Robert Jenkins Onderdonk is noted for his landscape and portrait paintings and also for his fine art teaching.

Onderdonk was born in Catonsville, Maryland in 1852. He was the father of Robert Julian Onderdonk and Eleanor Rogers Onderdonk, also distinguished Texas artists. He received an academic education at the College of St. James, Catonsville, followed by studies at the National Academy of Design in 1872 under the instruction of Lemuel Everett Wilmarth. In 1875, Onderdonk attended Art Students League of New York and received instruction from Walter Shirlaw, James Carroll Beckwith and William Merritt Chase.

Onderdonk moved to San Antonio, Texas in 1878 where he made a living teaching and selling his paintings. In 1889 he mov...