Taos art colony
Encyclopedia
The Taos art colony is an art colony
founded in Taos, New Mexico
by artists attracted by the rich culture of the Taos Pueblo
and beautiful landscape. Hispanic craftsmanship of furniture, tin work and more played a role in creating a multicultural tradition of art work in the area.
In 1898 a visit of Bert Geer Phillips and Ernest L. Blumenschein
to Taos, New Mexico
was one of the first steps in the creation of the Taos art colony and the Taos Society of Artists
. In addition to the attention brought by the Taos Society of Artists, Mabel Dodge Luhan
was instrumental in promoting Taos to artists and writers within her circle, which led a new generation of artists to Taos.
In the early 20th century modern artists
infused the area with an new artistic energy, followed in the 1950s by abstract artists. Taos supports more than 80 galleries and three museums. There are a number of organizations that support and promote the work of artists on the Taos Pueblo
and in the Taos area.
, Taos Pueblo
is the most northern of the New Mexico
pueblos
. For nearly a millennium
, the Taos Indians have lived there. It is estimated that the pueblo was built between 1000 and 1450 A.D., with some later expansion. The Taos Pueblo is considered to be the oldest continuously inhabited community in the United States
. The pueblo, at some places five stories high, is a combination of many individual homes with common walls. There are over 1,900 people in the Taos pueblo community. Some of them have modern homes near their fields and stay at their homes on the pueblo during cooler weather. There are about 150 people who live at the pueblo year-around. The Taos Pueblo was added as an UNESCO World Heritage Site
in 1992 as one of the most significant historical cultural landmarks in the world; Other sites include the Taj Mahal
, Great Pyramids and the Grand Canyon
in the United States.
artists. Making paintings with oil and watercolor was a new form of art to the Taos Pueblo
who traditionally painted objects such as hides or inside buildings, such as on the walls of a kiva
, but one embraced by artists such as Albert Looking Elk
, Albert Lujan
, Juan Mirabal
and Juanito Concha. They provided artwork that was realistic of the Native American lifestyle in contrast to the work of Anglo-Americans
romantic depictions. Traditional design elements were formalized at the Santa Fe Indian School
, defining authentic Native American art.
Juanita Suazo Dubray
, a lifelong resident of Taos Pueblo, is a Native American
potter. In 1980, at the age of 50, Dubray began making micaceous pottery, upholding the tradition of her mother and their ancestors. Dubray added an element of sculptural relief with icons of corn, turtles, lizards, and kiva steps in relief; Her original corn design her most recognized symbol. Lori Tanner (Pop Wea)
(d. 1966) was also a noted potter from Taos Pueblo
Pop Chalee
, also known as Merina Lujan and "Blue Flower" (1906-1993), was the daughter of a man from the Taos Pueblo
and an East Indian mother. In the 1920s she attended the Santa Fe Indian School
and in the 1930s Dorothy Dunn
's studio of the same school. Multi-talented, Chalee was a muralist
and art instructor; she also worked in radio and the film industry.
carpenters built, with great artistry, cajas (storage chests), harineros (grain chests), trasteros (kitchen cupboards) and other furniture. The work was generally carved and painted brightly.
Tinwork
was also made with materials brought from Mexico
and sometimes along the Santa Fe Trail
. A significant growth in tin work occurred, though, once the railroad opened. At first most of the tin work was in the form of religious, devotional items. By the turn of the century tinsmith
s were creating sconces, lanterns and trinket boxes.
Commissioned by churches and individuals, artists created sacred images called Santos of Roman Catholicism. Patrociño Barela (1900-1964) made secular works that greatly influenced contemporary santeros. His work, shown at the Museum of Modern Art
in New York with other artists of the Federal Art Project
, was the first Mexican American
artist to receive national recognition.
In addition to the Taos museums, the Martinez Hacienda
, a fortress occupied by Padre Martinez's family in the 1800s, provides examples of the integration of Spanish and Pueblo artistic movements in retablo
s (santos painted on flat pieces of wood), bultos
(santos carved out of wood and sometimes painted), as well as tin work
, jewelry, and basketry.
came to Taos, New Mexico
as part of a tour of the western United States, but upon seeing Taos decided to stay.
An article with drawings by Blumenschein about a ceremony at Taos Pueblo
appeared in the July 10, 1898, issue of Harper's Weekly
.
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
. These six artists were the charter members of the Taos Society of Artists
.
The Taos Society of Artists works heralded the beginning of the Taos art colony, a groundbreaking association of European trained painters that collected around the visually spectacular Taos Pueblo
in the Southwestern United States
. The founding members fostered the emergence of a major school of American painting. Unlike other 'schools' or styles that emerged around the turn of the 19th century in the United States, the early Taos Colony artists were not united under a single manifesto or aesthetic modus, but equally lured by the stunning and, as yet, foreign environs.
, a wealthy heiress from Buffalo, New York who had run a prominent art salon
in Florence, Italy, and Manhattan, New York, before settling in Taos in 1917. After both divorced their spouses, Mabel Dodge married a Pueblo
native, Antonio Lujan, and built a house. She spelled her married name "Luhan" as it was easier for her friends to pronounce.
