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| Oferta Para San Esquipula Oil on Canvas 26x30 1916 |
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| Down a Hillside in Taos Oil on Canvas 30x36 1917 |
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| Where the Desert Meets the Mountain Oil on Canvas 36.5x40.25 Before 1922 |
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| Across the Arroyo Oil on Canvas 20.25x25.125 Unknown |
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| Yellow and Blue Oil on Canvas 25.124x25 Unknown |
Abigayle Goldstein
8/25/17
Painting 1
Molly Zimmer
Walter Ufer was a German-American born in Kentucky who began his career in the fine arts as a young boy apprenticed to a lithographer. Over the course of his young adult life, he went to multiple art schools and toured Europe with portraits that were described as academic. The work Ufer became famous for didn’t come until later in his life when he was invited to tour Taos, which so captured him that it became the strict focus of the rest of his life’s work. At first he only spent his summers painting in Taos and still lived and worked on the east coast, but eventually he moved to Taos permanently and his style of painting changed with the scenery.
Ufer was formerly known for academic portraiture and work mostly done indoors with a darker palette, and though he often did sketches, he always painted with oils. When he moved to Taos, he was forced to lighten his oil palette in order to capture the landscapes, and he began to paint primarily outdoors. In keeping with his previous style, he liked to have a model, which tended to be American Indians that he captured in the landscape. He would set up his easel outside with a dark cloth behind it to keep the sun from shining through the canvas and then use a pencil to capture the model and motif briefly before he took paint to the canvas. Ufer would paint from the top of the canvas to the bottom, using dark blues to set in a base and shadows before taking the lighter colors in so he could capture the brightness of the sky, mountain, buildings, and mesas. Ufer’s habit was to paint one canvas in the morning and another in the afternoon with the same palette, and then wash his brushes thoroughly to be used the next day.
Works Cited
Walter Ufer: Sixteen Paintings. Christie, Manson & Woods International, 1982.
Nelson, Mary Carroll. “Walter Ufer.” The Legendary Artists of Taos, Watson-Guptill Publications, 1980, pp. 76–80.
“Walter Ufer.” SIRIS - Smithsonian Institution Research Information System, Smithsonian American Art Museum
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ReplyDeleteAbi, nicely written and excellent choice of pictures. They are varried enough to get a general feel for this artist's technique and style. It seems much like other artists, he dabbled in many other styles,techniques and mediums until he found his thing. Ufer's use of highlights seem to draw the viewer in and also give his work a sense of life or energy, even on the blue pictures(cool) the highlights seem to radiate warmth. Also you stated he was a local painter; which looking at his subject matter makes perfect sense. Shawn Redman
ReplyDeleteShawn,
DeleteYou're right! Even his use of blue, which feels like it should be a cool tone, seems warm when in the context of the rest of his palette. I think that really captures the warmth of the landscape in this state! I rarely feel that the tones or feel here is "blue." Always the warmth of browns, yellows, and complementary blues.
Growing up I'd seen some of these paintings before. I didn't know anything about the painter. I think its interesting that Ufer would chose the southwest as one of his topics for painting. His mildly impressionistic style gives life to his creations. I particularly like the desert landscapes that he painted.
ReplyDeleteAs somebody who was born and raised in New Mexico, I find it refreshing that a painter who grew up in academia on the east coast would still find this state captivating enough to capture. And I think he does my home a great justice!
DeleteI love that last painting titled "Yellow and Blue." I really enjoy how fluid all of his works look, but in particular I love how active this painting is. I have always known about his works just because he is a local painter, but I never looked into his background/history with painting before.
ReplyDeleteI love how the eye is drawn from top to bottom by the texture and movement in that piece! I too felt like I recognized it and I'm glad I learned more and was able to share it!
DeleteI loved the piece entitled, "Oferta Para San Esquipula." When I first saw the oil painting, I didn't realize it was a painting. I had assumed it was a photograph, because of the realism that was shown in this piece.
ReplyDeleteThat one is my favorite! I was originally looking for a piece simply titled "Santuario de Chimayo" but it was hard to track down! "Oferta" is a painting of the same place, one of my favorite spots in NM!
DeleteThis is an amazing artist. I love his paint style of using oils and a dark pallet set. I'm also surprised that Taos was his inspiration towards his painting. However, I understand his process of using his dark pallet because New Mexico has alot of vibrant and dark colors because of how the landscape contours the image. Great artist choice!
ReplyDelete