The Taos Art Museum is an art museum located in

Taos, New Mexico Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Initially founded in 1615, it was intermittently occupied until its formal establishment in 1795 by Nuevo México Governor Fernando Cha ...

in the

Nicolai Fechin House The Nicolai Fechin House in Taos, New Mexico, is the historic home of the Russian artist Nicolai Fechin, his wife Alexandra and daughter Eya. After purchasing the house in 1928, he spent several years enlarging and modifying the two-story adobe ...

. This was the home of Russian artist

Nicolai Fechin , birth_date = , birth_place = Kazan, Russia , death_date = , death_place = Santa Monica, California United States , spouse = , known_for = Painting , orientation = , training = Imperial Academy of Arts Kaz ...

, 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. Many of the works of the

Taos Society of Artists The Taos Society of Artists was an organization of visual arts founded in Taos, New Mexico. Established in 1915, it was disbanded in 1927. The Society was essentially a commercial cooperative, as opposed to a stylistic collective, and its foundation ...

are held by museums outside of New Mexico, leading them to work to "Bring Taos art back to Taos."

Collection

'The Rains Across' by Ralph Waldo Emerson Meyers

The Museum's permanent collection features Nicolai Fechin's House and Studio. These architectural masterpieces united Fechin’s artistic sensibilities and architectural skills combining Russian, Native American, Spanish, and

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

styles. The permanent collection includes works by Fechin and members of the

. Nearly all members are represented, including

Joseph Henry Sharp Joseph Henry Sharp (September 27, 1859 – August 29, 1953) 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 t ...

, Bert Geer Phillips,

Oscar E. Berninghaus Oscar Edmund Berninghaus (October 2, 1874 – April 27, 1952) was an American artist and a founding member of the Taos Society of Artists. He is best known for his paintings of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans, New Mexico ...

Ernest L. Blumenschein Ernest Leonard Blumenschein (May 26, 1874 – June 6, 1960) was an American artist and 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 educat ...

Walter Ufer Walter Ufer (July 22, 1876 – August 2, 1936) was an American artist based in Taos, New Mexico. His most notable work focuses on scenes of Native American life, particularly of the Pueblo Indians. Life and career Ufer was born in Germany a ...

E. Irving Couse Eanger Irving Couse (September 3, 1866 – April 26, 1936) was an American artist and a founding member and first president of the Taos Society of Artists. Born and reared in Saginaw, Michigan, he went to New York City and Paris to study art. Wh ...

, W. Herbert Dunton, Joseph Fleck,

Ernest Martin Hennings Ernest Martin Hennings (1886–1956) was an American artist and member of the Taos Society of Artists. Biography E. Martin Hennings was born in Penns Grove, New Jersey on February 5, 1886 to German immigrant parents. Two years after he was bor ...

William Victor Higgins William Victor Higgins (June 28, 1884 – August 23, 1949) was an American painter and teacher, born in Shelbyville, Indiana. At the age of fifteen, he moved to Chicago, where he studied at the Art Institute in Chicago and at the Chicago Acade ...

, Catherine Critcher,

Gustave Baumann Gustave Baumann (June 27, 1881 – October 8, 1971) was an American printmaker and painter, and one of the leading figures of the color woodcut revival in America. His works have been shown at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, The C ...

Bror Julius Olsson Nordfeldt Bror Julius Olsson Nordfeldt (April 13, 1878 – April 21, 1955) was an American artist who painted seascapes and depictions of New Mexico's indigenous culture. Background He was born in Tullstorp, Malmö, Skåne County, Sweden the son of Ni ...

, and

Julius Rolshoven Julius Rolshoven (Detroit, 28 October 1858 – New York City, 8 December 1930) was an American painter. Biography Rolshoven was born and raised in Detroit. At 18 he went to New York City to study at the Cooper Union Art School, then the Düsse ...

. The vitality of the Taos art colony, catalyzed by TSA members and other artists represented in the collection such as

Leon Gaspard Leon Schulman Gaspard (2 March 1882 - 21 February 1964) was a Russian Empire-born painter, known for his paintings of indigenous cultures and folk traditions. He tended to paint scenes with throngs of people, and his favorite locations were in s ...

, Joseph Imhoff,

Gene Kloss Alice Geneva "Gene" Kloss (née Glasier; July 27, 1903 – June 24, 1996) was an American artist known today primarily for her many prints of the Western landscape and ceremonies of the Pueblo people she drew entirely from memory. Early life and ...

, Ila Mae McAfee, and

Dorothy Brett Hon. Dorothy Eugénie Brett (10 November 1883 – 27 August 1977) was an Anglo-American painter, remembered as much for her social life as for her art. Born into an aristocratic British family, she lived a sheltered early life. During her ...

, was sustained in the 1940s by the Taos Moderns. Deeply influenced by 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 ...

and the turbulent currents of

Modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

, these artists included Andrew Dasburg, Louis Leon Ribak,

Beatrice Mandelman Beatrice Mandelman (December 31, 1912 – June 24, 1998), known as Bea, was an American abstract artist associated with the group known as the Taos Moderns. She was born in Newark, New Jersey to Anna Lisker Mandelman and Louis Mandelman, Jewish i ...

Emil Bisttram Emil Bisttram (1895–1976) was an American artist who lived in New York and Taos, New Mexico, who is known for his modernist work. Life and works Emil Bisttram was born in Nagylak, Hungary in 1895 (today Nădlac, Romania). When he was 11 years ...

Howard Cook Howard Norton Cook (1901–1980) was an American artist, particularly known for his wood engravingsBecker, p.56. and murals. Cook spent much of the 1920s in Europe and returned to live in Taos, New Mexico. Cook first came to Taos, New Mexico in ...

, Cliff Harmon, and Ward Lockwood, who are represented. Following World War II, Taos became a crossroads in contemporary American art, combining the influences of American and European Modernism and the bright light, exceptional landscapes, and cultural diversity of the region that inspired generations of artists such as Rod Goebel, Walt Gonske, Jackson Hensley, Charles Stewart, Julian Robles, and R.C. Gorman.

History

The Taos Art Museum opened in 1994 to exhibit the collection of Edwin and Novella Lineberry in memory of Lineberry's first wife, artist Duane Van Vechten. 2003 marked the official opening of the Museum in its current location, built between 1927 and 1933, and with its new name, Taos Art Museum at Fechin House.

Fechin House

The house of Russian-American artist Nicolai Fechin was added to the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on December 31, 1979, and is also a New Mexico Registered Cultural Property. Eya Fechin opened the house to the public as a museum in 1979. She continued living there until her death in November 2002. The Board of the Taos Art Museum acquired the Fechin property and installed security and lighting systems, treated the windows to filter ultraviolet rays, and refinished the interior walls and floors.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1994 establishments in New Mexico Art museums established in 1994 Art museums and galleries in New Mexico Biographical museums in New Mexico Historic house museums in New Mexico Museums in Taos, New Mexico

Collection

History

Fechin House

See also

References

External links