Thomas C. Lea, III
Encyclopedia
Thomas Calloway "Tom" Lea, III (July 11, 1907—January 29, 2001) was a noted American
mural
ist, illustrator
, artist
, war correspondent, novelist, and historian
.
The bulk of his art and literary works were about Texas
, north-central Mexico
, and his World War II
experience in the South Pacific
and Asia
. Two of his most popular novels, The Brave Bulls
and the The Wonderful Country
, are widely considered to be classics of southwestern American literature.
, Texas, to Thomas Calloway Lea, Jr.
(a prominent attorney), and the former Zola May Utt. From 1915 to 1917, his father was mayor
of El Paso. As mayor, Tom, Jr., made a public declaration that he would arrest Pancho Villa
, after Villa raided Columbus
, New Mexico, on March 9, 1916, if Villa dared enter El Paso. Villa then responded by offering a thousand pesos gold bounty on Lea. For six months Tom, III., and his brother, Joe, had to have a police escort to and from school, and there was a 24-hour guard on the house.
He graduated from El Paso High School
in 1924. From 1924 to 1926 he attended the Art Institute of Chicago
and then apprenticed and assisted John W. Norton
, a Chicago
muralist, from 1927 to 1932.
In 1927, he wed Nancy June Taylor, a fellow art student. In 1930 Norton suggested that Tom take an art tour of Europe to study the masters. He and Nancy went to Paris and saw an exhibit of Eugène Delacroix
at the Louvre
, and Delacroix was his "favorite". Next they traveled to Florence
, Orvieto
, Rome
, Capri
. Then, after a four month tour, it was back to Le Havre
to catch the SS Ile de France
.
After the tour of Italy
they moved to Santa Fe
to be with other artists and be in the Southwest. When Nancy became ill (a botched appendectomy) they moved to El Paso, and Lea found work from the Federal Art Project
(FAP) for the Works Progress Administration
(WPA), which during the Great Depression
hired artists, and in Lea's case to paint murals in government buildings.
Lea also won the United States Department of the Treasury
competition for a mural commission in the United State Post Office Department Building (now the Ariel Rios Federal Building
) in Washington, D.C.
, called The Nesters. His WPA murals included the post offices in Odessa, Texas
(Stampede), Pleasant Hill, Missouri
(Back Home, April 1865), and Seymour, Texas
(Comanches). In 1936, his wife (in April), grandmother (in June), and his mother (in December), all died in that year.
In 1937 he started doing illustration work, and this led to a partnership with a friend of his father, author J. Frank Dobie
. Dobie wrote about the rough life of settling the Texas frontier and Lea's illustrations are mostly of cowboys and the wild Texas landscapes. While painting a mural in El Paso Federal Courthouse
(Pass of the North), he met and married his second wife, Sarah Catherine Beane (née Dighton), in July 1938. Sarah had come from Monticello, Illinois
, to El Paso to visit friends. Sarah had a son, James (Jim), from a previous marriage whom Lea adopted. That same year his started his life-long partnership with Carl Hertzog (Jean Carl Hertzog Sr.), an El Paso book designer and typographer. 1937–1938 would prove to be the antithesis of 1936, providing Lea with three life-long partners and friends.
In 1940 he applied for and won Rosenwald Fellowship, but by the end of the summer of 1941, he got a telegram from LIFE
asking him to go to sea with the United States Navy
on a North Atlantic Patrol. In the fall of 1941, he decided to paint for LIFE as war artist and correspondent aboard a destroyer. He traveled all over the world with the United States military from 1941 to 1945. This included: China, Great Britain, Italy, India, North Africa, North Atlantic, the Middle East, and the Western Pacific. He went on deployment with the aircraft carrier USS Hornet
in the Pacific Ocean
in 1942, were he met the famous Army Air Corps pilot Jimmy Doolittle
. Lea was on board the Hornet (September 15, 1942) when the USS Wasp
was sunk by torpedoes from a Japanese submarine. He painted several pictures of the sinking of the Wasp. In 1943, during his visit to China, he met Theodore H. White
, and he painted the portraits of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek
and his wife, Soong May-ling
; the head of the "Flying Tigers
", and General Claire Lee Chennault
.
