Taos Pueblo New Mexico Scene by Albert Lujan [SOLD]

This original painting was created by Albert Lujan of Taos Pueblo. We have handled many of Lujan's works over the years. Most of them are similarly sized and similarly themed, but each one manages to offer something unique, which is why they remain so popular with collectors. Rather than offering the typical rendering of Taos' primary, multi-storied group of structures, this piece zooms in to explore one small road, the buildings that line it, and those who inhabit the buildings. This wonderful example of Lujan's work will appeal to many.

Taos Pueblo rests at the base of the Sangre de Cristo (Blood of Christ) Mountains in Northern New Mexico. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in North America, and it is designated as a National Historic site. Its residents excel creatively, making drums, leatherwork, pottery, and paintings. Taos Pueblo has long been a source of visual inspiration for its own Native artists and visitors who admire its beauty.

The painting is signed Taos, N Mex, Albert Lujan in lower right. It is framed in a thin carved frame with a textured gold stain.

Albert Lujan (1892-1948) Weasel Arrow was an early Taos Pueblo painter. Lujan was ahead of his time in painting European-American style art rather than the Santa Fe Indian School style being practiced by most of the other Native American artists of his time. He, along with Albert Looking Elk Martinez and Juan Mirabal, was greatly influenced by the Anglo Taos artists of the time. The work of all three artists was shunned by collectors and the Museum of New Mexico Fine Art Gallery because it was too much like that which the Taos and Santa Fe artists produced. Today, however, collectors and museums have a great appreciation for works by the "Three Taos Pueblo Painters." Lujan, who was also a farmer and minister, never received any formal artistic training. He began painting around 1915, which would place him among the earliest known pueblo painters. He specialized in painting the multi-storied buildings at the pueblo, usually devoid of people. Typically, these views included one of the main pueblo houses or an isolated adobe residence, each framed by beehive ovens, majestic mountains, a beautiful blue sky, and, occasionally, a ristra of chile. Lujan passed away in 1948; his works are highly collectible today.

Condition: excellent condition, recently cleaned by a professional restoration artist

Provenance: this Taos Pueblo New Mexico Scene by Albert Lujan is from a private collection

Recommended Reading: For a compelling and comprehensive overview of the life and artwork of Albert Lujan please see Albert Lujan: Entrepreneurial Pueblo Painter of Tourist Art (1892 - 1948) by Bradley F. Taylor, American Indian Art Magazine, Volume 25, Number 4, Autumn 2000, page 56.

TAGS: painting, Taos Pueblo, Santa Fe, Albert Looking Elk Martinez, Juan Mirabal, Albert Lujan