While in the Southwest, Luhan carried on the tradition of the European salon in its newest of iterations. For decades, she invited artists, writers, and other luminaries to be inspired by Taos and each other. Among them were Ansel Adams
, Georgia O’Keeffe, Alfred Stieglitz
, 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.
(1887-1979) was one of the earliest friends of Luhan to come and stay in Taos. He first came to Taos in 1918, and moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico
in 1921, when he integrated the boxy traditional construction styles in New Mexico
into his Cubist
art. In Taos, Dasburg became a mentor to a group of artists known as "Taos Moderns". A leader in the Cubism movement, his works are in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art
, the Metropolitan Museum of Art
and the Denver Art Museum
, among others.
(1885-1930) painted while in Taos, signing his work "Lorenzo"; Nine of his paintings are displayed at La Fonda Hotel on the Taos Plaza
.
(1887-1986) began to spend summers with the Lawrences starting in 1930. O'Keeffe's inspiration led Lawrence to discover he had a talent for painting, too. She made iconic, colorful paintings of flowers and bones she collected during her walks through the desert. In 1940, she bought her first home in New Mexico
. Her husband, Alfred Stieglitz
, preferring to stay in New York, O'Keeffe spent much of the year with him. Upon his death in 1946, O'Keeffe moved permanently to her New Mexico home, in an area known as Ghost Ranch
, in Abiquiu, (Ab-e-kew).
(1881–1955) suffered from tuberculosis
and found Taos helpful for managing his health. In 1927, Fechin moved to Taos with his wife and daughter. For a time they lived with Luhan, but soon purchased an adobe home that was renovated into a beautiful, unusual home
with Russian wood carvings, is now the Taos Art Museum
.
'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.
, an artist from Georgetown, Colorado developed her skills as an artist motivated by latest trends in American realism led by Robert Henri. 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.
Rebecca Salsbury James (1891-1968) was largely a self-taught artist, although, after coming to Taos she was influenced by friend, Georgia O'Keeffe. She is most known for her work with reverse oils on glass and also worked in oils, pastels and a Spanish folk art form, colcha embroidery.
Ouray Meyers, a Taos artist, is the son of Ralph Meyers who was an artist, writer, and trader who was good friends with members of the Taos Society of Artists
, such as Joseph Henry Sharp
and W. Herbert Dunton
; He was also a friend of Leon Gaspard, Nicolai Fechin
, Dorothy Brett
, and Georgia O'Keeffe
. As a boy, Ralph Meyers met the artists who often visited his parent's home. Meyers developed his own unique style, influenced by the early Taos painters.
. Without knowing the history of the local art colony, artists came from New York
and San Francisco, centers for abstract
painting that emerged after World War II
. By the 1950s Taos had become on of the major centers for modern art
in the country; The artists became known as the "Taos Moderns". Andrew Dasbug came to Taos and was a mentor to many of the new artists. Some of the emerging artists from this period include: Thomas Benrimo, Louis Ribak and his wife Beatrice Mandelman, Agnes Martin
, Clay Spohn, and Edward Corbett (artist). Other visiting artists include Richard Diebenkorn
, Mark Rothko
, Ad Reinhardt
, Clyfford Still
and Morris Graves
.
Like earlier artists, they portrayed the colorful New Mexican landscape and cultural influences, such as the "timelessness they perceived in Puebloan culture and the deep connection to the land they noted in the everyday life of both Native Americans and Hispanics influence experimentation and innovation in their own art." Rather than capturing realist images of people and the landscape, they sought to capture the true meaning of their subjects.
Until their recent deaths modern-day artists such as R. C. Gorman
, Bill Rane and J.D. Challenger made Taos their home.
(1931-2005) was an internationally renowned artist of the Navajo Nation, sometimes called the "Picasso" of the American Indian Arts. Even so, he was not accepted by the entire Taos art colony. Gorman opened "The Navajo Gallery in 1968 on historic Ledoux Street, the first art gallery owned by a Native American in the United States. It contained a large body of his work and those of some local Taos artists. Gorman was a collector of art, such as works by Eurpoean masters Picasso and Chagall, and local artists, such as Bill Rane, whose work Gorman identifed as his favorite of the artist colony.
in Taos has a permanent collection of over 1,700 works of part and 17,000 photographic images. The collection of works from the 19th century to the present reflect the multicultural heritages and influences of the Taos artistic community. The categories of works include: Hispanic, Taos Society of Artists, Taos Moderns, Contemporary, and Prints, Drawings and Photographs.
is a collection of item of Southwestern Indian culture. Millicent Rogers was instrumental in the promotion of the Native American culture. The collections are made of works of art that include weavings, kachinas, pottery, baskets, tin work, and contemporary art. In the early 1980s the museum held works of the Hispanic art movement, the first major cultural organization in New Mexico to do so. Millicent's mother, Mary B. Rogers, was the benefactoress for much of the Pueblo Indian works.
Paintings by Pueblo artists Albert Looking Elk (Martinez)
, Albert Lujan
, Juan Mirabal, Juanito Concha and the works of other Pueblo artists are included in the Museum's collection.
is largely a collection of paintings by full and associte members of the Taos Society of Artists
. It is housed in the former home and studio of artist Nicolai Fechin
.
