Walter Ufer (1876-1936, Taos, NM)

Water Ufer is a celebrated draftsman and colorist best known for his honest depictions of Native Americans during a time when other artists romanticized their culture. Born in Germany but raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Ufer returned to Germany several times to study art in Hamburg, the Royal Academy in Dresden, and Munich. He returned to the U.S., settling in Chicago, where he worked as a commercial artist and portrait painter. The pull of the Southwest was so great that the artist eventually relocated to Taos and became an elected member of the Taos Society of Artists. The present work offers a rare insight into the artist's painting process. He creates a level of depth within the work with his bold, confident paint strokes. His use of a monochromatic palette allows the viewer's eye to wander throughout the scene to eventually land on the central figure, becoming a focal point using bright green, making a striking contrast against the deep earth tones used in the surroundings. Ufer is elongating the depth of field with his stacked adobes using the dark terracotta color that is synonymous with Taos.