But, it was his time in the western Pacific in 1944 as an "embedded" reporter with the United States 1st Marine Division during the invasion of the tiny island of Peleliu
that he would really make a name for himself among the readers of LIFE. “My work there consisted of trying to keep from getting killed and trying to memorize what I saw and felt,” Lea says. His vivid, realistic, images of the beach landing, and Battle of Peleliu
, would impact both readers and himself. The Price and That 2,000 Yard Stare would become among his most famous works. (1,794 Americans died in a two month period it what many call the war's most controversial battle, due to its questionable strategic value and high death toll.)
In 1947 Lea finished a graphite sketch on kraft paper of his wife called Study for Sarah in the Summertime. He had started the sketch two years earlier, about six months after he got home from the war. The life size work (71" × 30¼") was based on a photograph, taken of Sarah in the backyard of their home at 1520 Raynolds Boulevard in El Paso, that he had carried in his wallet throughout the war. An oil painting, Sarah in the Summertime (67" × 32"), was then done from the sketch. He spent longer on this combined work than any other painting.
After finishing his last novel, The Hands of Cantu (an account of horse training in 16th-century Nueva Viscaya) in 1964, Lea traveled to Boston to meet with his publishers, Little, Brown and Company
. He told them that he wasn't interested in another novel, so they suggested a book about his pictures. This 1968 work, A Picture Gallery, was his "autobiography", writing of why and when he did his paintings. Working on A Picture Gallery would lead him to once again focus on painting and turn away from working on literature. Right before finishing this work, Baylor University
paid tribute to his writing by bestowing him, and his long-time friend Carl Hertzog, with an honorary doctorate's in literature.
(FAP) for the Works Progress Administration
(WPA) and Public Works of Art Project for the United States Department of the Treasury
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
ist, illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
, artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, war correspondent, novelist, and historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
.
The bulk of his art and literary works were about Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, north-central Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and his World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
experience in the South Pacific
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. Two of his most popular novels, The Brave Bulls
The Brave Bulls
The Brave Bulls is a 1949 Western novel written by Tom Lea about the raising of bulls, on the ranch Las Astas, for bullfighting in Mexico....
and the The Wonderful Country
The Wonderful Country
The Wonderful Country is a 1952 Western novel written by Tom Lea. The book is set in Chihuahua and Sonora, Mexico, and Texas and New Mexico in the United States...
, are widely considered to be classics of southwestern American literature.
Biography
Lea was born in El PasoEl Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
, Texas, to Thomas Calloway Lea, Jr.
Thomas Calloway Lea, Jr.
Thomas Calloway Lea, Jr. , was a prominent American attorney from El Paso, Texas, and mayor of that city from 1915 to 1917.-Biography:Lea was born in Independence, Missouri, to Thomas Calloway and Amanda Rose Lea....
(a prominent attorney), and the former Zola May Utt. From 1915 to 1917, his father was mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of El Paso. As mayor, Tom, Jr., made a public declaration that he would arrest Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa
José Doroteo Arango Arámbula – better known by his pseudonym Francisco Villa or its hypocorism Pancho Villa – was one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals....
, after Villa raided Columbus
Columbus, New Mexico
Columbus is a village in Luna County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,765 at the 2000 census. The town is named after 15th century explorer Christopher Columbus.-History:...
, New Mexico, on March 9, 1916, if Villa dared enter El Paso. Villa then responded by offering a thousand pesos gold bounty on Lea. For six months Tom, III., and his brother, Joe, had to have a police escort to and from school, and there was a 24-hour guard on the house.
He graduated from El Paso High School
El Paso High School
El Paso High School is the oldest operating high school in El Paso, Texas and is part of the El Paso Independent School District. It serves the West-Central section of the city, roughly west of the Franklin Mountains and north of Interstate 10 to the vicinity of Executive Center Boulevard...
in 1924. From 1924 to 1926 he attended the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
and then apprenticed and assisted John W. Norton
John W. Norton
John Warner Norton was an Illinois muralist and easel artist who pioneered the field in the United States.Among his works are the landmark 1929 long ceiling mural for the concourse ceiling of the Chicago Daily News Building , the Ceres mural in the Chicago Board of Trade Building ,...
, a Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
muralist, from 1927 to 1932.
