Tom Lea: A Talented Multimedia Artist

The famous and iconic artist from El Paso who painted the beauty of the southwest and traveled around the world.

Invocation, 1987. Oil on Canvas, 43 X 55. Collection of the El Paso Museum of Art, gift of JDW Insurance, El Paso, Texas

As an artist, El Paso artist Tom Lea took to many mediums in his career, including: oil painting, watercolor, Chinese ink, charcoal, pencil, block, and linoleum.

Take a look at some of Lea’s various works and the stories attached to each.

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Oil Paintings

Lea, T. (1984) The River Li [Oil on Canvas] 24 X 32 Collection of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Hunt, Dallas. Copyr. Catherine Lea Weeks. 

River Li:

“ Then, down in Kweilin [Guilin] was the part that I loved the best of China. It's the great landscape. You know those wonderful landscapes of the Sung masters, around [the year]1200, at the very height of that wonderful Chinese painting. Those sugarloafs, they’re true. I couldn’t believe it. They're really true. The people who did all these paintings weren’t making it up; there they are to this day and beautiful.”

“ And the River Li, which I liked very much, flows right through all of these strange sugarloaf mountains. It’s really an enchanted place, and the mist almost daily hangs partway down on these cone-shaped mountains. It's the old Sung masters, but there it is in real life. China madę an impression that would never die in me.” - Tom Lea

Lea, T. (1946) Portrait of Hazford Rupert 81st [Oil on Canvas] Collection of DMA. Copyr. Catherine Lea Weeks.

Rupert:

“ And I even went to Gov. [Roy J.] Turner's. He was the governor of Oklahoma, and he had a great Hereford bull named Hazford Rupert and the Seventy-second [the Eighty-First] or something like that. He sired I don’t know how many international stock show winners. Well, old Hazford Rupert was the nicest old bull you ever saw, and he had so many photographs taken. I don’t think he ever had a painter work at it, but he just would pose nice, you know, and I spent a day out in the pasture with old Hazford Rupert.

And we got that whole job done, and I took it back to Life— They published one of my portraits of Hazford Rupert.” - Tom Lea.

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Watercolor Painting

Sangamon River Bottom:

"Some people think of oil painting as a symphony and watercolor as nice chamber music, but some of my best color work has been little watercolor studies. I think one of the very best watercolors I ever made in my life was up in Monticello. It was during the time I was making studies for the St. Louis mural competition."

"The Sangamon River — that was the old Abe Lincoln's river, you know— runs right through Monticello, which is Sarah's little hometown.

And this little study I did on the Sangamon I saved, and I think it’s called Sangamon River Bottom. It was exhibited one time. During that summer, I did a bunch of little watercolors, and we have some of them framed in our bedroom." - Tom Lea

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Brush and Ink

Lea, T. (1941) Old Blue [Brush and ink illustration] The Longhorns by J. Frank Dobie. Collection of HRHRC, U.T. Austin.

Old Blue:

When artist Tom Lea met writer J. Frank Dobie in 1937 told him that his books spoke with the voice of the land he wanted to paint. Thus began their friendship and a collaboration, with Tom Lea doing the illustrations for several of Dobie’s books. One was The Longhorns, in which Dobie wrote of the lead steer, Old Blue:

“Blue must have known the North Star; he coursed so unswervingly.”

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Tom Lea Guide:

See the beauty of the world like never before through Tom Lea’s eyes! Explore our Bloomberg Connects digital guide containing exhibits, artwork, stories, and exclusive content inspired by one of the most iconic Southwest artists of the 20th century.