"Casa Ranchera"
The San Antonio Museum of Art has asked to borrow two Theodore Gentilz paintings from the Villa Finale Collection for a show entitled Theodore Gentilz: Mission Life of San Antonio and Northern Mexico which opens on March 2nd and closes May 20th 2012. The show is part of an exhibition series called San Antonio Collects, truly a great fit for Walter Mathis and his Villa Finale. The paintings Man and Pueblo Home, a charming watercolor and Casa Ranchera, oil on canvas, are two great examples of Gentilz’s illustrative style.
"Mexican Man with a Cane Walking Before Pueblo Houses"
Theodore Gentilz, (1819-1906) was an established young painter when he set sail for Texas in 1843, leaving his home in Paris, France, forever. He was invited to come to Castroville by fellow Frenchman Henri Castro, the founder of that town, but settled in San Antonio where he opened a studio in 1847. He left as his legacy a rich pictorial account of the people of San Antonio, its environs, and Mexico. He also worked as a surveyor, creating detailed, illustrated maps of areas surrounding San Antonio and most of northern Mexico. Many of his paintings of Mexico, like the two on loan, were painted during surveying trips. All of Villa Finale’s Gentilz collection, eight in total, hangs in the Mathis Sitting Room.
Theodore Gentilz: Mission Life of San Antonio and Northern Mexico, runs from March 2nd through May 20th, 2012. For more information about the San Antonio Museum of Art’s exhibit, please click here. You may also contact SAMA directly at (210) 978-8100. The San Antonio Museum of art is located at 200 West Jones Ave., San Antonio, TX 78215.
Meg Nowack
Orlando Cortinas
Sylvia M. Gonzalez
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