In 1927, he wed Nancy June Taylor, a fellow art student. In 1930 Norton suggested that Tom take an art tour of Europe to study the masters. He and Nancy went to Paris and saw an exhibit of Eugène Delacroix
Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school...
at the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
, and Delacroix was his "favorite". Next they traveled to Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Orvieto
Orvieto
Orvieto is a city and comune in Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Capri
Capri
Capri is an Italian island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples, in the Campania region of Southern Italy...
. Then, after a four month tour, it was back to Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
to catch the SS Ile de France
SS Ile de France
The SS Ile de France was a French ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire, France for the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. The ship was the first major ocean liner built after the conclusion of World War I and was the first liner ever to be decorated entirely with designs associated with the Art Deco...
.
After the tour of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
they moved to Santa Fe
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
to be with other artists and be in the Southwest. When Nancy became ill (a botched appendectomy) they moved to El Paso, and Lea found work from the Federal Art Project
Federal Art Project
The Federal Art Project was the visual arts arm of the Great Depression-era New Deal Works Progress Administration Federal One program in the United States. It operated from August 29, 1935, until June 30, 1943. Reputed to have created more than 200,000 separate works, FAP artists created...
(FAP) for the Works Progress Administration
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
(WPA), which during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
hired artists, and in Lea's case to paint murals in government buildings.
Lea also won the United States Department of the Treasury
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
competition for a mural commission in the United State Post Office Department Building (now the Ariel Rios Federal Building
Ariel Rios Building
The Ariel Rios Federal Building is located in the Federal Triangle in Washington, D.C., across 12th Street from the Old Post Office, which the new building was designed to replace....
) in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, called The Nesters. His WPA murals included the post offices in Odessa, Texas
Odessa, Texas
Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small portion of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 99,940 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Odessa, Texas Metropolitan...
(Stampede), Pleasant Hill, Missouri
Pleasant Hill, Missouri
Pleasant Hill is a city in Cass County, Missouri, United States. The population was 5,582 at the 2000 census.Pleasant Hill is home for the Kansas City/Pleasant Hill National Weather Service Forecast Office, which serves 37 counties in northern and western Missouri and seven counties in extreme...
(Back Home, April 1865), and Seymour, Texas
Seymour, Texas
Seymour is a city in and the county seat of Baylor County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,740 as of the 2010 Census.-Geography:Seymour is located at ....
(Comanches). In 1936, his wife (in April), grandmother (in June), and his mother (in December), all died in that year.
In 1937 he started doing illustration work, and this led to a partnership with a friend of his father, author J. Frank Dobie
J. Frank Dobie
James Frank Dobie was an American folklorist, writer, and newspaper columnist best known for many books depicting the richness and traditions of life in rural Texas during the days of the open range...
. Dobie wrote about the rough life of settling the Texas frontier and Lea's illustrations are mostly of cowboys and the wild Texas landscapes. While painting a mural in El Paso Federal Courthouse
United States Court House (El Paso, Texas, 1936)
The El Paso U.S. Courthouse, also known as El Paso Federal Building or the U.S. Court House, is a historic building in El Paso, Texas. It is a courthouse of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. The building was completed in 1936 and served historically as a...
(Pass of the North), he met and married his second wife, Sarah Catherine Beane (née Dighton), in July 1938. Sarah had come from Monticello, Illinois
Monticello, Illinois
Monticello is a city in Piatt County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,138 at the 2000 census, and 5,374 at a 2009 estimate. It is the county seat of Piatt County.-Geography:Monticello is located at ....
, to El Paso to visit friends. Sarah had a son, James (Jim), from a previous marriage whom Lea adopted. That same year his started his life-long partnership with Carl Hertzog (Jean Carl Hertzog Sr.), an El Paso book designer and typographer. 1937–1938 would prove to be the antithesis of 1936, providing Lea with three life-long partners and friends.
In 1940 he applied for and won Rosenwald Fellowship, but by the end of the summer of 1941, he got a telegram from LIFE
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
asking him to go to sea with the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
on a North Atlantic Patrol. In the fall of 1941, he decided to paint for LIFE as war artist and correspondent aboard a destroyer. He traveled all over the world with the United States military from 1941 to 1945. This included: China, Great Britain, Italy, India, North Africa, North Atlantic, the Middle East, and the Western Pacific. He went on deployment with the aircraft carrier USS Hornet
USS Hornet (CV-8)
USS Hornet CV-8, the seventh ship to carry the name Hornet, was a of the United States Navy. During World War II in the Pacific Theater, she launched the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo and participated in the Battle of Midway and the Buin-Faisi-Tonolai Raid...
in the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
in 1942, were he met the famous Army Air Corps pilot Jimmy Doolittle
Jimmy Doolittle
General James Harold "Jimmy" Doolittle, USAF was an American aviation pioneer. Doolittle served as a brigadier general, major general and lieutenant general in the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War...
