A Journal for Classic Western Art
| April/May 2012
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WHAT'S GOING ON
Throughout all of 2012, events are being presented around the state of New Mexico to help celebrate our one hundred years of statehood (January 6, 1912). We, at Zaplin Lampert Gallery, enjoy the region's unique history, and particularly, its artistic legacy. Keeping in step with this historical thread, our April/May issue begins with a story that features an artist who worked in New Mexico prior to statehood. Joseph Horace Eaton was one of the first Anglo-Americans to paint images in what was then a newly-adopted U.S. territory. It was 1852 and any surviving works are extremely rare.
We hope to keep you up-to-date on some of our recent activities. To this end we selected a number of works and encourage you to view our "New Acquisitions" section which features notable paintings that are fresh to the gallery. And as has become our custom, each issue contains a special online exhibition just for our friends on the web. In honor of the season, the new exhibit is called "Springtime in New Mexico: landscapes and florals." Comprising colorful paintings in oil as well as prints, this exhibit shows how the early artists of the Southwest were inspired by nature and the changes brought by each new season. They reveled in this ever-changing aspect of the dramatic landscape surrounding them. Among the artists included are Gustave Baumann, Fremont Ellis, Bert Geer Phillips and a contemporary artist, Joe Anna Arnett, whom the gallery has represented for over twenty years.
Further along, we note interesting museum exhibits around the country and closer to home in New Mexico. And we always hope you will stop by to see us when you are in Santa Fe. As Richard is fond of saying, "online is fine -- in person is better!"
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| CONTACT US | | 651 Canyon Road
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
505/982-6100
gallery@zaplinlampert.com
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THE OFFICER AS ARTIST: JOSEPH HORACE EATON
Joseph Horace Eaton (1815-1896)
"Don Fernandes de Taos"
Watercolor and graphite on paper
As a career U.S. Army officer, Joseph Horace Eaton led a distinguished military career that brought him to the forefront of some seminal events of nineteenth-century America: battles fought between Mexico and the United States, the U.S. adoption of the Southwest territories, the Civil War, and life as a presidential aide in the White House. Today Eaton is also recognized as an artist, one who produced some of the rarest works of New Mexico art still extant. During those initial years of U.S. occupation of the New Mexico territory (after 1846), Eaton experienced life in this rugged terrain while stationed at newly established frontier forts. Over a period of four years, from 1852 to 1856, he produced several watercolor paintings, fresh depictions of what he was seeing.
Born in 1815 in Salem, Massachusetts, Joseph Horace Eaton spent four years at West Point Military Academy, graduating in 1835, before reaching his twentieth birthday. His studies at the academy included art. At this time, such training was of considerable importance. Officers were expected to be able to create topographical sketches, maps, and architectural renderings. According to Robert White, in "Artists of Territorial New Mexico: 1846-1912," classes in figure drawing were also a part of the curriculum. Eaton's teachers included Seth Eastman, (also a West Point graduate, whose works hang in the U.S. Capitol and varied museums) and Robert Weir, a respected painter who had trained and worked in Italy.
During the 1840s, Eaton was involved in maneuvers of the American westward expansion across the continent. This "frontier duty" included stints in Louisiana, Missouri, and the military occupation of Texas. Once the war between the U.S. and Mexico broke out in 1846, Eaton fought in several battles, including Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterrey and Buena Vista. For his "gallant and meritorious conduct" Eaton received two promotions, first to Brevet Major and then to Brevet Lieutenant Colonel. For part of this war period, Eaton served as aide-de-camp to General Zachary Taylor. When Taylor became president of the United States, Eaton served as an aide to Taylor in the White House, while holding a post in the Adjutant General's Office. Robert White stated that during this time Eaton painted Zachary Taylor's portrait, a painting that today is in the art collection of West Point.
Circumstances changed for Eaton after the death of the president in 1850. He resumed his standard military duties and was again assigned to "frontier duty." This time he was sent to New Mexico. It was 1852. Over the course of four years Eaton held posts at three different military installations: Fort Defiance (in Navajo Country); Fort Thorn (near Hatch in southern New Mexico); and near Albuquerque. Eaton's wife and son accompanied him to New Mexico and during their stay, Mrs. Eaton had another child, a baby girl born at Fort Thorn.
During these four years in the territory, Eaton made a series of watercolors. Some of
Joseph Horace Eaton (1815-1896)
"Lower Covero"
Watercolor and graphite on paper
4 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches
1855
these works were used as the basis for engravings that became . . . to continue, click here.
