presented revealed the heroism of the
men in a hellish situation. This was his
version of the Marines. Still, it took
painting a portrait of his beloved wife
Sarah, to exorcise the sights and sounds
he’d recorded.
From Life’s nine war artists’ 200 or so
paintings presented to the government,
the greatest number were by Tom Lea.
Prior to his time with Life, Lea had
met the author J. Frank Dobie, becom-
ing a close friend. Initially, he illustrat-
ed Dobie’s Apache Gold and Yaqui Silver,
an opportunity that established his
credibility in illustration work, and later
he illustrated The Longhorns. The study
for the latter’s drawings took him into
the brush country of south Texas and
Mexico. He developed a keen interest
in the cattle industry, particularly in
bulls. After the war Life gave him
another assignment, this one a painted
history of the beef cattle industry.
Again, bulls came to his attention as the
subject for his art, both as a writer and
an illustrator. Out of that interest came
the novel The Brave Bulls, which became
a movie starring Mel Ferrer. Another
novel followed, The Wonderful Country,
featuring the borderland and the
people who lived on both sides. This,
too, became a movie, but the screen-
play was so revised that Lea received
nothing for it. Bob Parish, the director
and a friend, was able to get Lea a bit
part in the movie, enabling him to gain
a salary as part of the cast.
By now Tom Lea the writer was on
something of a roll. His Brave Bulls
had found an aficionada in Helen
Kleberg, wife of the King Ranch’s
Bob Kleberg. With her encourage-
ment Kleberg offered Lea the oppor-
tunity to write the history of the King
Ranch, tantamount to the history of
south Texas. That commission drove
a three-year wedge into the friendship
of Lea and Dobie, whom Lea suspect-
ed of wanting to write the history him-
self and who wrote what was in Lea’s
opinion a rather snide review of his
two volume set, The King Ranch. In
time the rift healed, and Lea served as
a pallbearer at Dobie’s funeral.
So, whence Rio Grande in the White
House? That’s Laura Bush’s story.
Her grandparents were from
Canutillo, a part of greater El Paso,
where she was a frequent visitor dur-
ing summers growing up. She’d read
Lea’s books and, due to her father’s
military service, was familiar with his
war correspondence. When George
became Governor of Texas, she had
the opportunity to meet Tom and
Sarah and became such an admirer
she invited them to Austin to meet her
husband. After his election to the
Presidency in 2000, George asked
Laura to select a Tom Lea oil to grace
the Oval Office; she looked to the El
Paso Museum of Art. Rio Grande had
been donated to the museum in 1996
when the Tom Lea Gallery was estab-
lished there. Coincidentally, the clas-
sic landscape was the gift of Maureen
and Robert Decherd, who was the
grandson of Tom Lea Sr.’s law part-
ner. When Lea died in January 2001,
Laura Bush travelled to El Paso for
his memorial service. It was her first
trip as First Lady.
Even most Texans don’t realize the
extent of Lea’s seven decade career.
There are reasons. By his own admis-
sion he “never subscribed to any of the
‘isms,’ nor (did he seek) approval from
critics, museums, directors, or art deal-
ers.” Perhaps more significant is that
his work is not generally displayed for
public view, but resides in the homes of
friends. That his work could be “in
personal conversation” with those he
cared for was most important to him.
Learn more about this man who cel-
ebrated our land in his painting at the
Museum of the Big Bend’s exhibit of
the Lea/Dobie collaboration on dis-
play now, and on October 17th at
Brandon Shuler’s talk on the subject.
Then on October 19th, when New
York/Van Horn landscape artist
Katherine Alexander discusses the
importance of space in his art at the
Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute
in Fort Davis.
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Cenizo
Fourth Quarter 2013
9