PORFIRIO SALINAS (1910-1973)
ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING | 12 x 16
Highly collectible piece by nationally recognized early Texas landscape painter, Porfirio Salinas (1910-1973) now available through Dutch Art Gallery. Works by Salinas are displayed in the Texas State Capitol, the Texas Governor’s Mansion as well as museums including the Witte Museum in San Antonio and the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum. Lyndon B. and Ladybird Johnson were avid collectors of his work. 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.”
One of the first Mexican American artists to become nationally recognized for his paintings, the professional career of Porfirio Salinas lasted for more than forty years with his work gaining an ever expanding following. Born near Bastrop, Texas, he came from a family of Mexican American tenant farmers. He had little formal education and left school while still young to work in an art supply store in San Antonio. It was there he met English-born artist Robert William Wood who would become his mentor.
Salinas went to work in Wood’s studio where he stretched canvasses and mixed paints. He also learned to frame paintings as well as sell and market his own art. Salinas was invited to join Wood and the Spanish-born artist and teacher, José Arpa, on sketching trips to the hills and valleys surrounding San Antonio. They painted wildflowers in the spring and the Texas red oak in the fall. These scenes would become his legacy.