Art colony
right|300px|thumb|Artist houses in [[Montsalvat]] near [[Melbourne, Australia]].An art colony or artists' colony is a place where creative practitioners live and interact with one another. Artists are often invited or selected through a formal process, for a residency from a few weeks to over a year...
founded in Taos, New Mexico
Taos, New Mexico
Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico, incorporated in 1934. As of the 2000 census, its population was 4,700. Other nearby communities include Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, and El Prado. The town is close to Taos Pueblo, the Native American...
by artists attracted by the rich culture of the Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos speaking Native American tribe of Pueblo people. It is approximately 1000 years old and lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico, USA...
and beautiful landscape. Hispanic craftsmanship of furniture, tin work and more played a role in creating a multicultural tradition of art work in the area.
In 1898 a visit of Bert Geer Phillips and Ernest L. Blumenschein
Ernest L. Blumenschein
Ernest Leonard Blumenschein was an American artist andfounding member of the Taos Society of Artists. He is noted for paintings of Native Americans, New Mexico and the American Southwest.-Early life and education:...
to Taos, New Mexico
Taos, New Mexico
Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico, incorporated in 1934. As of the 2000 census, its population was 4,700. Other nearby communities include Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, and El Prado. The town is close to Taos Pueblo, the Native American...
was one of the first steps in the creation of the Taos art colony and the Taos Society of Artists
Taos Society of Artists
The Taos Society of Artists was an organization of visual arts founded in Taos, New Mexico in 1915; it disbanded in 1927. The Society was essentially a commercial cooperative, as opposed to a stylistic collective, and its foundation contributed to the development of the tiny Taos art colony into...
. In addition to the attention brought by the Taos Society of Artists, Mabel Dodge Luhan
Mabel Dodge Luhan
Mabel Evans Dodge Sterne Luhan , née Ganson was a wealthy American patron of the arts. She is particularly associated with the Taos art colony.-Early life:...
was instrumental in promoting Taos to artists and writers within her circle, which led a new generation of artists to Taos.
In the early 20th century modern artists
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
infused the area with an new artistic energy, followed in the 1950s by abstract artists. Taos supports more than 80 galleries and three museums. There are a number of organizations that support and promote the work of artists on the Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos speaking Native American tribe of Pueblo people. It is approximately 1000 years old and lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico, USA...
and in the Taos area.
Taos Pueblo
Located in a tributary valley off the Rio GrandeRio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
, Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos speaking Native American tribe of Pueblo people. It is approximately 1000 years old and lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico, USA...
is the most northern of the New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
pueblos
Pueblo
Pueblo is a term used to describe modern communities of Native Americans in the Southwestern United States of America. The first Spanish explorers of the Southwest used this term to describe the communities housed in apartment-like structures built of stone, adobe mud, and other local material...
. For nearly a millennium
Millennium
A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....
, the Taos Indians have lived there. It is estimated that the pueblo was built between 1000 and 1450 A.D., with some later expansion. The Taos Pueblo is considered to be the oldest continuously inhabited community in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The pueblo, at some places five stories high, is a combination of many individual homes with common walls. There are over 1,900 people in the Taos pueblo community. Some of them have modern homes near their fields and stay at their homes on the pueblo during cooler weather. There are about 150 people who live at the pueblo year-around. The Taos Pueblo was added as an UNESCO World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
in 1992 as one of the most significant historical cultural landmarks in the world; Other sites include the Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is a white Marble mausoleum located in Agra, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal...
, Great Pyramids and the Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...
in the United States.
Taos Pueblo artists
Ancient artistic traditions have been manifested in native craft for generations; an important acknowledgement for understanding the inherent aesthetic allure of this area to the Anglo-AmericanAnglo-America
Anglo-America is a region in the Americas in which English is a main language, or one which has significant British historical, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural links...
artists. Making paintings with oil and watercolor was a new form of art to the Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos speaking Native American tribe of Pueblo people. It is approximately 1000 years old and lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico, USA...
who traditionally painted objects such as hides or inside buildings, such as on the walls of a kiva
Kiva
A kiva is a room used by modern Puebloans for religious rituals, many of them associated with the kachina belief system. Among the modern Hopi and most other Pueblo peoples, kivas are square-walled and underground, and are used for spiritual ceremonies....
, but one embraced by artists such as Albert Looking Elk
Albert Looking Elk
Albert Looking Elk , also known as Albert Martinez was a Taos Pueblo painter. Looking Elk is one of the three Taos Pueblo Painters.-Background:Albert, the son of José R...
, Albert Lujan
Albert Lujan
Albert Lujan , also known as Xenaiua meaning "Weasel Arrow," was a genre and landscape painter from Taos Pueblo, New Mexico.-Three Taos Pueblo painters:...
