Helmuth Naumer Sr. (born 1907 in

Reutlingen Reutlingen (; Swabian: ''Reitlenga'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of June 2018, it has a population of 115,818. Reutlingen has a university of applied sciences, which ...

, Germany; died 16 June 1990) was an American artist. He painted subjects throughout the United States and around the world, but is best known for his works depicting landscapes of

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 ...

.Flynn (1994), p. 254

Early life and education

Naumer studied art in Germany and moved to the United States in 1926. He attended the Frank Wiggins Trade School and the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles and then joined the Merchant Marine. After six years at sea, Naumer moved to

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...

in 1932. There, he began to work in

pastel A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those use ...

Career

In 1933, during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...

constructed various park buildings in Frijoles Canyon in Bandelier National Monument including a visitor centre as part of the federal

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

's employment program. Naumer together with Pablita Velarde and E. J. Austin were commissioned by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

to create works for the newly built visitor centre exhibits.Flynn (1994), p. 36 Naumer created a series of paintings showing scenes in Bandelier National Monument and nearby pueblos. He produced fourteen pastel artworks from 1935 to 1936 for Bandelier National Monument, works of art which remain in the Bandelier museum collections. In the 1940s, Naumer settled on an artists' community called San Sebastian Ranch in the Santa Fe area on land purchased by Harper Henry from the painter

Fremont Ellis Fremont may refer to: Places In the United States: *Fremont, California - largest city with the name **Fremont station **Fremont station (BART) **Fremont Central Park * Fremont, Yolo County, California * Fremont, Illinois * Fremont Center, Illin ...

. Other artists included Tom Lea, Pansy Stockton. The actress Greer Garson, who had a home nearby in

Pecos Pecos may refer to: Places * Pecos River, rises near Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States * Pecos, Texas, a city in Reeves County, Texas, United States * Pecos County, Texas, named for the Pecos River ** Pecos Spring, a spring * Pecos, New Mexico, a ...

, bought many of Naumer's pastels. Although Naumer also worked in oils and

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

s, pastels were his preferred medium. He believed they allowed him to capture "the fleeting effects of the sky and water and our own New Mexico landscapes with fast changing colors sweeping rapidly across it, for there are hundreds of different colors and shades, so one loses no time in mixing colors as in oil." Naumer's pastels often use a dark background, which give the drawings an appearance of glowing, bringing out the vivid colors of the local landscapes and sky. Frijoles Can

Naumer was a professional artist recognized as one of the major painters of the Santa Fe school. Describing his work in a 1959 pamphlet, he said "though born in Europe and having lived in many places in the world, coming to the Southwest was like coming home. Here I found peace and beauty and these I try to paint." His work is held in such museums as the New Mexico Museum of Art and the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum. In 1983, Naumer lent various papers for microfilming as part of the

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washingt ...

's Texas project.

Personal life

He died of cancer on 16 June 1990 in

. Naumer's daughter, Carola Naumer, is professor of art history at

Truckee Meadows Community College Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) is a public community college and technical college in the Truckee Meadows of Reno, Nevada. The college is primarily a commuter campus with 5 locations. TMCC offers students both certificate and associate ...

. Naumer's son served as the cultural affairs director of the

New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs The New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs is a state agency of the New Mexico government. Created as the Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA) in 1980, the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs was elevated to a state Cabinet-level agency in 200 ...

from 1987 to 1994.Flynn (1994), p. 11, 254

Legacy

On June 2, 2016, Naumer was honored by the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

when his painting "Administration Building, Frijoles Canyon" at Bandelier National Monument was used as a "Forever" Postage Stamp. The stamp appears in a commemorative collectible panel of 16 stamps representing various National Parks for the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. A first day issuance ceremony was held in New York City at the World Stamp Show that day and another public ceremony was held at Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico with Naumer family members in attendance. The Gerald Peters Art Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico represents the Naumer family with many selections of Helmuth Naumer's artwork.

References

External links