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"West Texas Landscape"1941
Artist
- Xavier Gonzalez |
Mission
Post Office Mural "West Texas Landscape" by Xavier Gonzalez
Photo
courtesy Ken
Rudine, 2009 |
The Artist
Xavier Gonzalez,
was born in Almeria, Spain in 1898. He first entered the U.S. around 1920 and
enrolled (as many future muralists did) in the Art Institute of Chicago (from
1921 to 1923). He attended classes with his uncle Jose Aceves* who was already
an accomplished artist.
Xavier’s artistic studies took him to the Far
East, Mexico City and Paris. In the 1930s he married fellow artist Ethel Edwards
and became a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Gonzalez became the director of
the art school at Sul Ross State Teachers College in Alpine,
Texas and maintained a friendship for many years with muralist (and Sul Ross
art director) Julius Woeltz. Gonzalez died at the age of 94 in 1993.
Besides
the Mission mural, four other works (all 1941) are displayed in Kilgore,
Texas: Drilling for Oil, Pioneer Saga, Contemporary Youth and Music of the
Plains.
*Aceves
painted the mural in Mart,
Texas entitled McLennan
Looking for a Home and the mural in Borger,
Texas titled Big City News. |
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Signature of Xavier Gonzalez
Photo courtesy Ken
Rudine, 2009 |
Mission
Mission
In Search of The Mission Post Office MuralPhotographer’s
Note:
“We
drove to the main post office in Mission
on Francisco Street. There was no mural here (building dedicated in 2000). I
never saw a post office with so many boxes for mail. We found two people talking
and asked if they knew of an old post office with a mural. The man said that it
was in a building over on Tom Landry St. the other side of Conway (FM1016) which
is now the fire station. We went into the fire station offices and asked if it
used to be the post office. A young man said: ““I'll have to ask,” and left the
window. Then an older fireman came out and asked if he could help us. We asked
if these new offices still had a mural from the building’s days as a post office.
He said “no, the building has been completely renovated and there is no mural.” Our
spirits dropped.
Leaving, Yvonne suggested that we go to the chamber of
commerce we saw on Tom Landry St. There, the receptionist fetched two other women
and one said “go to the museum.” “Not the old museum on Ninth and Doherty, but
on Tom Landry and Doherty.” |
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Now,
that was a building that looked like an old post office (cornerstone
dated 1940). Approaching the door we saw a CLOSED sign. We continued up the steps
and an attractive 60 year-old lady opened the door and stated they were closed
to set up a Christmas display. As we explained why we were there, she pointed
high on the wall to the painting.
I took a lot of “insurance” photos due
to the cramped space and poor lighting.
Later, we walked next door to the
museum to view the Tom Landry Room and others. There we were met by a nice lady
volunteer from Iowa. She thanked us for coming and said she has been a regular
on Fridays since she had lost her husband, and is always available when they need
her.
Our “mission to Mission”
accomplished, we left with a warm feeling for the town,
created entirely by the nine helpful people who made it happen.” - Ken
and Yvonne, The Rudine Team
Mission
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