Helotes historical society honors artist Hunter
Artist Warren Hunter created a wealth of work in his life, reflecting the scenic beauty of the Texas Hill Country through his attention to detail and a multifacted use of styles.
The Historical Society of Helotes is honoring Hunter through a collection of his work at the town’s City Hall, 12951 Bandera Road. This includes a T-shirt, which uses one of Hunter’s artistic images on it, aimed toward raising funds in support of the historical society’s work.
“We have been wanting to do T-shirts for the historical society but we wanted to have a meaningful image on them,” Cynthia Massey, president of the Historical Society of Helotes, said. “One of the historical aspects of Helotes is that in the 19th century, the city was a cattle drive stop.
“One day, the board was discussing it and I said let’s look for an image that reflects something from that time,” she said. “Our vice president looked for an image and found one from Hunter. We all agreed that this would perfectly fit what we were trying to do. So, we contacted the family and they had kept the image alive.”
Hunter, who lived the latter part of his life in the Grey Forest area of Helotes, was born in 1904 in London, Texas, and raised in San Antonio.
Hunter died in 1993.
He started painting when he was 12 years old and, according to Massey, continued to grow into his work by producing woodblock and linoleum prints, typesetting, oil and watercolor painting, commercial illustration, and copper etchings.
He taught at the Hunter School of Art, which opened in La Villita in the 1940s, and was the first dean of the San Antonio Art Institute at the McNay Art Museum. Hunter also lived in Harper and Bandera.
One of the challenges that the historical society faced was trying to get word out about the T-shirt fundraiser. Then, Massey said, the group had an idea.
“Early voting was going to be taking place and people will go through City Hall to do so,” she said. “We thought it might be a good place to place the exhibit and set it up.”
Besides the T-shirt, the exhibit includes paintings and book illustrations on loan from the Hunter family.
“Hunter did the covers for ‘Frontier Times’ magazine,” Massey said. “His father published them and we have a 1935 publication of the magazine as part of it.”
Hunter’s father, J. Marvin Hunter, started “Frontier Times” magazine in 1923 and, according to Warren Hunter’s website www.warrenhunter.org, founded the Frontier Times Museum in Bandera in 1927. Warren Hunter used woodblock or linoleum block and drawings in creating those magazine covers.
His artwork is included in collections that can be found at the Alamo and the San Jacinto Monument, and at The White House and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Additionally, private collections both in the United States and around the world carry pieces of his work, too.
“Hunter published a newspaper and also was into history,” she said. “He was a traditional realist and did a lot of Texas Hill Country landscapes. His paintings are all over the world and sell quite well even to this day. Maybe people will rediscover him as well as the beautiful Texas landscape that is in the Hill Country itself.”
Sales of the T-shirt within the Hunter exhibit will benefit the Historical Society of Helotes. Sales will continue as supplies last. They can be purchased at the Society’s website at www.historicalsocietyofhelotes.org or at Picosos Peanut Company, 18620 Bandera Road.
The exhibit at Helotes City Hall will remain up until April.