. Lea was on board the Hornet (September 15, 1942) when the USS Wasp
USS Wasp (CV-7)
USS Wasp was a United States Navy aircraft carrier. The eighth Navy ship of that name, she was the sole ship of her class. Built to use up the remaining tonnage allowed to the U.S. for aircraft carriers under the treaties of the time, she was built on a reduced-size version of the Yorktown-class...
was sunk by torpedoes from a Japanese submarine. He painted several pictures of the sinking of the Wasp. In 1943, during his visit to China, he met Theodore H. White
Theodore H. White
Theodore Harold White was an American political journalist, historian, and novelist, known for his wartime reporting from China and accounts of the 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1980 presidential elections.-Life and career:...
, and he painted the portraits of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
and his wife, Soong May-ling
Soong May-ling
Soong May-ling or Soong Mei-ling, also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek or Madame Chiang was a First Lady of the Republic of China , the wife of Generalissimo and President Chiang Kai-shek. She was a politician and painter...
; the head of the "Flying Tigers
Flying Tigers
The 1st American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force in 1941–1942, famously nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was composed of pilots from the United States Army , Navy , and Marine Corps , recruited under presidential sanction and commanded by Claire Lee Chennault. The ground crew and headquarters...
", and General Claire Lee Chennault
Claire Lee Chennault
Lieutenant General Claire Lee Chennault , was an American military aviator. A contentious officer, he was a fierce advocate of "pursuit" or fight-interceptor aircraft during the 1930s when the U.S. Army Air Corps was focused primarily on high-altitude bombardment...
.
But, it was his time in the western Pacific in 1944 as an "embedded" reporter with the United States 1st Marine Division during the invasion of the tiny island of Peleliu
Peleliu
Peleliu is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu forms, along with two small islands to its northeast, one of the sixteen states of Palau. It is located northeast of Angaur and southwest of Koror....
that he would really make a name for himself among the readers of LIFE. “My work there consisted of trying to keep from getting killed and trying to memorize what I saw and felt,” Lea says. His vivid, realistic, images of the beach landing, and Battle of Peleliu
Battle of Peleliu
The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II, was fought between the United States and the Empire of Japan in the Pacific Theater of World War II, from September–November 1944 on the island of Peleliu, present-day Palau. U.S...
, would impact both readers and himself. The Price and That 2,000 Yard Stare would become among his most famous works. (1,794 Americans died in a two month period it what many call the war's most controversial battle, due to its questionable strategic value and high death toll.)
In 1947 Lea finished a graphite sketch on kraft paper of his wife called Study for Sarah in the Summertime. He had started the sketch two years earlier, about six months after he got home from the war. The life size work (71" × 30¼") was based on a photograph, taken of Sarah in the backyard of their home at 1520 Raynolds Boulevard in El Paso, that he had carried in his wallet throughout the war. An oil painting, Sarah in the Summertime (67" × 32"), was then done from the sketch. He spent longer on this combined work than any other painting.
After finishing his last novel, The Hands of Cantu (an account of horse training in 16th-century Nueva Viscaya) in 1964, Lea traveled to Boston to meet with his publishers, Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. Since 2006 it has been a constituent unit of Hachette Book Group USA.-19th century:...
. He told them that he wasn't interested in another novel, so they suggested a book about his pictures. This 1968 work, A Picture Gallery, was his "autobiography", writing of why and when he did his paintings. Working on A Picture Gallery would lead him to once again focus on painting and turn away from working on literature. Right before finishing this work, Baylor University
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
paid tribute to his writing by bestowing him, and his long-time friend Carl Hertzog, with an honorary doctorate's in literature.
