Aaron Bastian
Director
Lot 49
Oscar Edmund Berninghaus(1874-1952)The Ancient Forest of the Indians 25 x 30 in. framed 30 x 35 in.
1 November 2022, 10:00 PDT
Los AngelesSold for US$542,175 inc. premium
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Oscar Edmund Berninghaus (1874-1952)
The Ancient Forest of the Indians
signed 'O.E. BERNINGHAUS' (lower left) and signed again and titled (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
25 x 30 in.
framed 30 x 35 in.
signed 'O.E. BERNINGHAUS' (lower left) and signed again and titled (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
25 x 30 in.
framed 30 x 35 in.
Footnotes
Provenance
Private collection, Fort Worth, Texas.
Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Acquired by the present owner from the above.
In 1899, Oscar Berninghaus accepted a sketching commission from the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad to travel by train through Colorado and New Mexico. Along this journey, he learned of a mountainside in northern New Mexico near an historic Pueblo settlement. Led by fellow artist Bert Geer Phillips, Berninghaus was among the first artists to visit Taos. The place left an indelible mark on the artist and Berninghaus would come to live much of his life there. Taos is where he found the greatest source of inspiration for his work, spending more time annually until 1925, when he settled there permanently.
Berninghaus was a key figure in the artists' colony of Taos. In 1915, he became one of the founders of the Taos Society of Artists, among the original group of artists known as the Taos Six—alongside Joseph Henry Sharp, Eanger Irving Couse, William Herbert 'Buck' Dunton, Ernest Blumenschein and Bert Geer Phillips. Their aims were to organize exhibitions, encourage the sale of their work and promote America's own native art. The shows traveled to many of the major cities in America and received enormous publicity throughout the country. Railroad companies such as the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe bought their paintings, in part to promote travel and the beauty of the West.
Unlike other members of the Taos school who had formal academic training at top institutions and studied abroad, Berninghaus was mostly self-taught. He was raised in St. Louis, Missouri and since his childhood, drawing was a favorite pastime. His career began as a lithographer, which instilled a high degree of precision to his draftsmanship that remained a foundation in his work. Years working in commercial illustration further practiced his innate sense of design and composition. It was in New Mexico where Berninghaus discovered and perfected his work in the oil medium, and where he painted free of the restrictions of commercial commissions.
The Ancient Forest of the Indians demonstrates Berninghous' ability to create glorious art out of a peaceful moment. In the cathedral like interior created by these magnificent cottonwoods one figure in the background is mounted seemingly waiting on their foreground companion. A dog in shadow takes advantage of the same pause to investigate something of interest. The transient light in the forest is dramatized by the shadowed foreground contrasting with the brilliant light on the central figure and horse. The massive cottonwood trees that form the background to the scene are given vivid light effects as well. The branches just over the central pair are drenched in sunlight while only the huge trunks benefit from the cast shade. Berninghaus' palette is at his intense and varied best with pinks, intense blues and reds all providing dramatic spots of distinct contrast to the cool greens and browns of the forest and the blue sky. The central figure concentrates in stillness just as a viewer of The Ancient Forest of the Indians must pause to admire the artist's genius.
