110

VERSO
Label, Trails West Gallery, Laguna Beach, California

According to Phillips biographer Julie Schimmel, “Artistic portrayals of other cultural and ethnic groups frequently tell us more about ourselves than about our subjects. The work of Bert Phillips and the artists of Taos was no exception to this tendency. The people of color that Phillips painted were seen through the experience of a turn-of-the-century citizen of the United States, a country at times uncomfortable with its material progress and admiring of cultures still conversant with their traditions. Phillips certainly shared these feelings.

“Throughout his career Phillips painted the Indian who had not been touched by white settlement and who characteristically appeared creative and artistic.

“When Phillips first arrived in Taos, he wrote enthusiastically about his growing friendships with Taos Pueblo Indians: ‘Not a day passed, that I did not entertain from two to six of them for lunch.’”

PROVENANCE
Jim Fowler’s Period Gallery West, Scottsdale, Arizona, 1978
Sotheby’s, New York, New York, 1978
Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1978
Golden West Galleries, Scottsdale, Arizona, 1980
H. Clayton Peterson, Denver, Colorado, 1980
Present owner, by descent

EXHIBITED
Santa Fe Festival of the Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1977

LITERATURE
El Palacio, October 1925, p. 147
Jim Fowler’s Period Gallery West, 1978, p. 20, illustrated
Patricia Janis Broder, Taos: A Painter’s Dream, New York Graphic Society, 1980, p. 107, illustrated

Condition ReportSurface is in excellent condition. No signs of restoration.

Important Notice: Statements of condition are provided as a service to potential bidders; such statements are educated opinions and should not be regarded as facts. The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction has no responsibility for any errors or omissions.