Lifetime achievement
- 1967: Honorary doctorate — Baylor UniversityBaylor UniversityBaylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
- 1970: Honorary doctorate — Southern Methodist UniversitySouthern Methodist UniversitySouthern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
- 1971: Distinguished Public Service Award — United States NavyUnited States NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
- 1975: Hall of Honor — El Paso County Historical Society
- 1981: Lon Tinkle Award — Texas Institute of Letters
- 1990: Ima Hogg Historical Achievement Award
- ____: Colonel John W. Thomason, Jr. Award for Artistic Achievement — United States Marine CorpsUnited States Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
- 1995: Hall of Great WesternersHall of Great WesternersThe Hall of Great Westerners was established by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 1958. Located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.A., the Hall was created to celebrate the contributions of men and women of the American West...
- National Cowboy & Western Heritage MuseumNational Cowboy & Western Heritage MuseumThe National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with more than 28,000 Western and American Indian art works and artifacts. The facility also has the world's most extensive collection of American rodeo, photographs, barbed wire, saddlery, and early rodeo trophies... - 2007: Tom Lea Centennial Celebration — United States CongressUnited States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
- ____: S. Res. 267 (Hutchison Resolution) — U.S. Senate July 2007 as "Tom Lea Month"
- ____: H. Res. 519 — U.S. House of Representatives
Public murals
State of Texas Centennial Commission, Federal Art ProjectFederal Art Project
The Federal Art Project was the visual arts arm of the Great Depression-era New Deal Works Progress Administration Federal One program in the United States. It operated from August 29, 1935, until June 30, 1943. Reputed to have created more than 200,000 separate works, FAP artists created...
(FAP) for the Works Progress Administration
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
(WPA) and Public Works of Art Project for the United States Department of the Treasury
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
.
- "Illinois Heritage Series" (4 murals; 8' H. × W. 12' each) — Calumet Park Field House, Chicago, Illinois, 1927–28
- Native-American Ceremony
- Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet
- Native-American Hunting Party Returning Home
- Native-Americans and Fur Traders
- (These murals were restored in 2005 by The Chicago Park District and The Chicago Conservation Center.)
- South Park Commission Building (auditorium), Gage Park, Chicago, Illinois, 1931
- Hall of State, Texas State Fair Grounds, Dallas, Texas, 1935
- The Nesters, — Ariel Rios Federal BuildingAriel Rios BuildingThe Ariel Rios Federal Building is located in the Federal Triangle in Washington, D.C., across 12th Street from the Old Post Office, which the new building was designed to replace....
, 1937, mural (destroyed)
- (Environmental Protection Agency; formerly Post Office Department Building & Benjamin Franklin Post Office)
- Pass of the North, — El Paso Federal Courthouse, 1938, oil on canvas
- Back Home: April 1865, — U.S. Post Office - Pleasant Hill, Missouri, 1939, oil on canvas
- Stampede, — U.S. Post Office - Odessa, Texas, 1940, oil on canvas
- Comanches, — U.S. Post Office - Seymour, Texas, 1942, oil on canvas
- (These murals were restored in 2005 by The Chicago Park District and The Chicago Conservation Center.)
- Conquistadors, — New Mexico State University, College Library, Mesilla Park, New Mexico (PWAP funding)
- Southwest, — El Paso Public Library, El Paso, Texas, 1954, (donated work)
Paintings
- That 2,000 Yard Stare, — United States Army Center of Military History, Fort Lesley J. McNairFort Lesley J. McNairFort Lesley J. McNair is a United States Army post located on the tip of a peninsula that lies at the confluence of the Potomac River and the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. To its west is the Washington Channel, while the Anacostia River is on its south side...
, Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, — 1944, oil on canvas
-
- (This painting defined the term "thousand yard stare" in culture.)
- Rio Grande, — Oval OfficeOval OfficeThe Oval Office, located in the West Wing of the White House, is the official office of the President of the United States.The room features three large south-facing windows behind the president's desk, and a fireplace at the north end...
- White HouseWhite HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
, Washington D.C., — 1954, oil on canvas
- Rio Grande, — Oval Office
- (since 2001; on loan to George W. and Laura Bush from the El Paso Museum of ArtEl Paso Museum of ArtFounded in 1959, The El Paso Museum of Art is located in downtown El Paso, Texas. First accredited in 1972, it is the only accredited art museum within a 250 mile radius and serves approximately 100,000 visitors per year. A new building was completed in 1998...
