallery to express myself artistically in this personal way,” Hester elaborates. The beginnings of this exhibition started in the early months of 2016, when Hester sat down with Delgado to discuss the possibilities of scope and theme of his upcoming show. Delgado remarked on the early stages of the process, “Sitting down with the artist, we discussed aspects of various legends, historical figures and geography to see how we could pick and pull together aspects of surrounding regions to tell a cohesive story of South Texas, making it relevant to the populations of these regions; the paintings acting as historical lessons, tied as much to education as to aesthetic.” With many ideas just beginning to get formulated, Hester undergoes the preparation by diligently sketching rough compositional drawings on napkins at his favorite breakfast diner each morning. The sketches are then developed into more refined finalized drawings that are transferred to his canvases to be rendered in oils, with, of course, diligent research to maintain historical accuracy. “I spend many hours alone in my studio, as you may guess is the case with most creative people. I am not always at the easel, but for this show in particular, I have read and reread articles and parts of books detailing Texas events. I have reviewed photographic images for accuracy.” Many discoveries have been woven into Hester’s dramatic vision bringing Texas history to life and infusing it onto the canvas. According to Hester, “I knew some about the German migration and early settlement having lived in Boerne for over 20 years. However, there is a wealth of small details that gave me greater respect and appreciation of the people of this area as Texas grew and expanded.” As he works in the studio creating his works, his process is akin to storytelling. “Much like a writer choosing just the right words or using too few or too many words to tell a story, deciding on the right size canvas for the composition, the number of subjects that will adequately fill the space, or the shape of the landscape that best depicts what I am trying to say in my work, [it] is a daunting task.” A quintessential character that made immense contributions to the San Antonio and greater Boerne area was the doctor Ferdinand Ludwig Herff. One of his immense accomplishments is captured in a large scale painting that recreates the infamous cataract surgery he performed on a Comanche chief; a B9
meticulous operation that was performed outdoors without anesthesia. This operation saved the chieftain’s eyes and aided in paving a transition to smoother relations between the settlers and native tribes in the forthcoming years. Hester recounts on why he chose Dr. Herff in particular, “One of the most notable people that came from Germany was Dr. Herff. He was an exceptional man, noble in character and gifted as a surgeon in his time. His persona needs to be celebrated and given this platform of a solo show highlighting his story. That is what I will attempt to do.” In the experience of wisdom gleaned from many seasons, Hester is taking more time now to contemplate and let the creative well renew itself, saying, “I often realize that I may need more rest in between long stretches at the easel. My spirit needs recharging when my work is in question or I am off in some way. My answer always is more time is necessary for a better result.” As anticipation mounts and the exhibition opening date draws near, Delgado shares the aspirations that underlay the foundation for such a venture, “I hope that an exhibition of this caliber would show the collectors, patrons and appreciators of Hester’s art that at 70+ years old Hester is still a masterful craftsman in his signature genre, illustrating that he is constantly pushing his visual capabilities.” In questioning Hester on what he has done unique to this exhibition’s specific conceptual needs, the answer still remains to be seen, “Not until the show is over can I really know what I would do differently. I always say I strive for the best result, as I do hope these pieces will show.” Originally published in the Fall 2016 edition of JRM Quarterly
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