Tijerina pens new book on the art of Ricardo Beasley

Cover of a new book on the art of Ricardo Beasley.

By Juanita García Tijerina, Guest Blogger

The Texas State Historical Association has published Andrés Tijerina’s book Beasley’s Vaqueros: The Memoirs, Art, and Poems of Ricardo M. Beasley on the art of San Diego native Ricardo Beasley.

Andrés Tijerina 

Andrés Tijerina has written many books on Tejanos and Texas history and has won many national awards for his books. Still, the best ones are about South Texas ranch families and vaqueros. One of my favorites was his Tejano Empire: Life on the South Texas Ranchos, which includes many of Beasley’s art drawings.

In writing Beasley’s Vaqueros Andrés relied on the people of San Diego and surrounding towns for leads on the original Beasley drawings, among them Tomas Molina, Chuck Barrera, Servando Hinojosa, and Homero Vera. Homero took him to the old Jerry’s Restaurant in San Diego, where one of the drawings was still on the wall. Lupe still had five drawings on the wall in his pharmacy in Alice. The most helpful was that Tommy gave Andrés a copy of a tape recording he made when he interviewed Beasley in 1972. In the recording, Beasley talked in detail about the vaqueros and the fascinating incidents he drew. The book has all of Beasley’s words from the recording. Equally important is that Andrés learned many of his vaquero themes from my father, Ramon García, while they sat around the campfire at the family ranch.

The book’s subject is Beasley’s art, but it also includes the writings and historical biography of this vital vaquero artist of the early twentieth century. Beasley, who lived and worked as a vaquero all his life, was born in 1908 and died in 1996. Between 1940 and 1980, Beasley produced approximately 150 pen-and-ink drawings on white paper, which Andrés saw and recognized as unique and extremely valuable. Several residents of the Duval County area have many of the framed original drawings. Almost all of Beasley’s works are drawings of black pen-and-ink on 14”x18” white paper, and over ninety percent depict action scenes of vaqueros and the livestock they worked.

Beasley’s Vaqueros is the only art book on Tejano vaqueros. Some manuscripts were written and published about vaqueros, and some included one or two art pieces, but this is the only one dedicated to vaqueros and their art. All other western art is by Anglo-American artists of Anglo-American cowboys. There is no other art book of Tejanos on South Texas ranches. This book is the first that publishes Beasley’s art except those in Tejano Empire. No one has ever exhibited the Beasley collection in a formal exhibit, published as a collection, nor sold in a public auction or sale of any kind. Beasley displayed a few drawings in Alice, Houston, and Fort Worth, but he never published his art or his writings. He always got great reviews, but he never went back to promote his art or his reputation. He just dedicated himself to his pure art.

The drawings in Beasley’s Vaqueros are more dynamic than any other cowboy or western art published or in statues. Each illustration depicts an event that happened to a real vaquero that Beasley personally witnessed while working on the King Ranch and other ranches of South Texas like the Dobie Ranch, La Gloria, El Refugio, La Juana, or El Salerito.

Beasley worked with the best-known vaqueros in South Texas ranch lore. These men are the subjects of his drawings. Much of the information that Andrés learned for this book is from personal interviews that he conducted with the vaqueros’ surviving relatives, whose stories corroborate Beasley’s scripts and depictions. Beasley tells the story behind each drawing, including those of vaqueros like Sam Smithwick, Teofilo Salinas, Pedro Valerio, Pancho Garza, Colon de la Garza, and Beasley’s best friend, Juan Everett.

The Witte Art Museum in San Antonio now has an exhibition of Beasley’s original drawings from Andrés’ book. They are planning a grand opening and book signing for Sunday, November 20. The collection includes, in addition to the original art, many of Ricardo Beasley’s personal artifacts, like his boots, dust jacket, and chaps. Andrés and I hope to see our friends and relatives from San Diego, Alice, and other South Texas cities and ranches at the Witte on November 20. These are the people who knew Ricardo Beasley, but more importantly, these are the historical families and vaqueros that Beasley wrote about and depicted in his drawings. 

The books will be available at the exhibit,

and Andrés will be there to sign them personally.

This art is exciting. The bravery of the vaqueros is like no other American cowboy. I swell with pride to see this art depicting the vaqueros in this harsh environment, harnessing the wild steers and endangering their lives. I realize now why our San Diego school sports teams are “The Vaqueros.” This book makes me so proud to be from San Diego.

(Juanita García Tijerina is a native of San Diego, where she attended school. Her ancestral roots in Duval County go back to the eighteenth century. Her paternal ancestors are Garcías, and her maternal ancestors were Solís and Guerra. She and her husband Andrés were married in St. Francis de Paula Catholic Church and celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary in 2017 on the 150^th anniversary of the church. The Tijerinas live in Austin but visit San Diego often, especially on special days like Dia de los Muertos.)

Books by Andrés Tijerina: