Taos art colony
The history of Hispanic craftsmanship in furniture, tin work, and other mediums also played a role in creating a multicultural tradition of art in the area.
In addition to the society, Mabel Dodge Luhan was instrumental in promoting Taos to artists and writers within her circle.
Traditional design elements were formalized at the Santa Fe Indian School, defining authentic Native American art.
[7] Pop Chalee, also known as Merina Lujan and "Blue Flower" (1906–1993), was the daughter of a man from the Taos Pueblo; her mother was of Swiss descent.
[9] In addition to the Taos museums, the Martinez Hacienda, a fortress occupied by Padre Martinez's family in the 19th century, provides examples of the integration of Spanish and Pueblo artistic movements in retablos (santos painted on flat pieces of wood), bultos (santos carved out of wood and sometimes painted), as well as tin work, jewelry, and basketry.
[11] An article with drawings by Blumenschein about a ceremony at Taos Pueblo appeared in the April 30, 1898, issue of Harper's Weekly.
[12] Within a few years other American and European-born artists joined them in Taos: Joseph Henry Sharp, W. Herbert Dunton, E. Irving Couse and Oscar E. Berninghaus.
Among them were Ansel Adams, Georgia O'Keeffe, Alfred Stieglitz, Nicolai Fechin, author D. H. Lawrence and his wife, Frieda von Richthofen.
Artist Dorothy Brett came to Taos in 1924 with her friends D. H. Lawrence and Frieda von Richthofen and later permanently settled there.
To prevent Mabel from stealing and scattering the ashes (as she claimed Lawrence had wished), Frieda finally had them mixed with a ton of concrete and formed into a block."
[22] Like Lawrence, Russian artist Nicolai Fechin (1881–1955) suffered from tuberculosis and found Taos helpful for managing his health.
In New Mexico, he was introduced to notables from Alfred Stieglitz's circle, including painter Georgia O'Keeffe, artist John Marin, and photographer Paul Strand, all of whom created famous works during their stays in the Southwest.
Her academic training emphasized development of an alla prima technique and painting out of doors, which inspired her to produce bold impasto works quickly.
She started making road trips to New Mexico and became friends with painters in the Taos Society of Artists and the Santa Fe art colony.
Her numerous expressive oil sketches and en plein air canvases of adobe dwellings and rugged landscapes caught the attention of art dealers.
He produced dozens of drawings and painting during these visits and stays, while declining to join the Taos Society of Artists to which he had been invited by Ernest Blumenschein.
[26] Rebecca Salsbury James (1891–1968) was largely a self-taught artist, although, after coming to Taos she was influenced by friend, Georgia O'Keeffe.
[16] In 1923, Akseli Gallen-Kallela departed for the US to organize an exhibition at the Chicago Art Institute and retrieve his works, which had been lost there since the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915.
They spent some time in the artist colony in Taos, New Mexico, before continuing their travels and ultimately returning to Finland in the spring of 1926.
Arriving from cities like New York and San Francisco that were centers for the forms of abstract painting that emerged after World War II, they transformed Taos into a hotbed of contemporary art.
These artists became known as the "Taos Moderns" and included Thomas Benrimo, Emil Bisttram, Edward Corbett, Joseph Glasco,[29] R.C.
Ellis, Cliff Harmon, Janet Lippincott, Ward Lockwood, Louis Leon Ribak, Beatrice Mandelman, Agnes Martin, Robert Ray, Earl Stroh, and Clay Spohn.
[20][30] Other visiting artists include Richard Diebenkorn, Mark Rothko, Ad Reinhardt, Clyfford Still, and Morris Graves.
Andrew Dasburg already came to Taos and was a mentor to many of the new artists, and his own works also evolved towards a more abstract expressionist style.
[38] Contemporary native artists of Taos Pueblo create handcrafted goods using methods passed down through generations of family artisans.
The collection of works from the 19th century to the present reflect the multicultural heritages and influences of the Taos artistic community.