)- Southwest, Study for, — American Art Museum, Smithsonian, Washington, D.C., — 1956. Oil on canvas, 10 × 32 in. (Frame: 19½ × 41¼ × 2)
- (This is a scale study of the mural, Southwest, at the El Paso Public Library.)
- (This painting defined the term "thousand yard stare" in culture.)
Major exhibitions
- 1948: Dallas Museum of ArtDallas Museum of ArtThe Dallas Museum of Art is a major art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, USA, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In 1984, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Arts District, Dallas, Texas...
— Dallas, Texas, — "Drawings and Illustrations" (February 8 March 7) - 1948: Dallas Museum of ArtDallas Museum of ArtThe Dallas Museum of Art is a major art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, USA, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In 1984, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Arts District, Dallas, Texas...
— Dallas, Texas, — "Paintings/Western Beef Cattle" (October 7, 1950-January 14) - 1961: Fort Worth Art Center — Fort Worth, TexasFort Worth, TexasFort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
- 1963: El Paso Museum of ArtEl Paso Museum of ArtFounded in 1959, The El Paso Museum of Art is located in downtown El Paso, Texas. First accredited in 1972, it is the only accredited art museum within a 250 mile radius and serves approximately 100,000 visitors per year. A new building was completed in 1998...
— El Paso, Texas - 1969: Institute of Texan CulturesInstitute of Texan CulturesUTSA Institute of Texan Cultures is a museum and library located in HemisFair Park in downtown San Antonio, Texas. It serves as the state's primary center for multicultural education, with exhibits, programs, and events like the Texas Folklife Festival, an annual celebration of the many ethnicities...
— San Antonio, Texas - 1971: El Paso Museum of ArtEl Paso Museum of ArtFounded in 1959, The El Paso Museum of Art is located in downtown El Paso, Texas. First accredited in 1972, it is the only accredited art museum within a 250 mile radius and serves approximately 100,000 visitors per year. A new building was completed in 1998...
— El Paso, Texas - 1994: El Paso Museum of ArtEl Paso Museum of ArtFounded in 1959, The El Paso Museum of Art is located in downtown El Paso, Texas. First accredited in 1972, it is the only accredited art museum within a 250 mile radius and serves approximately 100,000 visitors per year. A new building was completed in 1998...
— El Paso, Texas
Permanent collections
- Austin, Texas:
- The Tom Lea Collections — Harry Ransom Humanities Research CenterHarry Ransom Humanities Research CenterThe Harry Ransom Center is a library and archive at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the United States and Europe. The Ransom Center houses 36 million literary manuscripts, 1 million rare books, 5 million photographs, and more...
at the University of Texas at AustinUniversity of Texas at AustinThe University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
,
- The Tom Lea Collections — Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
- El Paso, Texas
- Tom Lea Gallery — El Paso Museum of ArtEl Paso Museum of ArtFounded in 1959, The El Paso Museum of Art is located in downtown El Paso, Texas. First accredited in 1972, it is the only accredited art museum within a 250 mile radius and serves approximately 100,000 visitors per year. A new building was completed in 1998...
- Tom Lea Papers — University Library—Special Collections at the University of Texas at El PasoUniversity of Texas at El PasoThe University of Texas at El Paso is a four-year state university, and is a component institution of the University of Texas System. Its campus is located on the bank of the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas. The school was founded in 1914 as The Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy,...
- Tom Lea — Adair Margo Gallery
- Tom Lea — El Paso County Historical Society
- Tom Lea Gallery — El Paso Museum of Art
Illustrative works
- 1939: Dobie, J. FrankJ. Frank DobieJames Frank Dobie was an American folklorist, writer, and newspaper columnist best known for many books depicting the richness and traditions of life in rural Texas during the days of the open range...
(author). - Apache Gold and Yaqui Silver. - Boston: Little, Brown and Company. -
-
- 1984: - Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. - ISBN 9780292703810
- 1941: Dobie, J. FrankJ. Frank DobieJames Frank Dobie was an American folklorist, writer, and newspaper columnist best known for many books depicting the richness and traditions of life in rural Texas during the days of the open range...
