The Art of New Mexico

How the West Is One

"The Art of New Mexico" provides new perspectives on the evolution of art in the state, and highlights the outstanding collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Santa Fe, which is the repository for some of the finest works by renowned artists such as Adam Clark Vroman, Marsden Hartley, Robert Henri, John Sloan, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Luis Elijo Tapia. Curator and author Joseph Traugott discusses how Native American and Hispanic artists of the Southwest not only influenced the non-native artists who came to call New Mexico home, but how in turn their work was influenced by these newcomers. By organizing key objects from the museum's collection with an intercultural history of New Mexico art, the book makes cogent connections between specific works, aesthetic movements, and cultural traditions.

Reviews

"Using the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, curator Joseph Traugott explores the rich and varied history of art in New Mexico and its place in the national canon. Since its founding in 1917, the museum's leadership has been deliberate in its curatorial choices and generous in its documentary urges, and so Traugott has a great deal to work with, from debates about architecture and interior design to decisions on the nature of each round of acquisitions, offering a surprisingly complete record of the institution's growth and development. As such, it should find a broad audience: art lovers will relish the ample plates explained in straightforward, concise prose; art historians will appreciate the wealth of details about artists, movements and the museum; and history buffs will appreciate the story of the region as revealed through its art. As the title suggests, Traugott aims to find the unity in New Mexico's diverse artistic heritage....those who come for the art won't be disappointed."
-Publisher's Weekly

Reviews

"If you want a comprehensive, informative and visually stimulating overview of art in the Land of Enchantment, you can't do much better than [this book]"
-Taos News Tempo Magazine

Reviews

"...rewarding and thought-provoking read...The work includes, but often transcends, typical southwestern imagery, making this volume a good antidote to misperceptions about the art of the Land of Enchantment."
-Bloomsbury Review