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Thursday, June 28, 2001

Texas officials purchase portrait of James Bowie

Associated Press

AUSTIN — State officials disclosed Wednesday that they paid $321,875 for the only known portrait of Alamo hero James Bowie at an auction in California.

“We had very short notice that this painting was being auctioned, and this presented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Gov. Rick Perry said.

The 35- by 28-inch oil painting had hung in the house of Muriel Vernet Moore’s house since the 19th century. Moore was a descendant of Bowie’s brother, Rezin Bowie.

Moore, who lived in New Orleans until her death in 1991, fiercely guarded the painting, turning down a number of requests for it, including one in 1985 from then-Gov. Mark White. He had recommended that she donate it to the Alamo.

The painting disappeared just before Moore’s death at age 99 and was found in California after nearly 10 years of litigation.

A spokesman for Butterfields Auctioneers in San Francisco said the winning bid was made over the telephone on Tuesday. The entire Bowie collection, which included Bowie’s French eaglehead officer’s sword and an ornate silver-mounted flintlock rifle owned by Rezin, sold for nearly $475,000.

Perry said the cost of the painting was split between the State Preservation Board and the Texas Historical Commission.

The portrait will become part of the Capitol Historical Artifact Collection.

A decision on a permanent display for the painting was not announced. An 1894 copy of the painting has hung in the Texas House of Representatives since 1895.

“I am pleased that the state could move quickly and make a successful bid on the purchase of this painting,” said Perry, who chairs the State Preservation Board. “This painting will be an important addition to the Capitol’s collection of historical artifacts.”

The unsigned Bowie portrait is attributed to American artist George Peter Alexander Healy and probably was painted around 1825 in New Orleans, state officials said.

Only Bowie, David Crockett, William Barret Travis and garrison surgeon Amos Pollard had portraits done from life.

Bowie and 168 other Texian defenders died March 6, 1836, after troops led by Mexican Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna stormed the mission after a 13-day siege.