Taos Society of Artists

The Taos Society of Artists was an American organization of painters founded in Taos, New Mexico, in 1915. It was created by six artists—Joseph Henry Sharp, E. Irving Couse, Oscar E. Berninghaus, W. Herbert Dunton, Ernest Blumenschein, and Bert Phillips—who became known collectively as the Taos Six. The organization was not primarily a school with a single formal style. Instead, it functioned largely as a commercial cooperative through which artists could promote, exhibit, and sell work while strengthening the visibility of the emerging Taos art colony. The society grew from earlier encounters between artists and northern New Mexico. Joseph Henry Sharp first visited Taos in 1893 and developed a sustained interest in the region's Native American communities and landscape. In 1898, Ernest Blumenschein and Bert Phillips traveled to Taos after discussing the area's artistic possibilities. Their intention had initially been to visit temporarily, but the landscape, the Taos Pueblo community, and the region's Hispanic and Anglo-American cultures persuaded them to remain. Blumenschein subsequently encouraged other artists in New York and Paris to consider Taos as a place of artistic opportunity. The six founding members formally organized the society on July 19, 1915, with E. Irving Couse serving as its first president. Their work commonly depicted Native American subjects, people of the surrounding Hispanic and Anglo-American communities, and the landscape of the Taos Valley. Although each member retained an individual approach, the group shared an interest in applying academic European training to subjects associated with the American Southwest. Their paintings were often marked by intense color and a vivid, emotionally charged treatment of light, terrain, clothing, and ceremony. The society's first exhibition took place at the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe shortly after its creation. From 1917, it also organized traveling exhibitions in other parts of the United States, helping bring Taos imagery to national audiences and collectors. Early critics sometimes considered the paintings exaggerated or insufficiently realistic, particularly because of their bright colors and strong emotional effect. The artists disputed criticism from observers who had never visited the southwestern desert or Taos Pueblo. Membership was selective. Prospective members generally had to work in Taos for three consecutive years, demonstrate interest and ability in painting Native American subjects, and have exhibited through reputable galleries or New York salons. Later members included Julius Rolshoven, E. Martin Hennings, Catharine C. Critcher, Kenneth Adams, Walter Ufer, and Victor Higgins. Critcher was the society's only female member. The organization also had associate members, including several artists connected with Santa Fe, and honorary members such as Edgar L. Hewett and Frank Springer, who were involved in developing New Mexico's museum infrastructure. During World War I, members participated in United War Work Committees, designed posters, and contributed paintings to Red Cross bazaars. They also produced large-scale range-finder landscapes of Belgium and France for military training purposes. The society continued to exhibit during the postwar period, but changing economic conditions eventually undermined its cooperative model. The Great Depression sharply reduced patronage and damaged the Taos economy. The society was disbanded in 1927, although its members and successors continued to shape the Taos art community. The society's historical importance lies in its role as an institution rather than in the production of a single unified style. Its exhibitions, cooperative structure, and promotion of Taos subject matter helped transform a small regional settlement into an internationally recognized art center. Works associated with its members are now held in museums and collections, and the group is regarded as a major force in the development of American regionalist and Southwestern art.

