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Lot Essay
Celebrated for his scenes of Native American life, Walter Ufer was the first of the New Mexico artists to win a prize at the prestigious Carnegie International Exhibition in Pittsburgh in 1920. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, and trained as a lithographer, Ufer decided to focus on painting after visiting the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The Exposition inspired national pride, as well as the impetus for artists like Ufer to capture and solidify an American identity. Ufer declared, "I believe that if America gets a National Art it will come more from the Southwest than from the Atlantic Board. Because we are really different from Europeans, and the farther away from European influence, the better for us." (as quoted in Macbeth Gallery, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1928)
Despite his fervent patriotism, Ufer traveled to Hamburg, Dresden and Munich to hone his painting skills. Upon returning to Chicago, art patron Carter Harrison offered to subsidize the artist's painting trip to Taos in 1914. While out West, Ufer, who had trained as a studio artist, converted to painting en plein-air to better capture the brilliant sunlight. The Southwestern sun inspired him to brighten his palette, and he became famous for his light-filled paintings of the Pueblo tribes and the Taos landscape, such as Trailing Homeward. Ufer was so taken with Taos that he decided to make it his home.
The longer Ufer spent in Taos, the freer his line and more experimental his palette and brushwork became. Trailing Homeward from 1924 displays a rich, painterly surface with a broad treatment of details and a boldness and fluidity of execution. The light in Trailing Homeward transforms this western scene into a brilliant tapestry of color. The bright sun shines from the upper left corner, bathing the scene in the intense Southwestern light and creating strong shadows that dominate the foreground. The undulating shadows seem to bend with the constantly changing light characteristic of the Southwest, and the wispy clouds overhead float off of the picture plane.
Ufer's work provides an honest depiction of Western life, as well as a frank and original snapshot into the contemporary life of Native Americans. His favorite subjects were Native Americans absorbed in their daily activities or traveling across the brilliant landscape, as in Trailing Homeward. Ufer’s daily involvement with his subjects lent an authenticity and immediacy to the figures and landscape he so revered. Though he had been trained in the romantic approach to subject matter in Germany, Ufer preferred to portray Native Americans realistically as he saw them in contemporary dress, presenting a modern view of Native American life. He was determined to portray them not as remote aboriginal figures, but as men and women at a cultural crossroads, pressured by the forces of American civilization, yet maintaining their cultural heritage.
Despite his fervent patriotism, Ufer traveled to Hamburg, Dresden and Munich to hone his painting skills. Upon returning to Chicago, art patron Carter Harrison offered to subsidize the artist's painting trip to Taos in 1914. While out West, Ufer, who had trained as a studio artist, converted to painting en plein-air to better capture the brilliant sunlight. The Southwestern sun inspired him to brighten his palette, and he became famous for his light-filled paintings of the Pueblo tribes and the Taos landscape, such as Trailing Homeward. Ufer was so taken with Taos that he decided to make it his home.
The longer Ufer spent in Taos, the freer his line and more experimental his palette and brushwork became. Trailing Homeward from 1924 displays a rich, painterly surface with a broad treatment of details and a boldness and fluidity of execution. The light in Trailing Homeward transforms this western scene into a brilliant tapestry of color. The bright sun shines from the upper left corner, bathing the scene in the intense Southwestern light and creating strong shadows that dominate the foreground. The undulating shadows seem to bend with the constantly changing light characteristic of the Southwest, and the wispy clouds overhead float off of the picture plane.
Ufer's work provides an honest depiction of Western life, as well as a frank and original snapshot into the contemporary life of Native Americans. His favorite subjects were Native Americans absorbed in their daily activities or traveling across the brilliant landscape, as in Trailing Homeward. Ufer’s daily involvement with his subjects lent an authenticity and immediacy to the figures and landscape he so revered. Though he had been trained in the romantic approach to subject matter in Germany, Ufer preferred to portray Native Americans realistically as he saw them in contemporary dress, presenting a modern view of Native American life. He was determined to portray them not as remote aboriginal figures, but as men and women at a cultural crossroads, pressured by the forces of American civilization, yet maintaining their cultural heritage.