Taos Tapestry

Artist Oscar Edmund Berninghaus (American, 1874 - 1952)

Mediumtempera on canvas

Dimensions36 × 30 1/8 inches (91.4 × 76.5 cm)
Frame: 41 1/2 × 35 1/2 × 2 inches (105.4 × 90.2 × 5.1 cm)

Credit LinePartial Bequest of H.J. Lutcher Stark, 1965 and Partial Gift of Nelda C. Stark, 1973

Object number31.24.18

ClassificationsPaintings

DescriptionVertical tempera painting clustered with human and animal figures, landscape and environment elements, and buildings.

Label TextA community can also be a family. Berninghaus assembled images of the people who create a sense of a special place. He depicted Indian peoples, Spanish soldiers, and the Church. He also portrayed the cowboy, the gambler, the sportsman, wildlife, and tamed animals. He even included tourists and an artist with a canvas. All of the figures, past and present, are woven together to portray the community of Taos, New Mexico.

ProvenanceArtist; by inheritance to his wife Winifred Berninghaus, Taos, New Mexico; Gift October 22, 1953 by H.J. Lutcher Stark [1887-1965]; ½ interest bequeathed September 2, 1965 to the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation [1]; remaining ½ interest gifted June 15, 1973 to the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation by Nelda C. Stark [1909-1999]; accessioned to the Stark Museum of Art | 1. Owned jointly by H.J. Lutcher Stark and Nelda C. Stark until his death at which point his ½ interest was bequeathed to the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation.

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