Original Oil Painting “Cottonwood with Adobes” [R]

Betty Sabo is one of Albuquerque's most famous contemporary artists. She was a student at some point of Carl Von Hassler, probably in the early years of her career. She was best known as a painter until later in her career at which time she switched to sculpture.  Her paintings were so popular they were snatched up before the paint dried. 

She studied art at UNM in the late 1940s and was a renowned painter before she began to create the signature bronzes in her mid-60s. The Albuquerque Museum commissioned one of her first pieces; the 1995 bronze "Julia Resting," of a woman seated on a bench outside the museum's front doors. She also sculpted the Botanical Garden work featuring Clyde and Carrie Tingley, neighbors of Sabo's when she was a child. Clyde Tingley was an early Governor of New Mexico.

Paintings by Sabo are relatively rare as those who knew her when she was a painter have tended to keep those they purchased. It has been a number of years since she painted, so there are no recent ones for collectors to purchase and there will be no more as Sabo is living with Alzheimers.

Sabo's legacy, other than the fine art she produced, will be her determination in 1986 to acquire for the Albuquerque Museum the large quantity of fine art amassed at her alma mater, Albuquerque High School.  Graduating classes had developed the routine of purchasing a painting for the school at graduation each year.  The school collection contained paintings by Oscar Berninghaus, Ernest Blumenschein, Bert Phillips and Carl Redin.  A Santa Fe gallery was attempting to purchase the collection but Sabo was determined it should stay in Albuquerque.  She succeeded and that collection now resides permanently at the museum.

This Sabo painting is clear evidence of Sabo's artistic talent in rendering New Mexico as New Mexicans see it on a regular basis. The dark sky is typical of fall storms approaching, rolling over the mountains and heading toward the ranchito. The sun is still shining on the buildings but will disappear shortly to the effect of the storm. Sabo was just the best at depicting such a scene. This painting is not dated but is certainly prior to 1990.

Condition: This painting is in original excellent condition.  It is signed Sabo in lower left.  Although there is nothing structurally wrong with the frame, I think it is too distracting from the fine art work and I suggest a simpler frame would be better. 

Provenance: from the collection of a resident of Arizona

Recommended Reading:  The book, The New Mexico Experience: 1598-1998 by University of New Mexico President Richard E. Peck is a wonderful brief history of New Mexico that is highly recommended for anyone interested in any aspect of the state (history, science, art, culture).  It was published in 1998, is out of print and we have only 2 hardback copies available at the gallery.