Thomas Flintoff
Catholic Church, Houston, Texas

Catholic Church, Houston, Texas

Public Domain

Catholic Church, Houston, Texas
ArtistEnglish, c. 1809–1891, active Texas 1851–1852
CultureEnglish
Titles
  • Catholic Church, Houston, Texas
DateMarch 25, 1852
PlaceHouston, Texas, United States
MediumWatercolor on paper
DimensionsSheet: 10 × 14 in. (25.4 × 35.6 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by Cynthia and Anthony G. Petrello in honor of Carena Petrello at "One Great Night in November, 2007"
Object numberB.2007.9
Non exposé

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Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
DescriptionIn 1850 Thomas Flintoff came to Texas from England. During his two-year stay, he painted portraits of important early Texas public and private figures, including Sam Houston (B.71.3). Several of his most important commissions hang in the Texas State Capitol building in Austin. Although less known, during this period, he also painted a dozen watercolor scenes of Texas. These delicate studies of Galveston, Houston, and the Gulf Coast area are valuable documents of the early history and development of the state. In this study, Flintoff depicts the first Catholic Church in Houston, St. Vincent de Paul, situated near Buffalo Bayou. The simple wooden church with only twenty pews was erected between 1841–1842 at the corner of Franklin Avenue and Caroline Street. In the middle ground, a clergyman, dressed in black, engages in casual conversation with another man on the bridge as a gentleman wearing a top hat passes behind them on horseback. In the lush vegetation and craggy banks, Flintoff masterfully captures the environment that distinguishes Buffalo Bayou today.
Provenance Research Ongoing Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Marked in pencil on verso lower right: "Catholic Church Houston Texas / 25th March 185?"
Signed in pencil on verso lower right: "Thos. Flintoff"

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