When
Joseph Henry Sharp visited New Mexico in 1893 he was on a mission
to gather details for the a painting commission for Harper's
Weekly. His painting, The Harvest Dance or the Pueblo Indians
of New Mexico was a magnificent work in black and white and appeared
in the October 14, 1893 issue. He did not return to Taos
until 1902, but his illustrations from his 93' trip were published
in many magazines.
In
1895 Sharp met two American artists in Paris, Ernest Blumenschein
and Bert
Philips and excited their imaginations telling them about
the vast potential of Northern New Mexico, especially Taos. The
two artist's visited New Mexico in the summer of 1898
and the legend of their broken wagon wheel near Taos fueled the
story that they stumbled into the small Pueblo Indian village and
established the Taos Society of Art. Actually, Sharp became
the spiritual father of the Taos Society of Art, which was established
in 1912.
The
original Taos Society of Art, known as the Taos Six, 1915
at the home of Couse. Top row L to R: Joseph
Henry Sharp, Ernest Blumenschein, Herbert Dunton. Bottom
row: Eanger Irving Couse, Bert Phillips, Oscar
Berninghaus. |
Oscar
Berninghaus visited Taos in 1899, Eanger Irving Couse in 1904
and Herbert Dunton became a permanent resident in 1912.
In
1917 Victor Higgins was added to the Taos Society which gave
a new look to
their exhibitions due to his European flair for more
avant-garde style, a bit cubistic in nature. He was often
respected as the best painter by the others. Walter
Ufer followed as the next member of the Taos Society, Many people
believe that this was the core of what was later considered ten
artists and called the Taos Ten. Catherine Critcher, E. Martin
Hennings and Kenneth Adams became the eleventh and final member
in 1926. He believed that the original eight, from 1915 to
1923 was the period of greatness for the Taos Society with Sharp,
Phillips, Blumenschein, Dunton, Couse, Berninghaus, Ufer and Higgins.
Today,
the Taos Society compromises one of the three most important
art societies in the history of American art and the leader in
Western Indian Americana. Only the Hudson River School and
the Rocky Mountain School painters have achieved the notoriety
and collector acceptance of the Taos group. |
Taos
SocietyErnest
Blumenschein
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Joseph
Henry Sharp
(1859-1953)
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