Joe Ruiz Grandee, the artist.
Born a third-generation Texan in Dallas in 1929, artist Joe Ruiz Grandee has a background as colorful as his paintings. His great-grandfather, a Castillian nobleman, came from Spain to settle in Corpus Christi, where he built the town’s largest and most successful dance hall and saloon.

Grandee’s grandfather, Banito, grew up in the family’s large home – a home that would ultimately be renovated and designated a historical landmark – and rose to become one of Corpus Christi’s most prominent and respected citizens. On his mothers side, Grandee boasted two grandfathers with connections to history; one who captained a clipper ship that ran the blockade for the Confederacy between Port Lavaca, Texas, and New Orleans, and another who was a judge and presided during the famous Sutton-Taylor feud trial.
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Grandee studied at the Aunspaugh Art School in Dallas for a short time in 1947 and began painting scenes of the American West in 1948. He didn’t particularly like the academic study of art, preferring instead to hone his craft by continually putting brush to canvas, starting first by painting landscapes, then inserting subjects such as cowboys, horses, and cattle. His small east Texas ranch served as setting for many of his early works, and it was there that Grandee decided he would paint things he knew firsthand. He became a practicing professional painter in 1958, dedicated himself to Western art, a relatively new medium at the time. “We live in a universe governed by laws of cause and effect, and a moment of action frozen in time can only be understood in the light of what had transpired before and what is likely to have taken place afterward. The whole scope of time must be reflected. If the action doesn’t seem logical, then the story of a painting falls apart,” believes Grandee.

Joe had been painting 5 years when he met Margaret Murlene Skinner. Murlene was working nights as a cashier in a theater in Dallas when the manager introduced them. They dated a year and then married. While Joe was working on his art career Murlene became a beautician. When Joe’s career as a professional artist took off Murlene joined him by managing the business, and what a magnificent job she did. From the mid 1960s through the 1970s Joe became perhaps the most famous living artist.

Over many years, Grandee produced many of the most stunning and historically accurate paintings ever created. We hope you will take your time through this gallery and absorb all that it has to offer. Now, you are able to capture a piece of Western history by owning several of these unique prints, many of which are already classics.

HONORS & AWARDS

1964 – Montana Historical Society Museum Exhibition – Great Falls, Montana.

Feb. 19, 1965 – U.S. Marine Corps – special reception at U S Marine Corps hog, office of the Commandant – special honor on parade grounds, dinner and car tour of the capital. Also guest of Senator Yarborough in the Senate.

1966 – U. S. Borax Corp. & K.N.B.C. – sponsored exhibition and reception at the Los Angeles Music Center of Paintings and artifacts.

1967 – U.S. State Department & University of Texas – Tour of paintings & artifacts – U.S. & Japan.

1971 – Designated as The First Official Texas State Artist.

1972 – Grandee’s painting is presented to President Nixon commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Texas Rangers law enforcement agency.

1973 – Franklin Mint Awards Outstanding Painting of American Western art – Limited print.

1974-  Franklin Mint Declares Joe Grandee as One of twelve Most Outstanding Western Artists – Limited Print.

1974 – 1975 – First Western Artist to Exhibit in the U.S. Capitol Building by invitation.

January 12, 2012 – Inducted into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame.

The Joe Grandee Museum of the Frontier West

in

The National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center

in Oklahoma City

The Grandee collection includes more than 5,000 artifacts in 6500 square feet, collected over 40 years by Western artist Joe Ruiz Grandee. The pieces document the history of the people who first settled and worked on the American frontier.

The National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center was established in 1965 as a tribute to the men and women who settled and prospered in the American West.

Since 1994, the museum has tripled in size to more than 200,000 square feet.

For more information, call 478-2250 or check out the Web site at www.cowboyhalloffame.org.

Joe Ruiz Grandee passed from this life on November 4, 2021, at 91 years of age.
Margaret Murlene Grandee passed from this life Aug. 25, 2008, at 71 years of age.

The Flying T Gallery is very honored to help continue the Grandee’s legacy by offering to the public much of the Paintings, Lithographs, Prints and Artifacts that we have been so blessed to acquire from the Grandee’s Collection and Inventory.