One of the most iconic views of the West is in Taos, New Mexico, looking up at the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It’s a view that fascinated many of the historic artists of Taos—Joseph Henry Sharp, Oscar E. Berninghaus, Ernest L. Blumenschein and Victor Higgins, to name a few—and also contemporary artists who are still using the region as a muse.
Nightfall, pastel, 23 x 50”
One of those living artists still visiting Taos and painting its subjects is Nancy Silvia, whose work will be the subject of a new exhibition at the Nicolai Fechin studio at the Taos Art Museum. The exhibition, titled Taos Holds My Heart, will open May 2 and continue through June 4. Silvia, a pastel artist and member of a number of pastel societies and organizations, was responsible for getting her show at the museum, which is located in Fechin’s home and studio, after she made a proposal that aligned with the museum’s schedule and mission. Silvia also lives half of the year in Taos, and the other half on the East Coast.
Taos Winter Light, pastel, 12 x 16”
“I’m interested in everything that has to do with Taos. I am so thoroughly enchanted in this strange place. I’m an easterner, so this is the real West. I love seeing how the West isn’t just cowboys, but also the pueblos,” Silvia says. “There is a wonderful and interesting cultural mix here, particularly when you look at the painters, the Taos Founders and the other original painters who came out here in the late 19th century and early 20th century. I especially love the modernists like Marsden Hartley and John Marin. The art culture goes really deep.”
Taos Tranquility, pastel, 18 x 24”
Silvia brings up Marin and John Sloan when discussing her own process. She works exclusively in pastels, which she calls a “sketching medium.” She adds, “A lot of those early artists worked in pastel as they began to develop their larger paintings.”
Taos Evening, pastel, 10 x 20”
Taos Holds My Heart will have around 25 works, and all of them will be for sale during the exhibition. One of the centerpieces of the exhibition is Nightfall, a 23-by-50-inch pastel showing some of Taos’ mountains. The works will be hung in Fechin’s studio, which was also Fechin’s wife’s home after the couple divorced and he moved to California. It was during this period that the Fechin house was shuttered and largely forgotten. Many years later it was opened and restored, and then turned into the Taos Art Museum. Today, the home and studio are some of the most iconic buildings in Taos. —
Taos Holds My Heart
May 2-June 4, 2023
Taos Art Museum, 227 Paseo Del Pueblo Norte, Taos, NM 87571
(575) 758-2690
www.taosartmuseum.org
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