, Juan Mirabal
Juan Mirabal
Juan Mirabal , also known as "Tapaiu" or Red Dancer, was an artist from Taos Pueblo, New Mexico.-Three Taos Pueblo painters:Albert Looking Elk, Albert Lujan, and Juan Mirabal have been identified as the "Three Taos Pueblo" painters...
and Juanito Concha. They provided artwork that was realistic of the Native American lifestyle in contrast to the work of Anglo-Americans
Anglo-America
Anglo-America is a region in the Americas in which English is a main language, or one which has significant British historical, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural links...
romantic depictions. Traditional design elements were formalized at the Santa Fe Indian School
Santa Fe Indian School
The Santa Fe Indian School is a secondary school in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States. It was founded in 1890 as a boarding school for Native American children from the state's Indian pueblos. But in the course of its history, the school has also served as a major cultural catalyst for the...
, defining authentic Native American art.
Juanita Suazo Dubray
Juanita Suazo Dubray
Juanita Suazo Dubray is a Native American potter from Taos Pueblo, New Mexico. She is a lifelong resident of Taos Pueblo and descends from an unbroken line of Taos Pueblo natives. Her mother Tonita made traditional micaceous pottery for utilitarian use...
, a lifelong resident of Taos Pueblo, is a Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
potter. In 1980, at the age of 50, Dubray began making micaceous pottery, upholding the tradition of her mother and their ancestors. Dubray added an element of sculptural relief with icons of corn, turtles, lizards, and kiva steps in relief; Her original corn design her most recognized symbol. Lori Tanner (Pop Wea)
Lori Tanner (Pop Wea)
Lori Tanner , also known as Pop Wea was a Native American artist associated with the Taos Pueblo. She was a painter and potter....
(d. 1966) was also a noted potter from Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos speaking Native American tribe of Pueblo people. It is approximately 1000 years old and lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico, USA...
Pop Chalee
Pop Chalee
Pop Chalee, also known as Merina Lujan , was an American painter, muralist, performer, and singer.-The early years:Pop Chalee was born Merina Lujan on March 20, 1906 in Castle Gate, Utah. Her father, Joseph Cruz Lujan was from Taos and her mother Merea Margherete Luenberger, was predominately Swiss...
, also known as Merina Lujan and "Blue Flower" (1906-1993), was the daughter of a man from the Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos speaking Native American tribe of Pueblo people. It is approximately 1000 years old and lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico, USA...
and an East Indian mother. In the 1920s she attended the Santa Fe Indian School
Santa Fe Indian School
The Santa Fe Indian School is a secondary school in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States. It was founded in 1890 as a boarding school for Native American children from the state's Indian pueblos. But in the course of its history, the school has also served as a major cultural catalyst for the...
and in the 1930s Dorothy Dunn
Dorothy Dunn
Dorothy Dunn Kramer was an American art instructor who created The Studio School at the Santa Fe Indian School.-Background:Dunn was born on 2 December 1903 in Pottawatomie County, Kansas and educated in Chicago. She first encountered Native American art at the Field Museum in Chicago in 1925...
's studio of the same school. Multi-talented, Chalee was a muralist
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
and art instructor; she also worked in radio and the film industry.
Hispanic artwork
In the late 18th century and early 19th century it was very expensive to ship furniture to New Mexico. HispanicHispanic and Latino Americans
Hispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...
carpenters built, with great artistry, cajas (storage chests), harineros (grain chests), trasteros (kitchen cupboards) and other furniture. The work was generally carved and painted brightly.
Tinwork
Tinware
Tinware is any item made of prefabricated tinplate. Usually tinware refers to kitchenware made of tinplate, often crafted by tinsmiths. Many cans used for canned food are tinware as well. Something that is tinned after being shaped and fabricated is not considered tinware.-Properties:Tinware is...
was also made with materials brought from Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and sometimes along the Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century transportation route through central North America that connected Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1822 by William Becknell, it served as a vital commercial and military highway until the introduction of the railroad to Santa Fe in 1880...
. A significant growth in tin work occurred, though, once the railroad opened. At first most of the tin work was in the form of religious, devotional items. By the turn of the century tinsmith
Tinsmith
A tinsmith, or tinner or tinker or tinplate worker, is a person who makes and repairs things made of light-coloured metal, particularly tinware...
s were creating sconces, lanterns and trinket boxes.
Commissioned by churches and individuals, artists created sacred images called Santos of Roman Catholicism. Patrociño Barela (1900-1964) made secular works that greatly influenced contemporary santeros. His work, shown at the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
in New York with other artists of the Federal Art Project
Federal Art Project
The Federal Art Project was the visual arts arm of the Great Depression-era New Deal Works Progress Administration Federal One program in the United States. It operated from August 29, 1935, until June 30, 1943. Reputed to have created more than 200,000 separate works, FAP artists created...
, was the first Mexican American
Mexican American
Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States...
artist to receive national recognition.
In addition to the Taos museums, the Martinez Hacienda
Martinez Hacienda
Martinez Hacienda, also known as Hacienda de los Martinez, is a Taos, New Mexico hacienda built during the Spanish colonial era. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places...
, a fortress occupied by Padre Martinez's family in the 1800s, provides examples of the integration of Spanish and Pueblo artistic movements in retablo
Retablo
A Retablo or lamina is a Latin American devotional painting, especially a small popular or folk art one using iconography derived from traditional Catholic church art....
s (santos painted on flat pieces of wood), bultos
Santo (art)
Santo is a traditional New Mexican genre of religious sculpture. The word "santo" is also used to refer to individual works in this genre...
