Betty Sabo (Betty Jean Beals; ''née'' Angelos Sabo; September 15, 1928 – May 10, 2016) was an American

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

painter and sculptor. She is best known for her realistic

oils An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

landscapes.

Early life

Sabo was born in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. Graduating in 1945, from Albuquerque High School, art began and majoring in art at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

, she studied for five years with the German-born artist Carl von Hassler.Betty Sabo website
Betty Sabo Art. Retrieved 21 May 2012.

Painting and sculpture

Her paintings are based on sketches, notes, and photographs taken on location, which are brought back to her studio where she finishes her compositions. As well as New Mexico scenes, Sabo took a keen interest in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

landscapes.

Awards

Sabo won first place at the 1968

New Mexico State Fair The New Mexico State Fair is an annual state fair held in September at Expo New Mexico (formerly the New Mexico State Fairgrounds) in the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A. The event features concerts, competitions, rodeos, carnival rides, g ...

for a piece entitled ''"Isleta"'' which depicted the St. Augustine Church at the

pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

. In 1988, during a visit by

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Garrey Carruthers Garrey Edward Carruthers (born August 29, 1939) is an American politician and academic who served as the 27th governor of New Mexico and the chancellor of New Mexico State University. He previously served as special assistant to the U.S. Secreta ...

presented the President with a Nambé platter and an oil painting by Betty Sabo. She was awarded the Award of Distinction by the

Albuquerque Museum The Albuquerque Museum, formerly known as the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History, is a public art and history museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The museum is located in the Old Town area and is operated by the City of Albuquerque Department of ...

Foundation in 1991. The award was designated for "an individual who has successfully served the Foundation in an outstanding leadership capacity." It was noted during the award presentation, that Sabo was one of the Foundation's strongest advocates in the community, spending much of her enormous energy explaining, defending and promoting the arts. In 2012, Governor

Susana Martinez Susana Martinez (born July 14, 1959) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 31st governor of New Mexico from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, she served as chair of the Republican Governors Association (RGA) from 2015 to 2016. She ...

proclaimed February 10, 2012 as Betty Sabo Day, in recognition for Sabo's artistic career and community work.

Exhibitions

Her work has been displayed in major

exhibits An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

in New York City at the American Academy of Art,

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

National Arts Club The National Arts Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and members club on Gramercy Park, Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1898 by Charles DeKay, an art and literary critic of the ''New York Times'' to "stimulate, foster, and promote public ...

and American Academy; and in Santa Fe at the

Museum of New Mexico The Museum of New Mexico is a collection of museums, historic sites, and archaeological services governed by the State of New Mexico. It currently consists of six divisions : the Palace of the Governors state history museum, the New Mexico Museum of ...

. Her paintings and sculptures are included in several

art collections A museum is distinguished by a collection of often unique objects that forms the core of its activities for exhibitions, education, research, etc. This differentiates it from an archive or library, where the contents may be more paper-based, repla ...

held by the

Phelps Dodge Corporation Phelps Dodge Corporation was an American mining company founded in 1834 as an import-export firm by Anson Greene Phelps and his two sons-in-law William Earle Dodge, Sr. and Daniel James. The latter two ran Phelps, James & Co., the part of the ...

, United New Mexico Banks,

PNM Resources PNM Resources is an energy holding company based in New Mexico, in the United States. The acronym "PNM" by itself usually refers to the PNM Resources subsidiary Public Service Company of New Mexico. Headquartered in Albuquerque, PNM Resources ...

University of New Mexico Hospital The University of New Mexico Hospital (locally known as either University Hospital, UNM Hospital, or shortened to UNMH) is a public teaching hospital located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, immediately north of the main campus of the University of New ...

, City of Albuquerque Mayor's Office, and the

. In 1992, Sabo was invited by the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

to display one of her paintings in the American Embassy in Moscow, Russia.

Pop culture

The documentary "Betty Sabo – an artful life" premiered on

KASA-TV KASA-TV (channel 2), branded on-air as , is a television station licensed to Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States, serving the Albuquerque area and most of the state as an owned-and-operated station of the Spanish-language Telemundo network. KASA ...

on February 11, 2012.Betty Sabo – An Artful Life
University of New Mexico Foundation. Retrieved 21 May 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabo, Betty 20th-century American painters 21st-century American painters American landscape painters Painters from New Mexico 1928 births Artists from Kansas City, Missouri University of New Mexico alumni 2016 deaths American women sculptors 20th-century American women painters 21st-century American women painters Sculptors from Missouri Sculptors from New Mexico