Updated June 18, 2004 11:34 PM

Knox painting to be a state gift

By BRETT NAUMAN
Eagle Staff Writer

Special to The Eagle

Prints of Benjamin Knox’s painting “Texas State Capitol” will be used for Gov. Rick Perry to present to international dignitaries.

Local artist and College Station gallery owner Benjamin Knox on Friday unveiled his latest painting, which will be used by Texas officials to bestow as gifts to dignitaries.

Knox, owner of the Benjamin Knox Gallery at 404 University Drive East, donated a portrait of the Texas Capitol to Texas Secretary of State Geoff Connor during a ceremony at the historic building.

Prints of Knox’s painting, which is called “Texas State Capitol,” will be used for Connor and Gov. Rick Perry to present to international dignitaries, said Jennifer Waisath, spokeswoman for Connor’s office.

Perry will take prints of Knox’s painting with him next week during a four-day trade summit with national leaders in Mexico City and Monterrey, Waisath said.

“ It’s something that’s really unique in that the painting was done for use by our office and the governor’s,” Waisath said. “We have more than a hundred foreign [officials] come through in a given year to visit us.”

Connor said Knox’s portrait “captures the grandeur of the Lone Star State’s capitol building, blending rugged Texas cattle drive imagery while paying a special tribute to Texas’ first Secretary of State, Stephen F. Austin.”

Knox, who is well known in Bryan and College Station for his paintings that replicate the nostalgia of Aggieland through imagery, said he spent more than a month during the winter working on the portrait.

“ I grew up on a horse ranch and am a native Texan,” Knox said. “What a great honor to be able to portray your state in a gift that will represent our Texas culture.”

• Brett Nauman’s e-mail address is bnauman@theeagle.com.