Jasmine Mendoza Painting I M. Zimmer 9/18/17
Walter Ufer (1876-1936)
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| Self portrait (Ufer, right) |
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| Lone Rider, Oil on Canvas, 12" x 16" |
Walter Ufer was born July 22 in Louisville, Kentucky 1876 and died August 2, 1936, in Santa
Fe,
N.M. He was the son of a master gunsmith so the artistry
surly ran in the family and whom were supportive of Ufer’s paintings. He
apprenticed in a commercial lithographic printing plant then decided to travel to Dresden, Germany where he studied at the Royal Applied Art Schools and the Royal Academy.
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| Sundown, oil
on canvas, 30" x 25" |
He continued traveling abroad for seven years then moved
to Chicago where he found an influential benefactor, the mayor Carter Harrison.
Harrison and friend Oscar Mayer (yes that Oscar Mayer Wiener) then sent Ufer to Taos, New Mexico in 1914 to
paint.
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| Isleta, New Mexico, oil on canvas, 30 1/2 x 25 1/2in
|
Walter
Ufer was hooked. He liked the landscape but it was Native Americans in the area
who fascinated him. He was a strong supporter of individual freedom and saw the
Pueblo Indians being oppressed for centuries having their racial and cultural
identity stifled.
This anger and despair continued in his work. Ufer not only
painted the culture and life of the Pueblos but he even joined picket lines and
protests by labor groups. When the flu pandemic hit in 1919 it killed many
Americans all over but in Taos there was only one doctor so Ufer worked all day
and night assisting in treating the ill.
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| The Bakers, oil on canvas, 50
1/4 x 50 1/4 in |
Unfortunately,
despair came with his compassion and he then became alcoholic and depressive experiencing
crippling episodes of misery. He was successful in the 1920s with his paintings
and friends but once the stock market crashed (1929) and friendships became abusive
by borrowing money they wouldn’t pay back Ufer succumbed to alcoholism and
gambling. Walter Ufer’s paintings are only from his better days.
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A Part of Isletta N.M. Evening Sun,
Oil on Board, c. 1915, 10" x 12" |
I chose this artist because I have lived in New Mexico most my life so I have certainly come to love the landscape and culture in it. I have seen one or two paintings of Ufer’s but never really knew who they were by I just knew they interested me. Once I started researching New Mexico artists and came upon his biography I was caught with his passion for individualism and care for the Pueblo Indians. His work would be good inspiration for later paintings of mine.
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| Offering for San Esquipula, Oil
on Canvas, 25" x 30". |
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| The
Kissel Studio, Oil on Canvas, 20" x 25" |
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| Where the desert meets the mountain, oil on canvas, 36 ½" x 40 ¼" |
I like that you chose different paintings from the ones I chose! I prefer landscapes, so I think it's great that our classmates also got to see Ufer's portraits.
ReplyDeleteYes that's true. I wanted to find more of his great paintings to show and I did. In the last resource link I found most of his paintings and I selected some of my favorites!
DeleteI find it interesting how he uses different brush strokes for different things throughout his works. It makes it so it is all uniform, yet everything stands on its own so as not to bleed together.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I liked how some colors mix in with the whole painting in mind and in others you can pick out details and specific figures in the painting. Also the general warmth it gives off is very appealing to me.
DeleteI also wanted to make a comment on his brush strokes as they give his pieces so much texture. The brush stokes are so intertwined and yet it feels as if you can see each individual one so I like that when I'm looking at his works there is so much movement throughout each one.
DeleteI like this artist topics, You don't often get to see paintings of the desert. Growing up I say a lot of work like this but then I moved away and I realized just how special and uncommon living in the southwest was to me.This guys work makes my self reflect on my childhood growing up in the desert.
ReplyDelete