(santos carved out of wood and sometimes painted), as well as tin work
Tinware
Tinware is any item made of prefabricated tinplate. Usually tinware refers to kitchenware made of tinplate, often crafted by tinsmiths. Many cans used for canned food are tinware as well. Something that is tinned after being shaped and fabricated is not considered tinware.-Properties:Tinware is...
, jewelry, and basketry.
Art colony
Taos Society of Artists
Bert Geer Phillips and Ernest L. BlumenscheinErnest L. Blumenschein
Ernest Leonard Blumenschein was an American artist andfounding member of the Taos Society of Artists. He is noted for paintings of Native Americans, New Mexico and the American Southwest.-Early life and education:...
came to Taos, New Mexico
Taos, New Mexico
Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico, incorporated in 1934. As of the 2000 census, its population was 4,700. Other nearby communities include Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, and El Prado. The town is close to Taos Pueblo, the Native American...
as part of a tour of the western United States, but upon seeing Taos decided to stay.
An article with drawings by Blumenschein about a ceremony at Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos speaking Native American tribe of Pueblo people. It is approximately 1000 years old and lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico, USA...
appeared in the July 10, 1898, issue of Harper's Weekly
Harper's Weekly
Harper's Weekly was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor...
.
Within a few years other American and European-born artists joined them in Taos: Joseph Henry Sharp
Joseph Henry Sharp
Joseph Henry Sharp was an American painter and a founding member of the Taos Society of Artists, of which he is considered the "Spiritual Father". Sharp was one of the earliest European-American artists to visit Taos, New Mexico, which he saw in 1893 with John Hauser when he visited in 1893...
, W. Herbert Dunton
W. Herbert Dunton
William Herbert "Buck" Dunton was an American artist and a founding member of the Taos Society of Artists. He is noted for paintings of Native Americans, New Mexico, and the American Southwest.-Early life and education:...
, E. Irving Couse
E. Irving Couse
Eanger Irving Couse was an American artist and a founding member and first president of the Taos Society of Artists. He is noted for paintings of Native Americans, New Mexico, and the American Southwest...
and Oscar E. Berninghaus
Oscar E. Berninghaus
-Further reading:*Sanders, Gordon E. Oscar E. Berninghaus, Taos, New Mexico: Master Painter of American Indians and the Frontier West. Taos Heritage Publishing Company, 1985. ISBN 0-9615-1771-9-External links:* * Paintings* *...
. These six artists were the charter members of the Taos Society of Artists
Taos Society of Artists
The Taos Society of Artists was an organization of visual arts founded in Taos, New Mexico in 1915; it disbanded in 1927. The Society was essentially a commercial cooperative, as opposed to a stylistic collective, and its foundation contributed to the development of the tiny Taos art colony into...
.
The Taos Society of Artists works heralded the beginning of the Taos art colony, a groundbreaking association of European trained painters that collected around the visually spectacular Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos speaking Native American tribe of Pueblo people. It is approximately 1000 years old and lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico, USA...
in the Southwestern United States
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
. The founding members fostered the emergence of a major school of American painting. Unlike other 'schools' or styles that emerged around the turn of the 19th century in the United States, the early Taos Colony artists were not united under a single manifesto or aesthetic modus, but equally lured by the stunning and, as yet, foreign environs.
Mabel Dodge Luhan
Many artists were drawn to Taos due to the presence of Mabel Dodge LuhanMabel Dodge Luhan
Mabel Evans Dodge Sterne Luhan , née Ganson was a wealthy American patron of the arts. She is particularly associated with the Taos art colony.-Early life:...
, a wealthy heiress from Buffalo, New York who had run a prominent art salon
Salon (gathering)
A salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to...
in Florence, Italy, and Manhattan, New York, before settling in Taos in 1917. After both divorced their spouses, Mabel Dodge married a Pueblo
Pueblo people
The Pueblo people are a Native American people in the Southwestern United States. Their traditional economy is based on agriculture and trade. When first encountered by the Spanish in the 16th century, they were living in villages that the Spanish called pueblos, meaning "towns". Of the 21...
native, Antonio Lujan, and built a house. She spelled her married name "Luhan" as it was easier for her friends to pronounce.
While in the Southwest, Luhan carried on the tradition of the European salon in its newest of iterations. For decades, she invited artists, writers, and other luminaries to be inspired by Taos and each other. Among them were Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams
Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park....
, Georgia O’Keeffe, Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his fifty-year career in making photography an accepted art form...
, author D. H. Lawrence
D. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation...
and his wife, Frieda von Richthofen
Frieda von Richthofen
Frieda Freiin von Richthofen , a distant relative of the "Red Baron" Manfred von Richthofen, who is best known for her marriage to the British novelist D. H. Lawrence.-Life:...
. Artist Dorothy Brett came to Taos in 1924 with her friends D.H. Lawrence and Frieda von Richthofen and later permanently settled there.
Andrew Dasburg
Parisian born Andrew DasburgAndrew Dasburg
Andrew Michael Dasburg was an American modernist painter and "one of America's leading early exponents of cubism".-Biography:...
