
Mary
Anita Bonner (1887-1935) was born
March 31, 1887 on a plantation in Bastrop, Louisiana, the youngest of 3 children.
Mary and her family
moved to San Antonio, Texas in 1897. Mary and her two older siblings spent
summers on an ranch near Uvalde, Texas where Mary observed cowboys at
work and committed those images to memory which later became her
etchings which are considered her best subjects. In 1901 Mary was a day scholar at the
San Antonio Academy and in 1904 became a student at the University of
Texas in Austin. 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 visiting the Woodstock Art
Colony where she first became interested in print making deciding to
take up etching. 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 Society 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. In 1929
Bonner won the coveted Ordre des Palmes Academiques and in 1931 received
the silver metal at the salon of the Societe des Artistes Francais. Her
work was included in many important exhibits including the Luxembourg
Museum, British Museum and the New York Public Library.
During her artistic career Mary traveled from Texas to Europe many
times. After 1929 she remained in San Antonio. She was active in San
Antonio cultural affairs and continued producing prints and watercolors
of Cowboy scenes and local attractions.
Mary
died in 1935 from complications from surgery.
Since 1988 we have had most
of the etchings created
by the artist.
|
TEXAS
Fine Arts Dealer
Since 1988







|