Oil Painting “Moonlight on Seboeyta Mission” by Carl Von Hassler [SOLD]

It is important to define the location and correct the spelling of the name of this painting. Seboyeta, NM is located north of Laguna Pueblo and east of Grants, NM. The name of the mission church at Seboyeta is “Our Lady of Sorrows.” Von Hassler spelled it Seboeyta on the back frame of the canvas, but it has to be the mission at Seboyeta, NM that he painted.

This is one of the very few, if not the only, moonlight scenes painted by Von Hassler. One might expect it to be dull in palette because of the nighttime nature of it, but Von Hassler overcame that by adding beautifully colored tin roofs on the buildings and the night-light in one window. He created his own special way of presentation to feature the objects in the painting.

Everything about the painting is soft in palette. The blue sky, with just a few stars, the slightly purple mountain, the cottonwood leaves with grayish mist and, of course, the greenish color of the building’s stucco, all add to the feeling of abandonment of the mission church during a peaceful night in the small New Mexico village.

Von Hassler moved to New Mexico in the early 1920s and quickly became known as the “Dean of the Albuquerque Art Colony.” It is easy to see why this accolade was bestowed on him. He was certainly one of the finest of Albuquerque’s artists during the early 20^th century. This painting is testament to a man of outstanding artistic talents.

The manager of the Franciscan Hotel in downtown Albuquerque had given Von Hassler a free room to encourage him to paint in the hotel as publicity for the hotel. The Captain of the Bell Hops at this time (1929 to 1932) knew Von Hassler personally and acquired this painting from the artist. Although the painting is not dated, it would have been painted around 1930.

Provenance: We acquired this painting from the son of the original owner who inherited it from his dad. He stated too that he had never seen another moonlight painting by Von Hassler. Exhibited at the Euro-American Fine Art Collection New Mexico Artists June 15, 2007 until September 3, 2007 and the Santa Fe Tribute to Carl Von Hassler June 2009 both presented at adobe gallery Santa fe.