Original Etching “Christmas Eve – Taos Pueblo” [SOLD]

Alice Geneva Glasier Kloss is a New Mexico legend.  It is fortunate for us that she and her husband chose to visit Taos during their honeymoon and even more fortunate that they chose to stay there.  From the mid-1920s to the mid-1960s, she produced her legacy of copper plate etchings.  Most of them are New Mexico scenes.  For a brief while, they moved to Colorado, where she made etchings of Colorado scenes, but allergies caused them to return to Taos, so the majority of her art focuses on New Mexico.

Kloss had brought with her on their honeymoon a small etching press and that, along with a larger etching press purchased in Taos, set her career.  She simplified her name to Gene Kloss and over her career, produced over 600 copper plate etchings.  She never worked from photographs but sketched directly at the scene of interest.  She produced what she wanted to paint or etch without regard for financial gain although she did do well in her career.

This etching entitled "Christmas Eve - Taos Pueblo" depicts the procession associated with the celebration of Midnight Mass at Taos Pueblo on Christmas Eve.  Typically, following Midnight Mass, the priest and assistants proceed out of the church and the parishioners stay in and wait for the pueblo dancers—usually Deer, Antelope, and Buffalo Dancers—to appear and dance inside the church.  If you have ever attended midnight ceremonies at any pueblo, as they are all similar, you will never forget the experience. 

The etching was issued in an edition of 75.  This one is not numbered as it was a presentation gift.  It is beautifully framed with 8-ply white acid free mat and black wood frame.

Condition: original condition

Provenance: a presentation gift from Kloss to Ruth Hunter as it is dedicated to her under the signature of the artist.  Most recently from the family estate of Hilda Street, former owner of The Streets of Taos Gallery in Santa Fe

Recommended Reading:  Gene Kloss Etchings with text by Phillips Kloss