The Edge of the Foothills

Additional Information

Provenance:
Scottsdale Art Auction, Scottsdale, AZ, 2005

Brightly painted and marvelously composed, Oscar E. Berninghaus’ The Edge of the Foothills captures one of the common themes of the great Taos painter’s works: quiet human moments framed against the grand majesty of nature. The painter, who road into Northern New Mexico strapped to the top of a train so he could see the land better, went to great lengths to capture the small details of his subjects’ lives while painting them within the larger tapestry of the Southwest. He also captured a people in transition with the land and nature, which is made abundantly clear in this painting, as the subjects stand in shadow as the vibrant valley spreads out below them.

“Some of the founding artists of Taos, like O.E. Berninghaus, saw and painted the Indian in transition. In their canvases one can see the influence of the advancing Western world. There might be a tourist with camera in hand, the Spanish cross, the wagon, Western clothing, schools and automobiles. They all saw and painted Taos differently—but they all painted Taos,” writes Gordon E. Sanders in Oscar E. Berninghaus: Master Painter of American Indians and the Frontier West. “Now they are all gone, these founding artists. And yet they all live, in the rich canvases that hang in the world’s great museums, galleries and private homes. They made Taos an art center and achieved greatness for themselves. They came to Taos, and Oscar Edmund Berninghaus was one of them.”

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Please note that the first unframed photo is most accurate for color. Framed photographs are to show the frame and are not color corrected to the painting.

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