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P R EV I EW I N G U P C O M I N G E X H I B I T I O N S , EV E N TS , S A L E S A N D AU C T I O N S O F H I S TO R I C F I N E A RT
AMrICAN
ISSUE 21
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May/June 2015
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GALLERY PREVIEW: SANTA FE, NM
Chromatic Contrasts
Art from the Taos Moderns, including one of the last living members,
John De Puy, shows distinct use of color
May 8-August 7
Addison Rowe Gallery
229 E. Marcy Street
Santa Fe, NM 87501
t: (505) 982-1533
www.addisonrowe.com
W
hile living in New York
City, where he studied at
the Art Students League
in the 1950s, John De Puy met Mark
Rothko, who told him to leave, to
“return to your roots in the Southwest;
the source for your art is there.” De Puy
took Rothko’s advice, moving back to
the area where he grew up, Taos, New
Mexico, where he met greats such as
Georgia O’Keeffe, Nicolai Fechin, and
Ernest Blumenschein as a child. De Puy
became a member of the Taos Moderns,
the second generation of the artists who
started the Taos arts colony 100 years
ago—today, he lives about 20 minutes
from Taos. The 88-year-old paints every
day, inspired by the Southwest landscape
that surrounds him on his daily hikes.
De Puy is one of two still-living
artists of the Taos art colony, and his
art is joined by that of his Taos peers
Raymond Jonson (1891-1982), Polymer No. 6, 1966. Acrylic on
Masonite, 42 x 33 in., signed and dated lower left.
86
Beatrice Mandelman (1912-1998)
and Raymond Jonson (1891-1982)
in Addison Rowe Gallery’s Chromatic
Contrasts exhibition, opening May 8 in
Santa Fe, New Mexico. In conjunction
with the city’s Summer of Color event,
the exhibition presents around 30
strikingly colorful pieces by the artists,
with some recent works from De Puy.
“The goal is to bring back a sense
of what the art meant to these artists
and to show it honestly, not from a sales
standpoint, but to put it in the historic
context in which it was originally
created,” says gallery director Matthew
Rowe. “We want to give people a
Beatrice Mandelman (1912-1998), Words & Form, ca. 1960s. Acrylic
and mixed media on canvas with collage, 40 x 30 in., signed upper right.
sense of the diversity of expression that
was possible, and is still possible, in New
Mexico.”
Like Du Puy, Mandelman spent the rest
of her life in Taos after moving from New
York City with her husband Louis Ribak
(1902-1979), only intending to spend a
summer in Taos before falling in love with
the area in 1944. The couple painted social
realist scenes before evolving into abstract
expressionism in Taos, a style reflective in
the selection of works at the exhibition.
Mandelman’s works are characteristic of
white backgrounds topped with colorful
abstract shapes, in series with titles such as
Happiness and Sun.
Jonson was not only an artistic peer of
De Puy and Mandelman, he also often
curated their works, as he organized
exhibitions of Taos artists stateside and
abroad in the ’50s and ’60s. Jonson, a
professor at University of New Mexico
from 1934 to 1954, received his own
gallery on the campus in 1950, where he
showed his art, as well as art he collected
from friends and students, and that of
artists he admired. The gallery was active
until 2010.
Rowe says one of the major attractions
of Taos for the modern group was the
welcoming and accepting atmosphere, a
striking contrast to the competitiveness
of New York City, where abstract
expressionists and social realists were
less likely to associate with each other
compared to the supportive legion in
Taos. The mountain atmosphere and
beautiful sunsets and sunrises also offered
something different from the urban
city—Mandelman and Ribak took full
advantage of the environment with daily
picnic lunches until Ribak passed away.
As one of the last living links to the
Taos Moderns, De Puy maintains that
relaxed spirit while continuing to celebrate
his peers’ legacies in the stories he tells,
Rowe says, who adds De Puy represents
an ilk of artists seldom encountered today.
“The guy’s pedigree as an artist is out
of this world, and he’s very humble,”
Rowe says. “You ask him about Jonson,
and he’s talking about a friend. That is the
sense of what we wanted to do with this
show. It’s these guys’ honest expression.
They weren’t making art to sell it—it’s just
what they did.”
John De Puy (b. 1927), Spring – Comb
Ridge – Utah, 2006. Pen and watercolor
on paper, 30 x 22 in., signed and dated
bottom center.
Beatrice Mandelman (1912-1998),
Blue Time, ca. 1970-1973. Oil on canvas,
37¼ x 31½ in., signed upper right.
Raymond Jonson (1891-1982), Polymer No. 14, 1971. Acrylic on Masonite,
45 x 36 in., signed and dated bottom center.
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