The bluebonnet, state flower of Texas, inspired San Antonian Julian Onderdonk, who explored the changing effects of atmosphere, weather, and light through studying fields of this wildflower, which blooms briefly in springtime. One of Early Texas’s most beloved artists, Julian was trained by his father, Robert Jenkins Onderdonk, as well as by William Merritt Chase, the legendary American Impressionist. Both during his brief lifetime and continuing to the present day, Onderdonk inspired a host of other artists to emulate his explorations of the hill country and the South Texas landscape.