The origins of the Taos Society of Artists preceded the organization's formal creation by more than two decades. Joseph Henry Sharp visited Taos in 1893 while traveling through New Mexico. He became deeply interested in the Taos Pueblo community, Native American subjects, and the surrounding landscape. In Paris, Sharp's interests intersected with those of Ernest Blumenschein, who was studying art there. Blumenschein later traveled to Taos in 1898 with Bert Phillips. The pair expected a temporary visit, but the valley and its communities made such a strong impression that both artists decided to remain and work there. Blumenschein maintained connections with artists in New York and Paris and promoted Taos as a place with unusual artistic potential. The area's combination of mountain scenery, adobe settlements, Native American and Hispanic cultural traditions, and relative distance from established eastern art centers offered painters subject matter that they believed could support a distinctive American art. The artists' presence helped initiate the Taos art colony, which later attracted additional painters and became an important part of the history of American Southwestern art. On July 19, 1915, Sharp, Blumenschein, Phillips, E. Irving Couse, Oscar E. Berninghaus, and W. Herbert Dunton established the Taos Society of Artists. These six founders became known as the Taos Six, and Couse was selected as the first president. The society operated primarily as a commercial cooperative. It provided a framework for joint promotion and exhibition rather than imposing a strict manifesto or requiring members to paint in an identical manner. The founding artists nevertheless shared several broad concerns. Their paintings frequently represented Native Americans in traditional clothing, scenes associated with Taos Pueblo, local Hispanic residents, Anglo-American inhabitants, and the northern New Mexico landscape. Their approaches reflected European academic training, but their subject matter was grounded in the Southwest. The resulting paintings often used strong, saturated color and conspicuous emotional or atmospheric effects. Early critics sometimes objected that the work was too vivid, theatrical, or removed from literal realism. The artists responded that critics who had not experienced the desert or Taos Pueblo were poorly positioned to judge the accuracy and feeling of their representations. The society quickly pursued public visibility. Its first exhibition was held at the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe. Beginning in 1917, it sent traveling exhibitions to venues around the United States, allowing collectors and critics outside New Mexico to encounter the Taos painters. The organization also developed formal membership standards. Artists generally needed to have worked in Taos for three consecutive years, demonstrate both aptitude and sustained interest in painting Native American subjects, and possess an exhibition record in reputable galleries or New York salons. These requirements were intended to identify artists who were committed to the region and capable of treating its people and culture seriously, though the society's historical record also reflects the period's limitations in representation and membership. The membership expanded beyond the original six. Julius Rolshoven, E. Martin Hennings, Catharine C. Critcher, Kenneth Adams, Walter Ufer, and Victor Higgins became members; Critcher was the only woman in the society. Artists associated with Santa Fe, including Robert Henri, Albert L. Groll, Randall Davey, B. J. O. Nordfeldt, Gustave Baumann, Birger Sandzén, and John Sloan, were included as associates. Edgar L. Hewett, director of the Museum of New Mexico, and Frank Springer, whose donations supported the development of the institution's fine arts museum, received honorary memberships. World War I broadened the group's civic activity. Society members served on United War Work Committees, designed posters, and showed paintings at Red Cross bazaars. They also made enormous range-finder landscapes depicting Belgium and France. Measuring approximately 50 by 100 feet, these works were intended as military instructional tools rather than conventional gallery paintings. Several were shown at the society's 1918 annual exhibition at the Museum of New Mexico. The organization remained connected to the commercial and cultural growth of Taos, but its position became increasingly vulnerable as economic conditions deteriorated. The Great Depression reduced disposable income and severely weakened the patronage on which artists depended. Taos was itself badly affected, and members faced declining sales. Victor Higgins, among the artists most seriously affected financially, nonetheless produced paintings during this period that received substantial press attention, including Winter Funeral and Sleeping Nude. The society was disbanded in 1927. Its institutional life ended, but its artists, exhibitions, studios, and influence continued to shape the Taos art colony. The society helped convert a small regional community into an art center known nationally and internationally, while its paintings established a durable visual association between Taos, the American Southwest, and modern American art.

• 1927

  Society is dissolved

  [1]Taos Society of Artistsen.wikipedia.org

  The organization disbands amid economic pressure and reduced art patronage during the Depression era.

• 1918

  War-related works appear at the annual exhibition

  [1]Taos Society of Artistsen.wikipedia.org

  Range-finder paintings and other war-related work are displayed at the Museum of New Mexico exhibition.

• 1917

  Traveling exhibitions begin

  [1]Taos Society of Artistsen.wikipedia.org

  The society expands its reach by sending exhibitions to locations across the United States.

