Louis Ribak, Study for Monument, 27x39 inches, acrylic on paper
SALON EL ZAGUÁN
Historic Santa Fe Foundation presents
David L. Witt on Taos Moderns
November 14, 2019 at 3pm • RSVP Required
Historic Santa Fe Foundation presents the November Salon El Zaguán monthly lecture series with David L. Witt on Taos Moderns. The talk is scheduled for Thursday, November 14, 2019 at 3pm in the sala of HSFF's El Zaguán located at 545 Canyon Road, Suite 2, Santa Fe.
There is no charge for admission for members and the non-members entry fee is $10. To RSVP FOR MEMBERS AND NON-MEMBERS, visit the Salon page on HSFF's website.
This Salon El Zaguán is related to the exhibition The Taos Moderns on display at Historic Santa Fe Foundation's El Zaguán on display from November 8, 2019 through January 7, 2020. Visit our website for more information.
ABOUT THE LECTURE:
No one could have anticipated that Taos, New Mexico would become a center for American Modernism after World War II. Yet, that is exactly what happened. This remarkable story of the Taos Moderns is the subject of a lecture that will be presented by David L. Witt at [fill in time and place details] Witt’s talk takes place in conjunction with an exhibition [fill in the details]. Surrounded by paintings created by artists he knew and worked with for many years, Witt will relate stories of the fascinating personalities of the artists as well as giving insights into the art they created. The first Modernist painters came to Taos in 1918, but it was not until after World War II that large numbers of young artists drifted into Taos in much the same way as earlier generations. Some arrived based on the recommendation of other artists, but many found the art community by chance. And having found it, they remained. Their impact on the community was as dramatic as that of the representational painters who arrived earlier in the century. And although their work reflected generational differences in their approach to art, they were, all of them, just the latest in a long line of visual creators going back centuries.
The Taos Moderns admired the imagery of Native American and Latinx artists. The Southwestern landscape inspired them as well. These elements, combined with European Modernism and the more immediate influences of American Modernism from New York and San Francisco, came together in Taos. The result was the unexpected flowering of new ideas in art.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
David L. Witt, Curator, Seton Legacy Project, the Academy for the Love of Learning in Santa Fe, New Mexico since 2005, oversees research, collections and exhibitions related to the art, writings and philosophy of early environmentalist Ernest Thompson Seton.
Founder of the Southwest Art History Conference (1986), and Curator of the University of New Mexico’s Harwood Museum of Art in Taos (1979-2005), he has organized scores of exhibitions featuring contemporary and historically significant artists with particular interest in post-war modernism. He holds degrees from Kansas State University and the University of Oklahoma.
Publications include award-winning books:
Ernest Thompson Seton, The Life and Legacy of an Artist and Conservationist (2010, Gibbs Smith Publisher) Ralph Emerson Twitchell Award, Significant Contribution to the Field of History, Historical Society of New Mexico.
Modernists in Taos from Dasburg to Martin (2002, Red Crane Books/Museum of New Mexico Press) Ralph Emerson Twitchell Award, Significant Contribution to the Field of History, Historical Society of New Mexico; Border Regional Library Association Southwest Book Award.
Spirit Ascendant: The Art and Life of Patrociño Barela (1996, Red Crane Books/Museum of New Mexico Press) Border Regional Library Association Southwest Book Award.
Taos Moderns: Art of the New (1992, Red Crane Books/Museum of New Mexico Press).
http://davidlwitt.com
https://ernestthompsonseton.com/
Visit the Salon page on HSFF's website. for more information.
PRESS CONTACT: Melanie McWhorter, melanie@historicsantafe.org or 505-983-2567