About the Artist

John Austin Hanna - Fredericksburg, Texas -  b. 1942

 

John graduated from Texas Tech University with a degree in Advertising Art and Design. As a 20-year illustrator in New York and Dallas he has been published in several magazines such as Automotive Quarterly, Car and Driver, Saga, Town & Country, Flying, Popular Boating, and Popular Science. 

 

He has also done work for several large corporations such as Mercedes, Volkswagen, Bell Helicopter, Lockheed Martin, Borden’s, Pearl Beer, Coors Beer, Phillips 66, Shell Oil, Byron Nelson Golf Classic and Chili’s Bar & Grill. Mr. Hanna’s work can also be found in several books published by Harcourt Brace & World and McGraw Hill. He has done work for author Ian Fleming & Warner Bros. 

 

Despite his successes as an illustrator, Hanna believes that his career really took off once he traded in the “big city skylines” for the rock houses, livestock, landscape and old barns of Fredericksburg, Texas. “My years in New York and Dallas as an illustrator were great, but I wasn’t really following my heart,” explains Hanna. “Throughout my childhood in Beaumont, I was always drawing and dreaming of becoming a ‘real’ artist. I finally decided that I had to pursue that dream”. 

 

Hanna’s paintings are strong in dramatic light and rich in color. His paintings embrace a variety of subjects from landscapes, still lifes and portraits, set anywhere from the Texas Gulf Coast to quaint country homes on the back roads of Missouri. Some of his paintings portray the big picture, some zero in on a walked-over piece of life. “To me, life is more interesting if you look at it the way it is. Everything has its own innate beauty,” he reveals. “Something always triggers a painting: an old house, a rock wall, maybe just light playing on creek water. I never run out of things to see.”

 

John will be participating in the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation's  The Art of Texas Parks Project at the Bullock Texas History Museum Show in 2023 commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Texas state park system in October 2023.  His paintings will also again be featured in The Briscoe Western Art Museum’s “Night of Artists” show in March of 2020.  He is a member of the Oil Painters of America (OPA) and his work has been published by Somerset House Publishers.  John was honored to be commissioned in 2005 by the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo to do an eight-phase depiction of the rodeo for their corporate offices.  He and his wife, Sherry live in Fredericksburg, Texas.

 

 

Back when John Austin Hanna was an art student at Texas Tech University, his classmate (and still friend) Bill Stokes remembers the artist was a standout among his peers. Stokes acquired one of Hanna’s earliest works before he left school, and he’s now amassed six of the artist’s paintings in his collection. 

“Even while we were in college, professors and fellow students knew John had a uniquely creative lens,” Stokes says. “Whatever he conveyed on canvas, even at that early point in his development, it caused second creative thoughts and stimulated budding imaginations.” 

Hanna, who worked as an illustrator in New York before coming back to his home state of Texas, evolved to incorporate a fine art, impressionistic aesthetic in his landscape and nature paintings after doing illustrations for advertisements, magazines and children’s books. Stokes says the artist’s work “Just keeps telling stories,” providing viewers with constant new things to discover. 

“If art is theatre, then John’s productions are masterpieces,” Stokes says. “He uses brushstrokes and color in art in the same way music is used to create mood in drama.” 

As Seen In Western Art Collector Magazine  - “John Austin Hanna Show Preview” - April 2015 Edition - Page 92

 

RECENT SHOWS/HONORS:

Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation - The Art of Texas Parks Project - the Bullock Texas History Museum Show - 2023 (Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Texas State Park System

The Briscoe Western Art Museum - Night of Artists - March 2013-2020

Traveling the West Art Show & Sale - October 2015 

Rocky Mountain Oyster Club Art Show - November 2015-2019

Art on the Llano Estacado Show - June 2015-2019

RS Hanna Gallery - One Man Show - March 2012

Clearwater Gallery - Miniature Show - July 2013

Oil Painters of America - 23rd Annual National Juried Exhibition - Donors Award of Excellence 2013

Oil Painters of America - 20th Annual National Juried Exhibition - 2011

InSight Gallery - Texas Stampede Invitational - March 2010

InSight Gallery - Celebrations Invitational - December 2009 & 2010

InSight Gallery - Founding Artists Show - October 2009

InSight Gallery - Group Show - May 2009

Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo - 2005 - 2012 - Commissioned Hanna to paint an eight-phase depiction of the rodeo for their corporate offices

