1935 MARY AUBREY KING. San Antonio - Very Scarce 43 Woodcuts by Important Texas Modernist

A very important and scarce self-published volume of 43 woodcuts inspired by the San Antonio of the 1920's and 1930's. I've only ever seen one other copy offered for sale. Really a joy to peruse. 

Mary Aubrey Keating [1894-1953], artist, was born in in San Antonio and attended San Antonio public schools before leaving briefly to attend Notre Dame. She later studied singing with Madame Ernestine Schumann-Heineck and performed with various symphonies and the Philadelphia and San Carlos opera companies. 

She married Peter McCall Keating 1921 and, together, they had four children. Although Mary had given up her favorable opera career for her family, she soon found an outlet for her creative abilities in painting and woodcut production. Her works focused on Hispanic subjects in San Antonio, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, and Guatemala. And her mediums ranged from diminutive woodcut to the installation of several large scale murals around San Antonio, including for the San Antonio Public Library, Kelly Air Force Base Aviation Cadet Hospital, Gunter Hotel, and Junior League Bright Shawl Room.

She also served as chairperson and organizer of the first Open Air Art Exhibit in San Antonio, as chairperson for the Artist's Ball in an effort to raise finances to establish the Museum School of Art, of which she was one of the first co-chairpersons. In 1939 she was a founder of the Villita Art Gallery, and in 1951 she played a significant role in organizing the Contemporary Art Group.

Keating also continued to exhibit her work in museums and art shows. She showed twenty of her watercolors in the Horticulture Hall at the 1933 Chicago's World's Fair and in 1934 had a solo exhibition at the Witte Museum. She had participated in sixteen one-woman shows by 1941, including exhibitions in Santa Fe, Philadelphia, and New York. 

The present was her only printed work, and is an important piece of early Texas modernism. 

Keating, Mary Aubrey. San Antonio - Interesting Places in San Antonio and Where to Find Them. 43 Illustrations [in Woodcut] by the Author. San Antonio. Self Published. 1935. First Edition. 52pp.

A good copy of a very desirable work Images are crisp and clean with the thick pulp paper, as usual, brittle at extremities. One vertical tear from top edge extending into cover image, around half of the corners chipped, not affecting text or images. Solidly bound. A beautiful production.