(1887-1979) was one of the earliest friends of Luhan to come and stay in Taos. He first came to Taos in 1918, and moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
in 1921, when he integrated the boxy traditional construction styles in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
into his Cubist
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
art. In Taos, Dasburg became a mentor to a group of artists known as "Taos Moderns". A leader in the Cubism movement, his works are in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
, the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
and the Denver Art Museum
Denver Art Museum
The Denver Art Museum is an art museum in Denver, Colorado located in Denver's Civic Center.It is known for its collection of American Indian art,and has a comprehensive collection numbering more than 68,000 works from across the world....
, among others.
D.H. Lawrence
Inspired by the area and artists, D. H. LawrenceD. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation...
(1885-1930) painted while in Taos, signing his work "Lorenzo"; Nine of his paintings are displayed at La Fonda Hotel on the Taos Plaza
Taos Plaza
Taos Plaza is a center of shops and monuments in Taos, New Mexico.-History:Located in Taos, New Mexico. Spanish settlers began their colonization of the Taos Valley in 1616, but the Plaza dates to the late 18th century when the Don Fernando de Taos Land Grant was ceded to the settlers from the Taos...
.
Georgia O'Keeffe
A friend of D.H. Lawrence, Georgia O'KeeffeGeorgia O'Keeffe
Georgia Totto O'Keeffe was an American artist.Born near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, O'Keeffe first came to the attention of the New York art community in 1916, several decades before women had gained access to art training in America’s colleges and universities, and before any of its women artists...
(1887-1986) began to spend summers with the Lawrences starting in 1930. O'Keeffe's inspiration led Lawrence to discover he had a talent for painting, too. She made iconic, colorful paintings of flowers and bones she collected during her walks through the desert. In 1940, she bought her first home in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
. Her husband, Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his fifty-year career in making photography an accepted art form...
, preferring to stay in New York, O'Keeffe spent much of the year with him. Upon his death in 1946, O'Keeffe moved permanently to her New Mexico home, in an area known as Ghost Ranch
Ghost Ranch
Ghost Ranch is a retreat and education center located close to the village of Abiquiu in Rio Arriba County in north central New Mexico. The conference center and lodgings at Ghost Ranch are run by the Presbyterian Church but open to the general public.-History:Ghost Ranch is part of Piedra...
, in Abiquiu, (Ab-e-kew).
Nicolai Fechin
Like Lawrence, Russian artist Nicolai FechinNicolai Fechin
Nicolai Ivanovich Fechin was a Russian-American painter known for his portraits and works featuring Native Americans. After graduating with the highest marks from the Imperial Academy of Arts and traveling in Europe under a Prix de Rome, he returned to his native Kazan, where he taught and painted...
(1881–1955) suffered from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
and found Taos helpful for managing his health. In 1927, Fechin moved to Taos with his wife and daughter. For a time they lived with Luhan, but soon purchased an adobe home that was renovated into a beautiful, unusual home
Nicolai Fechin House
The Nicolai Fechin House is the historic home of the Russian artist Nicolai Fechin, his wife Alexandra and daughter Eya. After purchasing the house, he spent several years enlarging and modifying the two-story adobe structure, for instance, enlarging the porch and adding and widening windows to...
with Russian wood carvings, is now the Taos Art Museum
Taos Art Museum
The Taos Art Museum is located in the former the house of Russian artist Nicolai Fechin, his wife Alexandra and daughter Eya. The museum's primary aims are to improve awareness of the works and patronage of Taos artists and to nurture local artistic development...
.
Ansel Adams
Ansel Easton Adams (1902 – 1984) was a photographer, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West. In 1930 Taos Pueblo, Adams's second portfolio, was published. In New Mexico, he was introduced to notables from Alfred StieglitzAlfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his fifty-year career in making photography an accepted art form...
's circle, including painter Georgia O'Keeffe
Georgia O'Keeffe
Georgia Totto O'Keeffe was an American artist.Born near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, O'Keeffe first came to the attention of the New York art community in 1916, several decades before women had gained access to art training in America’s colleges and universities, and before any of its women artists...
, artist John Marin
John Marin
John Marin was an early American modernist artist. He is known for his abstract landscapes and watercolors.-Biography:...
, and photographer Paul Strand
Paul Strand
Paul Strand was an American photographer and filmmaker who, along with fellow modernist photographers like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston, helped establish photography as an art form in the 20th century...
, all of whom created famous works during their stays in the Southwest.
Other early 20th century artists
Cordelia WilsonCordelia Wilson
Cordelia Creigh Wilson was a painter noted for her landscapes of New Mexico and the American Southwest.-Biography:Cordelia "Cordie" Creigh was born in Clear Creek County, Colorado...
, an artist from Georgetown, Colorado developed her skills as an artist motivated by latest trends in American realism led by Robert Henri. 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.
Rebecca Salsbury James (1891-1968) was largely a self-taught artist, although, after coming to Taos she was influenced by friend, Georgia O'Keeffe. She is most known for her work with reverse oils on glass and also worked in oils, pastels and a Spanish folk art form, colcha embroidery.