Whistle Pik Galleries - One Man Show - 1997-2008

Whistle Pik Galleries - Texas Review - 1998-2008

Whistle Pik Galleries - Christmas Miniature Show - 1997-2008

Whistle Pik Galleries - Two Man Show with Mark Haworth – November, 2003

Cowboy Artists of America Museum Night of Artists – 2002-2003

Texas Art Gallery Semi-annual shows – 2002-2003

Admiral Nimitz Museum - Fredericksburg, Texas: 150 Years of Paintings and Drawing - May 1996 (Exhibit accompanied by 112 page hardbound book featuring 26 artists)

 

Books and Magazines

“Hill Country Magazine”, January 2017, “Hill Country Artist:  John Austin Hanna”, by Robert Deming

“Southwest Art Magazine, April 2013, “A Touch of Humanity”, by Bonnie Gangelhoff

“Western Art Collector”, April 2015, “Never Ending Stories”, by Joshua Rose

“Western Art & Architecture”, June/July 2012, “In The Studio”, by Amy Lemen

“Western Art Collector”, October 2010, “Texas Tradition”

“Western Art Collector”, October 2009, “Founding Artists”, by Joshua Rose

“Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo”, Summer 2006, “Portrait of a Rodeo Cowboy”, by Samantha Fewox

Southwest Art Magazine, February2005, “My World”, by Wolf Schneider

Southwest Art Magazine, September 2004, “Art Events, Texas”, by Julie Osterman

Southwest Art Magazine, September 2004, “Texas, Best of the West”, by Julie Osterman

Art Talk, November 2001, “In the Galleries”, Editors.

Southwest Art Magazine, November 2002, “Art Events: Texas”, Editors

Southwest Art Magazine, November 2001, “Art Events: Texas”, Editors

Southwest Art Magazine, November 2000, “Art Events: Texas”, Editors

Art Talk, April 1999, “In the Galleries”, Editors.

Southwest Art, October 1997, “Best of the West”, Margaret Brown

Southwest Art, April 1997, “Best of the West, Texas”, Kristin Bucher

 “Fredericksburg Texas – 150 Years of Paintings and Drawings”, April 1996, (112 page hardbound book featuring 26 artists), by Jack Maguire

 

 

Publications:

As a 20-year illustrator in New York and Dallas, John Austin Hanna has been published in several magazines such as Automotive Quarterly, Car and Driver, Saga, Town & Country, Flying, Popular Boating, and Popular Science.

 

He has also done work for several large corporations such as Mercedes, Volkswagen, Bell Helicopter, Lockheed Martin, Borden’s, Pearl Beer, Coors Beer, Phillips 66, Shell Oil, Byron Nelson Golf Classic and Chili’s Bar & Grill. Mr. Hanna’s work can also be found in several books published by Harcourt Brace & World and McGraw Hill. He has done work for author Ian Fleming & Warner Bros.

 

Duty, Michael, and Susan Hallsten McGarry. Texas Traditions: Contemporary Artists of the Lone Star State. 2010. John is a featured artist in this beautiful book.

Maguire, Jack, and Ann Maguire. Fredericksburg, Texas: 150 Years of Paintings and Drawings. Fredericksburg, TX: Fredericksburg 150th Anniversary, 1995. John is one of 26 artists featured in this book. The book accompanied an exhibit at the Admiral Nimitz Museum.

Mason, Michael, and John Hanna. Casey’s Cove: a Village on the New England Seacoast. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1969. The story is by Michael Mason. John Hanna illustrated the book.

Mohon, Monty, and Michelle Mohon. Gillespie County, a View of Its past. Virginia Beach, VA: Donning, 1996. John’s painting depicting the early life of Gillespie County settlers is the cover for this book.

Perkins, Al, John Hanna, and Ian Fleming. Meet Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the Wonderful Magical Car. New York: Random House, 1968. The story was adapted by All Perkins from the screenplay based on the Ian Fleming story. This children’s book was illustrated by John Hanna.