• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
UT Shield
Ransom Center Magazine
  • Sections
    • View All Articles
    • Art
    • Authors
    • Books + Manuscripts
    • Conservation
    • Digital Collections
    • Exhibitions + Events
    • Film
    • Literature
    • Photography
    • Research + Teaching
    • Theatre + Performing Arts

March 22, 2012, Filed Under: Art

Donated Tom Lea drawings add depth to collection

The Harry Ransom Center recently received a generous gift of four Tom Lea drawings. Dating from 1931 to 1951, the drawings of dancers and an acrobat showcase another artistic focus of Lea’s (1907 – 2001) expansive career.

Donated by Sandra Snyder, the drawings were previously owned by her aunt, Martha Esquivel Hahn, of El Paso, Texas. Hahn, herself a dancer and wardrobe supervisor, was a friend of Lea. Hahn and Lea went to the same high school in El Paso together and were life-long friends. After living in Chicago, New York City, and Las Vegas, Hahn returned to El Paso, where she opened a ballet school. One of the drawings, Portrait of Martha, is of Hahn.

The four works will be added to the Ransom Center’s Sarah and Tom Lea art collection, which consists of the artist’s personal art works, including book illustrations, paintings, drawings, and lithographs. The Ransom Center also holds a large archive of manuscripts relating to Lea’s books, including The Brave Bulls (1949) and The Wonderful Country (1952), both of which were produced as films.

“It is a good day when someone contacts the Center about finding a proper home for their artwork, especially when the work is strongly associated with artists already in the collection,” said Ransom Center Associate Curator of Art Peter Mears. “Ms. Snyder’s thoughtful gift of Tom Lea drawings adds depth to the collection as well as new insight into this El Paso artist’s exceptional career.”

The Tom Lea collection is accessible for research in the Ransom Center’s Reading and Viewing Room. The Tom Lea Room (located on the Ransom Center’s third floor), which chronicles Lea’s life and career and includes period photographs and original works of art, is available by appointment.

Please click the thumbnails to view full-size images.

 

De Negre, 1931. Pen and ink. ©Tom Lea Institute.
De Negre, 1931. Pen and ink. ©Tom Lea Institute.
Tom Lea (American, 1907-2001). Untitled. Inscribed: "To my friend Martha [Esquivel Hahn] –Tom Lea," ca.1950. Pencil on paper. ©Tom Lea Institute.
Tom Lea (American, 1907-2001). Untitled. Inscribed: “To my friend Martha [Esquivel Hahn] –Tom Lea,” ca.1950. Pencil on paper. ©Tom Lea Institute.
Untitled [Male performer/acrobat], 1931. Ink and brush on paper. ©Tom Lea Institute.
Untitled [Male performer/acrobat], 1931. Ink and brush on paper. ©Tom Lea Institute.
Tom Lea (American, 1907-2001). Untitled [Ballerina], 1951. Watercolor and ink wash on paper. ©Tom Lea Institute.
Tom Lea (American, 1907-2001). Untitled [Ballerina], 1951. Watercolor and ink wash on paper. ©Tom Lea Institute.

About Jennifer Tisdale

Tisdale is responsible for identifying, planning, and implementing strategic public affairs activities and programs that range from media relations to social media at the Ransom Center.

Primary Sidebar

Print Edition

Ransom Center Magazine Spring 2025

Search

Recent Posts

  • Winners Announced for 2025 Schuchard Prize
  • Fellowships Awarded to 46 scholars
  • Benjamin Gross Appointed Associate Director of Research Services at the Harry Ransom Center
  • Celebrating Gabriel García Márquez’s Global Journey: Q&A with the Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia
  • De Macondo al Mundo. Una celebración del recorrido global de Gabriel García Márquez
  • Lorne Michaels Lands at the Ransom Center
  • Literature and Change: Flair Symposium 2024
  • Mark Sainsbury on W. S. Merwin
  • Nancy Cunard in the Studio
  • Visualizing the Environment: Ansel Adams and His Legacy
  • Freedom to Write, Freedom to Read: The Story of PEN
  • Milton in Phoenix

Archive

Footer

© Harry Ransom Center 2025
Site Policies
Web Accessibility
Web Privacy

UT Home | Emergency Information | Site Policies | Web Accessibility | Web Privacy | Adobe Reader

© The University of Texas at Austin 2025