Ouray Meyers, a Taos artist, is the son of Ralph Meyers who was an artist, writer, and trader who was good friends with members of the Taos Society of Artists
Taos Society of Artists
The Taos Society of Artists was an organization of visual arts founded in Taos, New Mexico in 1915; it disbanded in 1927. The Society was essentially a commercial cooperative, as opposed to a stylistic collective, and its foundation contributed to the development of the tiny Taos art colony into...
, such as Joseph Henry Sharp
Joseph Henry Sharp
Joseph Henry Sharp was an American painter and a founding member of the Taos Society of Artists, of which he is considered the "Spiritual Father". Sharp was one of the earliest European-American artists to visit Taos, New Mexico, which he saw in 1893 with John Hauser when he visited in 1893...
and W. Herbert Dunton
W. Herbert Dunton
William Herbert "Buck" Dunton was an American artist and a founding member of the Taos Society of Artists. He is noted for paintings of Native Americans, New Mexico, and the American Southwest.-Early life and education:...
; He was also a friend of Leon Gaspard, Nicolai Fechin
Nicolai Fechin
Nicolai Ivanovich Fechin was a Russian-American painter known for his portraits and works featuring Native Americans. After graduating with the highest marks from the Imperial Academy of Arts and traveling in Europe under a Prix de Rome, he returned to his native Kazan, where he taught and painted...
, Dorothy Brett
Dorothy Brett
Dorothy Brett British-American painter, remembered as much for her social life as for her art. Born into an aristocratic British family she associated with such notables and Virginia Woolf, John Huxley, Gilbert Cannan, and George Bernard Shaw. Her sister Sylvia became Ranee of Sarawak.In 1924...
, and Georgia O'Keeffe
Georgia O'Keeffe
Georgia Totto O'Keeffe was an American artist.Born near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, O'Keeffe first came to the attention of the New York art community in 1916, several decades before women had gained access to art training in America’s colleges and universities, and before any of its women artists...
. As a boy, Ralph Meyers met the artists who often visited his parent's home. Meyers developed his own unique style, influenced by the early Taos painters.
Modern art
In the 1940s a group of artists, some able to study under the G.I. bill, came to Taos and influenced by European and American modern artModern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
. Without knowing the history of the local art colony, artists came from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and San Francisco, centers for abstract
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
painting that emerged after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. By the 1950s Taos had become on of the major centers for modern art
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
in the country; The artists became known as the "Taos Moderns". Andrew Dasbug came to Taos and was a mentor to many of the new artists. Some of the emerging artists from this period include: Thomas Benrimo, Louis Ribak and his wife Beatrice Mandelman, Agnes Martin
Agnes Martin
Agnes Bernice Martin was an American abstract painter, often referred to as a minimalist; Martin considered herself an abstract expressionist.She won a National Medal of Arts from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1998....
, Clay Spohn, and Edward Corbett (artist). Other visiting artists include Richard Diebenkorn
Richard Diebenkorn
Richard Diebenkorn was a well-known 20th century American painter. His early work is associated with Abstract expressionism and the Bay Area Figurative Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. His later work were instrumental to his achievement of worldwide acclaim.-Biography:Richard Clifford Diebenkorn Jr...
, Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko, born Marcus Rothkowitz , was a Russian-born American painter. He is classified as an abstract expressionist, although he himself rejected this label, and even resisted classification as an "abstract painter".- Childhood :Mark Rothko was born in Dvinsk, Vitebsk Province, Russian...
, Ad Reinhardt
Ad Reinhardt
Adolph Frederick Reinhardt was an Abstract painter active in New York beginning in the 1930s and continuing through the 1960s. He was a member of the American Abstract Artists and was a part of the movement centered around the Betty Parsons Gallery that became known as Abstract Expressionism...
, Clyfford Still
Clyfford Still
Clyfford Still was an American painter, and one of the leading figures of Abstract Expressionism.-Biography:...
and Morris Graves
Morris Graves
Morris Cole Graves was an American expressionist painter. Along with Guy Anderson, Kenneth Callahan, William Cumming, and Mark Tobey, he founded the Northwest School. Graves was also a mystic.-Early years:...
.
Like earlier artists, they portrayed the colorful New Mexican landscape and cultural influences, such as the "timelessness they perceived in Puebloan culture and the deep connection to the land they noted in the everyday life of both Native Americans and Hispanics influence experimentation and innovation in their own art." Rather than capturing realist images of people and the landscape, they sought to capture the true meaning of their subjects.
Until their recent deaths modern-day artists such as R. C. Gorman
R. C. Gorman
Rudolph Carl Gorman was a Native American artist of the Navajo Nation. Referred to as "the Picasso of American Indian art" by the New York Times, his paintings are primarily of Native American women and characterized by fluid forms and vibrant colors, though he also worked in sculpture, ceramics,...
, Bill Rane and J.D. Challenger made Taos their home.
R. C. Gorman
R. C. GormanR. C. Gorman
Rudolph Carl Gorman was a Native American artist of the Navajo Nation. Referred to as "the Picasso of American Indian art" by the New York Times, his paintings are primarily of Native American women and characterized by fluid forms and vibrant colors, though he also worked in sculpture, ceramics,...
