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Taos: Land of the Turquoise SkyBy Marian BetancourtThe sky is turquoise in Taos, New Mexico. The color is as bright and pure as the Native American jewelry that is seen everywhere. Coming from a place where the sky is less vivid, you may find yourself just staring at the way the sky sets off the red abode buildings, the fluffy white cottonwood trees, and snow-capped Taos Mountain. It’s easy to understand why two artists passing through in 1898 established an art colony here. Ernest Blumenschein and Bert Phillips stopped to get a broken wagon wheel repaired. While one stayed with the wagon and the other rode the horse to find help, both were mesmerized by the landscape and the quality of the clear light. They got their wheel fixed but they never moved on. Over time they attracted other artists to Taos and created the Taos Society of Artists. Blumenschein’s art can be seen at his home, now a national historic landmark that celebrates the lives and art of his family and the early artists.
The front of the church is a beautiful example of Spanish Mission architecture but the back is what the artists paint and photograph. There are no doors and windows, but the curved lines of the stark adobe walls create a simple abstract form against that big turquoise sky. As the light changes throughout the day, shadows seem to shift the adobe shapes.
Wonderful old adobe buildings also serve as museums to preserve the art collections of Taos. The first museum established in Taos was The Harwood Museum of Art. Part of the University of New Mexico, it showcases more than 300 years of Taos art, in a historic adobe compound that was home to one of the early artists, Burt Harwood and his wife Elizabeth.
Inside or outside, the landscape of Taos dominates. One of the most spectacular vistas is a few miles north of town under the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, the second highest suspension bridge in the country. Built in 1965, it is 650 feet above the river. Looking over the side of this span is like looking into a mini Grand Canyon.
As D.H. Lawrence, whose ashes are buried here, said, “You cannot come to Taos without feeling that here is one of the chosen spots on earth.” That mystical turquoise sky probably has something to do with it. If You Go: St. Francis of Assisi Church E. L. Blumenschein Home and Museum The Harwood Museum of Art Taos Art Museum and Fechin House Millicent Rogers Museum Taos Chamber of Commerce American Artists Gallery House Bed and Breakfast Photos by the author |
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One of those early artists was Georgia O’Keefe who made
paintings of an old adobe church, the San Francisco de Asis, which became one of
the most painted and photographed buildings in the southwest.
Built between 1710 and 1801 of sun dried mud bricks with a
layer of mud stucco, the church was designed for a dry climate. However it
suffered during the rainy season and some early restoration work with plaster
nearly ruined it. The community was faced with tearing it down or completely
restoring it. They chose restoration and in order to preserve this national
landmark, volunteers re-mud the outer layer of the church every June.
The Taos Art Museum is housed in the home of Nicolai Fechin,
who with his family moved to Taos in 1927. Born in Russia, Fechin’s paintings of
Native Americans and of the New Mexico desert landscape are considered among his
best works. But it is his Spanish Mission style home that is a stunning work of
art. Fechin’s ingenuity and skill as a sculptor shows in the wooden moldings,
stairways, and fireplace mantels. He built windows of fragmented and cut glass
to manipulate light. Like the Harwood, this building is also a national historic
landmark. In addition to Fechin’s work, the museum has a large collection of
Taos art from members of the Taos Society of Artists.
The Millicent Rogers Museum displays stunning collections
of Navajo and Pueblo jewelry, textiles, and pottery, including the work of famed
Pueblo potter Maria Martinez. The museum collects and displays contemporary arts
and crafts representing all the cultures of northern New Mexico. Rogers, who
died in 1953 at age 50 from a longtime rheumatic heart condition, was born to a
prominent New York family. Educated abroad, she spent much of her life in Europe
and befriended fashion luminaries, literary figures, and celebrities. Drawn to
remote Taos in 1947, Rogers fell in love with grandeur of the landscape, the
great beauty and dignity of the Native American and Hispanic people, and the
marvelous art works they created. Rogers had an impeccable eye for quality and
assembled one of the country’s foremost collections of southwestern art and
design. 
With these museums and scores of art galleries, there’s no
way to run out of beautiful things to look at in Taos. The Chamber of Commerce
is also an art gallery for contemporary Taos artists. So is the American Artists
Gallery House Bed and Breakfast operated by Charles and LeAn Clamurro. All the
art in the rooms is for sale. (Taos, by the way, is also known as the bed and
breakfast capitol of the southwest.)
Motorcyclists often ride along this span of highway,
perhaps recalling the 1969 film, “Easy Rider,” with Dennis Hopper and Peter
Fonda that was shot in Taos. Hopper stuck around for years and his movie
attracted hundreds of hippies to Taos. Some are still here, painting and potting
and enjoying the landscape.