• 1915

  Taos Society of Artists is founded

  [1]Taos Society of Artistsen.wikipedia.org

  Six painters formally organize the society on July 19, creating the group later called the Taos Six.

• 1915

  First exhibition at the Palace of the Governors

  [1]Taos Society of Artistsen.wikipedia.org

  The newly formed society presents its first exhibition in Santa Fe.

• 1898

  Blumenschein and Phillips settle in Taos

  [1]Taos Society of Artistsen.wikipedia.org

  Ernest Blumenschein and Bert Phillips travel to Taos and decide to remain, helping establish the early Taos art colony.

• 1893

  Joseph Henry Sharp first visits Taos

  [1]Taos Society of Artistsen.wikipedia.org

  Sharp's visit to northern New Mexico begins his long engagement with Taos Pueblo, Native American subjects, and the regional landscape.

A cooperative association of academically trained American painters presenting the people, cultures, and landscapes of northern New Mexico to national audiences.

• Painting · 1915

  Taos landscape paintings

  Paintings of the Taos Valley, surrounding mountains, desert light, villages, and adobe environments formed one of the society's central bodies of work. These scenes combined observed regional geography with the artists' academic training and frequently used intense color and expressive atmospheric effects.

• Painting · 1915

  Native American subject paintings

  The society's members were particularly associated with paintings of Native American people, ceremonies, clothing, and communities, including subjects connected with Taos Pueblo. This emphasis was central to the group's identity and membership expectations, although the works should be understood within the cultural and representational conventions of early twentieth-century American art.

• Painting · 1915

  Community and figure paintings

  Members also painted Hispanic and Anglo-American residents of northern New Mexico, producing portraits and scenes of daily life that broadened the society's visual record beyond landscape and Native American subjects.

• Exhibition program · 1917

  Traveling exhibitions

  From 1917, the society circulated exhibitions beyond New Mexico. These shows functioned as a collective promotional and sales channel, introducing Taos art to national audiences and helping develop the reputation of the Taos colony.

• Military instructional art · 1918

  World War I range-finder paintings

  During World War I, members created exceptionally large landscape paintings of Belgium and France for military instruction. These approximately 50-by-100-foot works were designed as range-finder teaching aids and represented an unusual extension of the artists' practice beyond conventional exhibitions.

• 1917National traveling exhibition program

  United States

  The society sent group exhibitions around the United States to promote its artists and the distinctive subjects of Taos and northern New Mexico.

  Outcome. The program helped turn Taos from a small regional colony into a nationally visible art center.

  Source
• 1917United War Work and Red Cross support

  United States

  During World War I, members served on United War Work Committees, designed posters, and contributed canvases to Red Cross bazaars.

  Outcome. The campaign connected the society's artistic activities with wartime relief and public service.

  Source

• 1927

  Dissolve the societyOther

  Background

  Economic deterioration and the collapse of art patronage during the Depression weakened the society's cooperative foundation.

  Action taken

  The organization was disbanded.

  Aftermath

  The institution ended, but former members and the broader Taos art colony continued to influence American Southwestern art.

  Source

• 1917

  Expand beyond New Mexico through traveling exhibitionsStrategy

  Background

  The society sought to reach collectors and critics who could not visit Taos.

  Action taken

  It began circulating exhibitions of members' work across the United States.

  Aftermath

  National exposure increased awareness of Taos painting and strengthened the commercial prospects of the colony.

  Source

• 1915

  Adopt a cooperative exhibition and promotion structureStrategy

  Background

  The founders needed a collective mechanism to promote Taos artists and sell work to audiences outside the region.

  Action taken

  They organized the Taos Society of Artists as a commercial cooperative rather than as a rigid stylistic school.

  Aftermath

  The structure supported group exhibitions and helped establish Taos as a recognized American art center.

  Source

1. 1Taos Society of Artistsen.wikipedia.org