(1887-1935)
San Antonio, Texas

     Mary Bonner was born in Bastrop, Louisiana and she and her family moved to San Antonio, Texas in 1897. She received her formal education in the US & Europe. Bonner studied with Robert Jenkins Onderdonk in San Antonio and later in northern states under Richard Miller and Bolton Brown. In 1922 she stayed the summer in Woodstock visiting relatives, where she first became interested in print making. In 1924 she moved to Paris, France and started her print making studies with Edouard Leon, which she remained for numerous years.

     Mary Bonner was known as the Texas Girl-Etcher of Cowboys. Her sparkling ingenuity, humorous originality and sure craftsmanship in cowboy friezes have won recognition that remains entirely her own. In the 1920's, some European critics called her the greatest woman etcher America has yet produced. In 1925 she was admitted with the greatest French etchers in the two Salons de la Societe des Artistes Francais. In her first exhibition of the two Salons, she won honorable mention. This was outstanding, as it was the first time an American woman had ever been so honored.

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