Untitled Adobes in the Foothills [SOLD]

In the early 20^th century, many artists moved to Santa Fe for health reason, mostly tuberculosis, and the New Mexico air was a curative and many survived to paint for many decades.  Others were not so lucky.  In 1938, Alfred Morang came to Santa Fe for a cure for his tuberculosis.  He was already a well-trained artist at that time, having painted in Maine and Massachusetts.  It was not his health that took his life but a fire in his studio while he was asleep.

On moving to Santa Fe, Morang concentrated on painting full time.  He associated with the Transcendental Painting Group, along with Raymond Jonson, Emil Bisttram and William Lumpkins, which strived to paint what could not be rendered visually, but he never joined the group officially.

This group of early Santa Fe artists was not unlike those of Paris, France—Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec, Pierre Bonnard, and Georges Seurat, to name a few.  They were just as Bohemian and they frequently, almost nightly, celebrated at Claude’s Bar on Canyon Road, a bar as Bohemian as any in Paris.  They were friends who shared a common interest in painting but did not take their work too seriously.  They discussed life, art and each other’s life in Santa Fe.

This watercolor, untitled, is a cluster of adobe homes possibly at the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Santa Fe.  Those two big purple hills also could be Sun Mountain and Moon Mountain in Santa Fe near Camino del Monte Sol Street where most of the artists lived. The painting is strong in color and relaxed in style.  It is an excellent watercolor by Morang.

Condition: appears to be in excellent condition but has not been examined out of the frame.

Provenance: from the collection of a gentleman from Colorado.