Collection
Along the River Walk
Pause beside the water and compare Donna’s two views of the River Walk.
San Antonio River Walk
M. Donna GoodAlong the River Walk hangs Donna’s two paintings of the San Antonio River Walk side by side. Both show the same stone bridge, now called Rosita’s Bridge, and each approaches it from a different direction.
San Antonio River Walk is the wide view. Donna’s 2020 file names the place: the River Walk at the Arneson River Theatre. On the right bank stands the white stucco stage with its balcony and three arched openings, each holding a bell, and flowers in pink, red and gold line its curving stone edge. A small red boat passes under the arch, and the river takes up the lower third of the sheet as a mirror for the bridge, the stage and the trees.
Rosita’s Bridge Over San Antonio Riverwalk is the close view. It stands tall, and the lower two thirds of the sheet belong to the flowers: bougainvillea in magenta, pink and violet over a terracotta planter, with large coral hibiscus blossoms at the right. The bridge crosses the top of the painting in a long arch of warm stone, and through its opening the eye finds the river and a gathering of small figures under a red umbrella. Donna painted the bricks one by one on the bridge.
Seen together, the two paintings make a small conversation. The wide view gives the bridge its setting of water, stage and trees. The tall view gives it a garden in the foreground and lets the arch frame the life of the river beyond. Both paintings use the same warm stone, so the bridge is easy to recognize in each.
The place has a long story. The Works Progress Administration built the Arneson River Theatre between 1939 and 1941 to a design supervised by the architect Robert H. H. Hugman, with the stage and the seating on opposite banks of the river. The theatre takes its name from Edwin P. Arneson, the regional engineer for the WPA. City officials dedicated the bridge as Rosita’s Bridge in 1982, in honor of Rosita Fernández, a pioneer of Tejano music.
Begin at the top of each arch and follow its curve down toward the bank. Then look below it: in the wide view, the river answers with a soft reflection, and in the tall view, the bright planting rises to meet the bridge. Compare Two Paintings holds these two side by side at any size, and Enlarge Painting brings each stone of the bridge up close.
The Paintings
San Antonio River Walk
M. Donna GoodWatercolorRosita’s Bridge arches across the river beside the stage of the Arneson River Theatre, with its white stucco building, balcony and three arched openings, each holding a bell. Flowers in pink, red and gold line the curving stone edge of the stage. A small red boat passes under the arch, a single bright note at the center of the picture. The river below acts as a mirror, repeating the bridge, the stage and the trees in long strokes of violet, blue and green. Fine dark lines describe the stones of the bridge and the walls of the stage.
Rosita’s Bridge Over San Antonio Riverwalk
M. Donna GoodWatercolorThe stone bridge crosses the top of the painting in a long warm arch, and through its opening the eye finds the river and small figures under a red umbrella. Donna painted the bricks of the bridge one by one. The lower two thirds of the sheet belong to the flowers: bougainvillea in magenta, pink and violet tumbling over a terracotta planter, and large coral hibiscus blossoms at the right. Many small shapes of color laid side by side make the mass of bougainvillea seem to shimmer. The water beneath the bridge sparkles with small touches of white.