The South Texas artist Al Barnes leads us on a journey through the desert prairie with this expansive painting. A dusty dirt road leads the viewer on a long walk into the horizon of vast blue skies and purple mesas. The entire landscape glows with wide prairies full of golden shrubs and grasses. Long lilac shadows indicate that the sun is setting on a hot day. We witness a moment of suspense as a covey of fowl takes flight from a lone coyote. The bright red land marker serves as a compass when on long walks through vast South Texas prairie. The title of the painting refers to the name of the Spanish Conquistador Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca who ran ashore near Galveston Island and was the first person to chronicle the lives and customs of Native Americans of the South Texas plains. Barnes is known for his paintings of the Texas coastal regions that include clear water fishing spots, coastal marshes, fish, and waterfowl. He maintained a painter’s studio in the artist’s colony of Rockport on the Texas Gulf Coast, and was never far from the water. All of this makes the painting of La Cabeza even more intriguing with its dry prairie atmosphere, making it a unique addition to Barnes’ work. 

The artist was born in Cuero, and moved to the Texas coast as a child. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1967 from the University of Texas at Austin. After graduation and marriage, he relocated to Dallas, where he worked as an illustrator, freelancer, and art director for thirteen years. Later, he worked as a professional painter and frequently divided his time between his South Texas home, the Texas hill country, and the Caribbean—a source of many of his paintings.