HOLLAND - It's like finding buried treasure, only much more interesting to art collectors and Southwest art historians. Six heretofore unknown landscape paintings by Ella Koepke Mewhinney (1891-1975) of Bartlett have been uncovered in an estate going on the auction block here on Saturday. Mewhinney was an award-winning, respected 20th-century artist and considered by art historians one of Texas' foremost colorists.

She helped organize the Texas Artists Camp at Christoval and was a pioneer in championing women artists in an era when their creations were dismissed as "decorative and frivolous." "She's a widely recognized Texas significant artist. Her works demonstrate her mastery of color. They're so beautiful," said Stephanie Turnham...