Bob Snead – Darker Than Blue, Heavily Textured Oil Portrait

A quietly powerful portrait by El Paso-based artist and historian Bob Snead (1936–2020), Darker Than Blue depicts a contemplative Black male figure in profile, rendered in heavily textured oil on canvas. Wearing a broad-brimmed hat adorned with a vivid blue feather and a knotted white scarf, the subject emerges from a deep black background—his gaze obscured in shadow, evoking reflection, resilience, and dignity.

This piece exemplifies Snead’s signature approach: bold chiaroscuro, a restrained earth-toned palette, and a strong sense of narrative stillness. Best known for his historic Buffalo Soldier series, Snead was a decorated U.S. Army aviator who turned to painting during his service in Vietnam. After retiring to El Paso, he spent decades creating work that honored African American military history and Southern identity. Though less overtly historical than much of his catalog, Darker Than Blue channels the same commitment to cultural memory and emotional depth.

Signed lower right in white and mounted in the original wood frame with linen liner and brass title plaque. A rare, introspective work by one of the region’s most respected narrative painters—ideal for collectors of Black portraiture and Southwestern realism.

Medium:
Heavily textured oil on canvas

Condition:
Good. The canvas is stable with no visible paint loss or tears. Minor surface dust and age-related wear present. Frame shows light scuffing and abrasions, particularly along the lower edges, but remains structurally intact. See images for detail.

Dimensions:

• Framed: 26 x 21 inches
• Visible canvas: 19.5 x 15 inches

About the Artist:
Bob Snead (1936–2020)

El Paso-based artist, veteran, and cultural historian

Bob Snead was a self-taught Texas artist and U.S. Army aviator whose life and work were steeped in service, storytelling, and heritage preservation. After a 30-year military career—including four tours in Vietnam and commendations such as three Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars with “V” devices, and 41 Air Medals—Snead retired to El Paso, where he devoted himself fully to the arts.

Snead began painting while serving overseas, but it was a 1956 film that sparked his lifelong focus on the Buffalo Soldiers—Black cavalry regiments who served on the western frontier after the Civil War. With no formal guidance, Snead began decades of self-directed research and portrait-making that culminated in his nationally recognized series 100 Years Ago: The Buffalo Soldier Revisited. His works, often painted in richly textured acrylics or oils, portrayed Black figures with dignity, narrative power, and emotional presence.

An accomplished stage actor and playwright as well, Snead performed a one-man show on Lt. Henry Ossian Flipper, the first Black West Point graduate, which aired on PBS in 1996. In later years, his tremors became so severe he completed his final commissioned painting—The Black Cowboy—left-handed.

Snead’s work has been exhibited across the U.S., including at the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center, and is held in collections at Fort Bliss and the Texas Governor’s Mansion. He served on the Texas Commission on the Arts and helped design the Texas State Quarter.

Though he passed away in 2020, Snead’s legacy continues to resonate—particularly in and around El Paso, where he spent much of his creative life turning overlooked history into enduring art.