Bert G. Phillips "Aspen Forest Scene"

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Bert G. Phillips "Aspen Forest Scene"

About the Item

Bert G. Phillips (1868-1956) Aspen Forest Scene Oil on board Board size: 12 7/8” x 8 3/8” Frame size: 17 7/8” x 13 1/2” Signed l.r.: PHillips Inscribed verso: Bert G. Phillips/ Painted/ Mon. May 23 1955/ Taos, New Mexico/ “Aspen Forest Scene” 1955 The clear light of Taos is beautifully illustrated in this painting as the acidic yellow of the Aspen tree leaves is spectacularly set against the vibrant blue and white of the sky, mountainside and clouds. The thick impasto of the paint creates texture within the bold blocks of color and the peaceful atmosphere of the painting reveals the influence of nature upon the artist. Bert Geer Phillips became an accidental resident of Taos, New Mexico in 1898 after his journey to Mexico was aborted due to a broken wagon wheel. Together with his travelling companion, the artist Ernest Blumenschein, he became a founding member of Taos art colony. Of the individuals who formed the Taos Society of Artists, Phillips was the one most deeply involved with the town and pueblo, and never lost his romantic view of Taos. According to Blumenschein, “Phillips is the foundation on which the Taos group built!” (El Palacio, May 1926) By the time Phillips discovered Taos he was thirty years old, and a well-trained artist. At the age of sixteen he left his home in Hudson, New York for five years of study at the Art Students League and the National Academy of Design. Afterwards he spent several years in New York painting and producing commercial illustrations. In 1894 he painted in England then moved on to Paris where he later met Blumenschein and Joseph Sharp, who first informed him of the unique light and abundant subject matter in Taos. In the summer of 1915, Phillips along with Blumenschein, E. Irving Couse, Sharp, Oscar E. Berninghaus, and W. Herbert Dunton joined to form the now famous Taos Society of Artists. At the time, Taos had no commercial galleries, nor many tourists, and it was felt that traveling group exhibitions would attract attention and sales in other parts of the country. The TSA was an instant success. The shows traveled to all the major art cities in America and received enormous publicity throughout the country. Bert Phillips remained in Taos until shortly before his death in 1956. He devoted much of his life to an art based on the visual appeal of the local environment and the relationship of man to nature. As the artist himself proclaimed, “Nothing could be more natural than that a distinctive American art idea should develop on a soil so richly imbued with romance, history and scenic beauty as is to be found in the far famed beautiful Taos Valley and the poetic Indian Village of the Taos Pueblos.”

Creator:
Bert Geer Phillips (Artist)
Materials and Techniques:
Board
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
1950-1959
Date of Manufacture:
1955
Condition:
Seller Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU8889921937