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NEW ACQUISITIONS
E. Martin Hennings (1886-1956)
"Carving the Gourd," c. 1926
Oil on canvas
30 x 25 inches
Signed lower left
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Carl Redin (1892-1944)
"In Late September," c. 1930s Oil on canvas
32 x 34 inches
Signed lower left
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 | E.A. Burbank (1858-1949)
"Quen-Chow-A-Moqui," 1897
Oil on board
8 x 6 inches
Signed lower left, dated lower right |
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Walter Ufer (1876-1936)
"Isleta, New Mexico," c. 1915
Oil on linen
30 1/2 x 25 1/2 inches
Signed lower right
Maria Izquierdo (1906-1955)
"Naturaleza Viva"
Oil on canvas
20 x 16 inches
Signed upper right
To view more of our new acquisitions, click here.
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SNEAK PREVIEW: Online Exhibition
Springtime in New Mexico:
Landscapes and florals
Gustave Baumann (1881-1971)
"A Lilac Year," 1961
Color woodblock print
12 x 13 inches
Ed. 93 of 125
Fremont Ellis (1897-1985)
"Taos Mountain," c. 1947
Oil on artist's board
10 1/4 x 12 1/4 inches
Signed lower left
Bert G. Phillips (1868-1956)
"Spring Corn Dance," 1930
Oil on board
10 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches
Signed lower right
Nellie Knopf (1875-1962)
"Floral Still Life," 1923
Oil on canvas
24 x 20 inches
Signed lower right
Joe Anna Arnett
"Garden Gate"
Oil on linen
12 x 16 inches
To view more of our online exhibition, Springtime in New Mexico, click here.
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MUSEUM NEWS NATIONWIDE
The Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK
"Dreams and Visions: The American West and the Legacy of the Imagination"
Through November 4, 2012
"Dreams and Visions" looks at the way artists helped to further both the myths and the realities of the American West - weaving the story of the American expansion into the West with the interaction between European American and Native American cultures. Artists represented include members of the Taos Society of Artists.
Stark Museum, Orange, TX
"From Russia: Fechin and Gaspard in the Southwest"
Through June 2, 2012
This exhibit explores the work of the two famed Russian artists, Nicolai Fechin and Leon Gaspard, who settled in Taos, New Mexico, in the early twentieth century. Gaspard moved to Taos in 1918 at the heyday of the Taos Society of Artists. Though he was a global traveler whose work reflects the varied cultures of his native homeland and travels, Taos remained his residence until his death in 1964. Fechin lived and worked in Taos for a shorter period of his career, from 1927 to1933, but his home there remains a part of his legacy, today serving as the Taos Museum of Art.
Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, AZ
"Shadows on the Mesa - Artists of the Painted Desert and Beyond"
Through May 28, 2012
An intriguing exhibit, this show highlights how a remote guest ranch south . . . to continue, click here. |
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SANTA FE & NEW MEXICO EVENTS
Selected upcoming local exhibits and performances:
University of New Mexico Art Museum, Main Gallery, Albuquerque
"Reconsidering the Photographic Masterpiece"
Through July 29, 2012
Selected from the museum's permanent collection--including recent gifts--the exhi- bition presents approximately 100 exquisite photographs. Spanning the history of the medium, from 1843 to the present day, the exhibit explores the evolution of the image over time. Among the noted photographers represented in the exhibit are William Henry Fox Talbot, Alfred Stieglitz, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Edward Weston and Diane Arbus.
Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe
"Statehood: New Mexican Art 1912-2012 from the Permanent Collection"
Through March 31, 2013
Featured in this special year-long exhibit are objects representing traditional styles of folk traditions as well as objects that show uniquely personal creations. On display are objects from the museum's permanent collection which cover a span of more than 100 years, from the 20th century onward.
New Mexico History Museum, Santa Fe
"The Historical Society of New Mexico's 2012 Statehood History Conference"
Thursday, May 3: A daylong symposium, free and open to the public - including free admission to the History Museum
Weekend conference follows: Friday, May 4 through Sunday, May 6, 2012 (registration required for conference)
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Watch for our next issue when we celebrate our
25th anniversary!
On Canyon Road since June 1987
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Thank you for joining us.
Please send us your comments and
stop by the gallery next time you are in Santa Fe.
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