(1931-2005) was an internationally renowned artist of the Navajo Nation, sometimes called the "Picasso" of the American Indian Arts. Even so, he was not accepted by the entire Taos art colony. Gorman opened "The Navajo Gallery in 1968 on historic Ledoux Street, the first art gallery owned by a Native American in the United States. It contained a large body of his work and those of some local Taos artists. Gorman was a collector of art, such as works by Eurpoean masters Picasso and Chagall, and local artists, such as Bill Rane, whose work Gorman identifed as his favorite of the artist colony.
Bill Rane
Bill Rane was an artist and Taos gallery owner. His gallery was located next to R. C. Gorman's gallery.Taos Art Association
In the 1950s a group of Taos artists decided to form the Taos Art Association (TAA). They purchase the Manby estate and turned the mansion into art galleries and in the gardens an outdoor community theater. In 2000 Taos Art Association (TAA) became the Taos Center for the Arts (TCA). It is the oldest non-profit arts organization in the state of New Mexico.Taos Artist Organization
Taos Artist Organization is a group of 140+ artists living in Taos and working in a variety of creative media.Taos Pueblo artists
Contemporary native artists of Taos Pueblo create handcrafted goods using methods passed down through generations of family artisans. Modern interpretation of traditional art is reflected in their sculpture, painting and jewelry. For centuries the Taos pueblo potters have been creating micaceous pottery; Now, the pottery is made with a high polish. Also produced on the pueblo are tanned buckskin moccasins and drums.Harwood Museum of Art
The Harwood Museum of ArtHarwood Museum of Art
Harwood Museum of Art is located in Taos, New Mexico. Founded in 1923 it is the second oldest art museum in New Mexico. Its collections include a wide range of Hispanic works and visual arts from the Taos Society of Artists, Taos Moderns, and contemporary artists. In 1935 the museum was...
in Taos has a permanent collection of over 1,700 works of part and 17,000 photographic images. The collection of works from the 19th century to the present reflect the multicultural heritages and influences of the Taos artistic community. The categories of works include: Hispanic, Taos Society of Artists, Taos Moderns, Contemporary, and Prints, Drawings and Photographs.
Millicent Rogers Museum
The Millicent Rogers MuseumMillicent Rogers Museum
In 1956, the Millicent Rogers family founded the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos, New Mexico. Initially the artworks were from the multi-cultural collections of Millicent Rogers and her mother, Mary B. Rogers, who donated many of the first pieces of Taos Pueblo art...
is a collection of item of Southwestern Indian culture. Millicent Rogers was instrumental in the promotion of the Native American culture. The collections are made of works of art that include weavings, kachinas, pottery, baskets, tin work, and contemporary art. In the early 1980s the museum held works of the Hispanic art movement, the first major cultural organization in New Mexico to do so. Millicent's mother, Mary B. Rogers, was the benefactoress for much of the Pueblo Indian works.
Paintings by Pueblo artists Albert Looking Elk (Martinez)
Albert Looking Elk
Albert Looking Elk , also known as Albert Martinez was a Taos Pueblo painter. Looking Elk is one of the three Taos Pueblo Painters.-Background:Albert, the son of José R...
, Albert Lujan
Albert Lujan
Albert Lujan , also known as Xenaiua meaning "Weasel Arrow," was a genre and landscape painter from Taos Pueblo, New Mexico.-Three Taos Pueblo painters:...
, Juan Mirabal, Juanito Concha and the works of other Pueblo artists are included in the Museum's collection.
Taos Art Museum
The Taos Art Museum and Nicolai Fechin HouseTaos Art Museum
The Taos Art Museum is located in the former the house of Russian artist Nicolai Fechin, his wife Alexandra and daughter Eya. The museum's primary aims are to improve awareness of the works and patronage of Taos artists and to nurture local artistic development...
is largely a collection of paintings by full and associte members of the Taos Society of Artists
Taos Society of Artists
The Taos Society of Artists was an organization of visual arts founded in Taos, New Mexico in 1915; it disbanded in 1927. The Society was essentially a commercial cooperative, as opposed to a stylistic collective, and its foundation contributed to the development of the tiny Taos art colony into...
. It is housed in the former home and studio of artist Nicolai Fechin
Nicolai Fechin
Nicolai Ivanovich Fechin was a Russian-American painter known for his portraits and works featuring Native Americans. After graduating with the highest marks from the Imperial Academy of Arts and traveling in Europe under a Prix de Rome, he returned to his native Kazan, where he taught and painted...
.
Further reading
- Dick, R. H. My Time There: The Art Colonies of Santa Fe & Taos, New Mexico, 1956-2006. St. Louis Mercantile Library, 2007. ISBN 9780963980489
- Schimmel, Julie; White, Robert R. Bert Geer Phillips and the Taos Art Colony. Univ of New Mexico Press; 1st edition (June 1994). ISBN 0826314449
- Shipp, Steve. American Art Colonies, 1850-1930: A Historical Guide to America's Original Art Colonies and Their Artists. Greenwood Press, 1996. ISBN 0313296197
- Witt, David L. Modernists in Taos: From Dasburg to Martin. Red Crane Books, 2002. ISBN 978-1878610782