2017 Coeur d’Alene Art Auction / Lot 151
VERSO
Signed and titled
Label, J. N Bartfield Galleries, New York, NY
Patricia Janis Broder, an authority on the Taos artists, wrote, “Walter Ufer was both romantic poet and social critic, and his Taos paintings express his basic philosophy and outlook on life. He loved the beauty of the natural world and valued all forms of artistic creation. Above all, he was a humanitarian, a believer in the dignity and basic rights of the individual. He was a political man dedicated to recognizing social injustice, fighting oppression, and improving the life of the worker. For Ufer, the category of worker was all-inclusive. He believed that field laborers, coal miners, and artists faced common problems and must share common goals. He understood the economic needs of both the young artist striving for recognition and the elderly artist who had lived beyond the years in which his art was either appreciated or salable. During the Depression he contributed to the magazine of the American Artists Congress a series of articles in which he demanded social security for artists and the formation of a National Artists Union. Throughout his life he was deeply involved with the issues of the day and was always willing to contribute his time, energy, and funds for causes in which he believed.”