Thursday, February 22, 2018

Encounters: The Taos Society of Artists, Pueblo Culture, and the Hispanic Southwest



Walter Ufer, Me and Him, 1918, oil on canvas, image from Art & Antiques magazine

In the third week of student-led presentations we discussed the Taos Society of Artists and their effects on the Native American Population in Hispanic Southwest. John Ott’s article “Reform in Redface: The Taos Society of Artists Plays Indian” was dissected in terms of how racial impersonation and ethnic cross-dressing invalidated the art that came from the society, or if the artwork should be looked at from the context of that time period and seen as a way to deepen our understanding of Pueblo culture and life. It was concluded that nonetheless, the Taos Society did greatly impact that Pueblo population, and as Ott said in the article, preserved them more like a national park than a growing society. Sascha Scott’s article on Ernest Blumenschein’s The Gift analyzed the different influences the anglo-american artists had on the Native American tribes, such as gender depiction. Julie Schimmel’s “The Hispanic Southwest” examined the Hispanic culture in the American Southwest, and how it developed artistically in comparison to the Taos and Pueblo people. This was done through the artwork produced both by this culture and of this culture.



Ernest L. Blumenschein, The Gift, 1922, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Henry Ward Ranger through the National Academy of Design, 1975.86

In our class discussion we began with asking about appropriation of cultures and how that is represented in the works shown in the readings. This brought up what appropriation is, and how ethical it is to use parts of other cultures for art. A general question of this discussion was, “Is it okay for an artist to make art speaking for/about another culture?” And if so, how these representations altered the idea that others had about those cultures, or even by changing those cultures as a whole, as the TSA’s interpretation of the Pueblo people did. Should the artists be held accountable for depicting reality, and did these artists actually do that? The talk dabbled into how religious holidays in America became variation of the original religious intent, whether for a more recreational or commercial value.
William Penhallow Henderson, Penitent Procession, 1919, oil on panel, New Mexico Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Edgar L. Rossin, 1952

Overall we concluded that the best way to represent a culture is respectfully and through research. If one inserts their own narrative into a culture, they are representing themselves rather than the culture they are observing. We discussed the pentintentes from Schimmel’s article and wondered if they were displayed tastefully, if they were portrayed as intensely as they were reenacted. If the colors of red and other warm colors represented the passion of the scenes, accurately. The representations of these cultures led to discussing the morality of outside artists inserting their own narrative, such as how Gauguin inserted Christian motifs into the native scenery. We also briefly discussed the ways Blumenschein’s art, especially The Gift, might have been a step in the right direction of respectful representation.

Readings:
John Ott, “Reform in Redface: The Taos Society of Artists Plays Indian,” American Art 23, no. 2 (Summer 2009): 80-107.
Sascha Scott, “Unwrapping Ernest L. Blumenschein’s The Gift,” American Art 25, no. 3 (Fall 2011): 20-47.
Julie Schimmel, “The Hispanic Southwest,” in Art in New Mexico, 1900-1945: Paths to Taos and Santa Fe, 101-145.


Demi Fenicle, Krystlyn Lee, Katherine Thomas, Joan Seig


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