VERSO
Signed and titled
Label, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Label, Sotheby’s, New York, New York

Art historian Patricia Border wrote, “Ufer’s New Mexico paintings are far brighter in color than those completed in Europe or Chicago. In Taos, he developed a style of painting distinguished by intense colors, strong silhouettes, and dramatic light and shadow. Eastern academicians, unfamiliar with the brilliant light of New Mexico, frequently questioned Ufer’s use of color and his fidelity to nature. In Taos, he painted outdoors in order to study the variations and intensity of color and light and to capture the visual impact of northern New Mexico. He believed that studio work dulled the mind as well as the artist’s palette. In later years he taught his students to work out-of-doors and to reject the camera as an artist’s aid.

“Thanks to his long apprenticeship in lithography, Ufer was a master draftsman with an incomparable sense of linear composition. In his earliest New Mexico paintings, he emphasized linear design and ornamental details, but after several years in Taos, he worked in a bold free style, using rich heavy pigment. His mature work reflects the passion of a dedicated outspoken man. Ufer enjoyed the role of storyteller, and his paintings are rich in narrative value. His palette varied little during the later years of his career. He painted the golden earth of the sun-baked desert, the greens of the sagebrush and desert vegetation, and the brilliant blue sky of New Mexico. For his shadows he frequently used purple, the complement of the desert yellow. His only black was mixed from permanent blue and burnt sienna.

“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 the basic rights of the individual.”

PROVENANCE
Rita Goldberg, Detroit, Michigan
Michael Sherline, Phoenix, Arizona, 1973, by descent
Private collection, by descent
Sotheby’s, New York, New York, 2004
Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Private collection
Bonham’s, Los Angeles, California, 2021

EXHIBITED
Visions of the Southwest from the Diane and Sam Stewart Art Collection, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, 2009
Bierstadt to Warhol: American Indians in the West, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2013

Additional Resources

• Walter Ufer’s Past Results
• View Condition Report

Condition ReportSurface is in excellent condition. Small spot of inpainting in lower-left corner, near the edge of frame.

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.