Warren Hunter

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Warren Hunter, down in Bandera County. Now, you want to talk about a man who packed a few different lives into one, settle in, because John Warren Hunter did exactly that. Born in Kimble County in 1903, the son of J.

Marvin Hunter, this man would eventually see his work hanging in some of the most storied places in the whole country. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. First, there was high school.

Bandera High School, class of 1923. And after that diploma, he and his wife Lora didn't waste much time, they started printing the Harper Herald together. Running a newspaper is no small thing, and yet for John Warren Hunter, it turned out to be just the opening chapter.

He made his way to the Chicago Art Institute, sharpened those skills, and then came World War II, which put him in cartographic services. The man who painted the Texas landscape was now making maps for the war effort. After all that, he came home and opened the Hunter School of Art in San Antonio.

He also taught at the San Antonio Art Institute and, by 1950, had become its dean. Now here is where the story really lands. Woodblock prints, linoleum prints, paintings, commercial illustrations, copper etchings, his work spread wide and collected deep.

Wide enough to reach the Smithsonian Institution. Wide enough to reach the White House. The Alamo.

The San Jacinto Monument. A boy born in Kimble County, graduated from a small Texas high school, and his art ended up in rooms that the whole world knows by name. John Warren Hunter passed in 1993, and the marker in Bandera County makes sure nobody forgets how far those Texas scenes traveled.

What the marker says

Artist John Warren Hunter (1903-93), son of J. Marvin Hunter, was born in Kimble County and known for his scenic depictions of Texas. A 1923 graduate of Bandera High School, he soon began printing the Harper Herald with his wife Lora. After attending the Chicago Art Institute and serving in cartographic services during World War II, he opened the Hunter School of Art in San Antonio. He also taught at the San Antonio Art Institute, becoming dean in 1950. Many of his works, including woodblock and linoleum prints, paintings, commercial illustrations and copper etchings, have been widely collected and displayed in such places as the Smithsonian Institution, White House, Alamo, and San Jacinto Monument. (2007)