(author). - The Longhorns. - Boston: Little, Brown and Company. -
- 1941: Dobie, J. Frank
- 1980: - Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. - ISBN 9780292746275
- 1946: Calendar of Twelve Travelers through the Pass of the North. - El Paso: Carl Hertzog. -
- 1981: - El Paso, Texas: El Paso Electric Company. -
- 1984: - Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. - ISBN 9780292703810
Non-fiction works with illustrations
- 1945: Peleliu Landing. - El Paso: Carl Hertzog. -
- 1949: Bullfight Manual for Spectators. - Ciudad Juárez, Mexico: Plaza de Toros. -
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- 1957: - El Paso, Texas: Carl Hertzog. -
- 1957: The King RanchKing RanchKing Ranch, located in south Texas between Corpus Christi and Brownsville, is one of the world's largest ranches. The ranch, founded in 1853 by Captain Richard King and Gideon K. Lewis, includes portions of six Texas counties, including most of Kleberg County and much of Kenedy County, with...
. - with Richard King. - Boston: Little, Brown and Company. -
- 1957: The King Ranch
- Kingsville, Texas: Printed for the King Ranch by Carl Hertzog. -
- 1968: Tom Lea, A Picture Gallery: Paintings and Drawings. - Boston: Little, Brown and Company. - (autobiography)
- 1974: In the Crucible of the Sun. - Kingsville, Texas: King Ranch. -
- 1998: Battle Stations: A Grizzly from the Coral Sea, Peleliu Landing. - Dallas: Still Point Press. - ISBN 9780933841079
- 1957: - El Paso, Texas: Carl Hertzog. -
Fiction works with illustrations
- 1949: The Brave Bulls, A NovelThe Brave BullsThe Brave Bulls is a 1949 Western novel written by Tom Lea about the raising of bulls, on the ranch Las Astas, for bullfighting in Mexico....
. - Boston: Little, Brown and Company. -
-
- 2002: - Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. - ISBN 9780292747333
- 1952: The Wonderful Country, A NovelThe Wonderful CountryThe Wonderful Country is a 1952 Western novel written by Tom Lea. The book is set in Chihuahua and Sonora, Mexico, and Texas and New Mexico in the United States...
. - Boston: Little, Brown and Company. -
- 1952: The Wonderful Country, A Novel
- 2002: - Fort Worth, Texas: TCU Press. - ISBN 9780875652610
- 1960: The Primal Yoke, A Novel. - Boston: Little, Brown and Company. -
- 1964: The Hands of Cantú. - Boston: Little, Brown and Company. -
- 2002: - Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. - ISBN 9780292747333
Works about
- Lea, Tom (illustrations), and the Fort Worth Art Center, (1961). - Tom Lea. - Fort Worth, Texas: Fort Worth Art Center. -
- Lea, Tom (illustrations and interviews), Rebecca McDowell Craver and Adair Margo, (1995). - Tom Lea: An Oral History. - El Paso, Texas: Texas Western Press. - ISBN 9780874042344
- Lea, Tom (illustrations), and Kathleen G Hjerter, (1989). - The Art of Tom Lea. - College Station, Texas: Texas A & M University Press. - ISBN 9780890963661
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- 2003: "A Memorial Edition". - College Station: Texas A&M University Press. - ISBN 9781585442829
- Lea, Tom (illustrations), and Brendan M Greeley, (2008). - The Two Thousand Yard Stare: Tom Lea's World War II. - College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press. - ISBN 9781603440080
- 2003: "A Memorial Edition". - College Station: Texas A&M University Press. - ISBN 9781585442829
Magazine articles
- In 2007, Texas author Lou Halsell RodenbergerLou Halsell RodenbergerMolcie Lou Halsell Rodenberger was a Texas author, educator, professor, and journalist.-Early years:Rodenberger was born in the rural Eastland County, Texas, community of Okra to educators, Austin Carl Halsell and the former Mabel Falls...
received the Stirrup Award for best article in Roundup, a publication of Western Writers of AmericaWestern Writers of AmericaWestern Writers of America, founded 1953, promotes literature, both fiction and non-fiction, pertaining to the American West. Although its founders wrote traditional western fiction, the more than five hundred current members also include historians and other non-fiction writers as well as authors...
, for her article entitled "Tom Lea, Novelist: The Eyes of an Artist, the Ears of a Writer."
External links
- Tom Lea - Artist and Texas Legend - TomLea.net
- The Tom Lea Collection - Harry Ransom Center - University of Texas at AustinUniversity of Texas at AustinThe University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
- Tom Lea- Legendary Texas Artist & Author - TomLea.com