When Joseph Henry Sharp visited New Mexico in 1893 he was on a mission to gather details for the a painting commission for Harper's Weekly.  His painting, The Harvest Dance or the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico was a magnificent work in black and white and appeared in the October 14, 1893 issue.  He did not return to Taos until 1902, but his illustrations from his 93' trip were published in many magazines.      

  In 1895 Sharp met two American artists in Paris, Ernest Blumenschein and Bert Philips and excited their imaginations telling them about the vast potential of Northern New Mexico, especially Taos.  The two artist's visited New Mexico in the summer of 1898 and the legend of their broken wagon wheel near Taos fueled the story that they stumbled into the small Pueblo Indian village and established the Taos Society of Art.  Actually, Sharp became the spiritual father of the Taos Society of Art, which was established in 1912.

The original Taos Society of Art, known as the Taos Six,  1915 at the home of Couse.  Top row L to R:  Joseph Henry Sharp, Ernest Blumenschein, Herbert Dunton.  Bottom row:  Eanger Irving Couse, Bert Phillips,  Oscar Berninghaus.

  Oscar Berninghaus visited Taos in 1899, Eanger Irving Couse in 1904 and Herbert Dunton became a permanent resident in 1912. 

  In 1917 Victor Higgins was added to the Taos Society which gave a new look to their exhibitions due to his European flair for more avant-garde style, a bit cubistic in nature.  He was often respected as the best painter by the others.   Walter Ufer followed as the next member of the Taos Society, Many people believe that this was the core of what was later considered ten artists and called the Taos Ten. Catherine Critcher, E. Martin Hennings and Kenneth Adams became the eleventh and final member in 1926.  He believed that the original eight, from 1915 to 1923 was the period of greatness for the Taos Society with Sharp, Phillips, Blumenschein, Dunton, Couse, Berninghaus, Ufer and Higgins.

  Today, the Taos Society compromises one of the three most important art societies in the history of American art and the leader in Western Indian Americana.  Only the Hudson River School and the Rocky Mountain School painters have achieved the notoriety and collector acceptance of the Taos group. 

Taos SocietyErnest Blumenschein

Joseph Henry Sharp

(1859-1953)