Biography
Early Life
Buck Winn, Jr. was born in Celina, Texas on March 1, 1905. He showed an interest in art and an understanding for how mechanical items worked at an early age. Winn grew up understanding how hard the life of a farmer was. While his father wanted him to go to college at Texas A&M where he could learn how to farm, Buck wanted to be an artist and went instead to Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He studied for two years in St. Louis before moving on to the Academie Jullian in Paris, France. While studying in France, Winn traveled to North Africa where he sketched and painted the desert scenes. The sheer scale of the Egyptian and Moorish art Winn saw would later influence his work.
Moving to Wimberley
In 1931 Winn married Kathryn "Kitty" Butler, a teacher at the Hockaday School in Dallas. Winn used the money he made on his mural projects to purchase land in Wimberley where he and Kitty settled in 1940. Winn designed the home so that every window had a hill view and he incorporated his studio into the home. Thanks to efforts by Winn's daughter, Kathryn "Tinka" Winn Eoff, the home and ranch were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.
More Information
Read Buck Winn's complete biography at the Texas Historical Association website.