VERSO
Label, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Label, Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Label, Vantage Collection of American Western Art, Dallas, Texas

Art historian Lisa Strong wrote, “E. Martin Hennings graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1904 and embarked on a career as a commercial artist. In 1912, disillusioned with commercial work, he traveled to Germany, where he enrolled in the Royal Academy in Munich…. In 1917, Hennings, like his friends Walter Ufer and Victor Higgins, traveled to Taos under the sponsorship of Carter Harrison, Jr. Although he was inspired by what he saw, he did not settle in Taos until 1921. He joined the Taos Society of Artists in 1924 and made the landscape and its Pueblo inhabitants his subjects for the rest of his career.

“Hennings thought of himself principally as a figure painter but frequently posed his figures against a landscape. His favorite motif [was] a line of Indian riders against a screen of trees.”

Hennings would explain, “I have been working in Taos many years and I think that should prove that I like it here; the country, the mountains with their canyons and streams, the sage beneath the clouded skies, the adobe village with its Spanish people and of course the Taos Pueblo with its Indians. Their life – domestic and agricultural – with all the color and romance of their dress and history.”

PROVENANCE
Vern Milligan, Castle Rock, Colorado
Present owner, by descent

EXHIBITED
E. Martin Hennings: The Influence of New Mexico, Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1986-87

Additional Resources

• E. Martin Hennings’ Past Results
• View Condition Report

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.