Lot 164: Walter Ufer (1876-1936)

Autumn in Taos Canyon

20 x 25 inches

oil on canvas

1876-1936

Surface condition very good. Unlined, original canvas. No signs of inpainting.

Verso:Titled on stretcher barsLabel, Grand Central Art Galleries, New YorkAccording to Patricia Janis Broder, author of Taos: A Painter's Dream, "Ufer's New Mexico paintings are far brighter in color than those completed in Europe or Chicago. In Taos, he developed a style of painting distinguished by intense colors, strong silhouettes, and dramatic light and shadow. Eastern academicians, unfamiliar with the brilliant light of New Mexico, frequently questioned Ufer's use of color and his fidelity to nature. In Taos, he painted outdoors in order to study the variations and intensity of color and light and to capture the visual impact of northern New Mexico. He believed that studio work dulled the mind as well as the artist's palette. In later years he taught his students to work out-of-doors and to reject the camera as an artist's aid."Thanks to his long apprenticeship in lithography, Ufer was a master draftsman with an incomparable sense of linear composition. In his earliest New Mexico paintings, he emphasized linear design and ornamental details, but after several years in Taos, he worked in a bold free style, using rich heavy pigment. His mature work reflects the passion of a dedicated outspoken man. Ufer enjoyed the role of storyteller, and his paintings are rich in narrative value. His palette varied little during the later years of his career. He painted the golden earth of the sun-baked desert, the greens of the sagebrush and desert vegetation, and the brilliant blue sky of New Mexico. For his shadows he frequently used purple, the complement of the desert yellow. His only black was mixed from permanent blue and burnt sienna."

signed lower right