|
"Cattle Roundup"
1940
Muralist:
Thomas Stell, Jr.
|
Teague, Texas Post
Office Mural "Cattle Roundup"
by Thomas Stell, Jr., 1940
TE Photo, April 2009 |
A brief bio
of the artist:
Thomas Stell
Jr. 1898-1966
Born in the South
Texas county seat of Cuero,
Stell attended school with classmate and friend E. M. (Buck) Schiwetz,
another Texas artist-in-the-making. Graduating in 1914 Stell worked
as a draftsman in Dallas,
Chicago and New York. In the early 1920 he was enrolled in Houston’s
Rice Institute (now Rice University) where he was art editor for the
yearbook. He later moved to NYC where he got jobs as a set designer,
film technician and got his first exposure to muralism. He returned
to Texas to teach in Dallas
at the Art Institute and the Dallas Architectural Club. He then went
back to New York to study art history at Columbia and returned again
to Dallas to resume teaching. In 1934 Stell won the first of several
commissions for public art – a mural installed at Dallas’
Forest Avenue High School. He also painted murals for Corsicana’s
Drane Library and assisted other muralists for the Texas
Centennial Exposition in 1936. He taught at San
Antonio’s Trinity University and later at the University of Texas
at Austin. He chose San
Antonio as his permanent home and worked on a variety of projects
there, including the famed Riverwalk and the base of the Tower of
the Americas. He died while working on a mosaic for the Riverwalk
extension in 1966.
Known primarily as a portraitist, Stell’s commissions are now in private
collections although his post office murals can be seen in Teague
and Longview Texas
and Perry, Oklahoma. His Perry work has been moved to the county museum.
His membership in “The Dallas Nine” has insured that his work is included
in Southern Methodist University’s Bywater’s Collection. He is buried
in Cuero.
"Cattle
Roundup" mural details:
|
 |
Cowboy roping
Teague TX PO mural "Cattle Round-up" detail
Painting by Thomas Stell, reins by M. C. Escher
TE
Photo, April 2009 |
| Armadillo
and Whimsical Cactus |
The
mural in situ
TE
Photo, April 2009 |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and vintage or recent photos, please contact
us. |
|
|
HOME
