Art museum gifted works by Taos art society founder
Former Bishop’s Lodge owner bought them from Joseph Henry Sharpe
SANTA FE — Three paintings from the “spiritual father” of the Taos Society of Artists were recently donated to the New Mexico Museum of Art.
The paintings by Joseph Henry Sharp were donated by Lore Thorpe. She is the daughter-inlaw of Kathryn V. Thorpe, the owner and manager of Santa Fe’s Bishop’s Lodge from the 1920s to the 1950s.
Kathryn Thorpe was a friend of Sharp, a museum news release states, and bought the paintings directly from the artist.
Sharp, known as one of the founders of the prolific and famous Taos society and for his paintings featuring Native Americans, first came to New Mexico in the 1890s. He lived in Taos for most of the early 20th century and died in 1953.
The 12-member Taos Society of Artists, whose members mostly painted northern New Mexican scenes, acted as a channel to promote the work of its artists through traveling exhibitions. The organization was around from 1915 to 1927.
The three donated paintings were created around 1935. Two of them are of floral arrangements, “Flowers on Rio Grande Blanket” and “Marigold-Calendula,” and one was of fall landscape, “Taos Cañon.”
“The Museum of Art currently holds 16 works by Sharp in its permanent collection, but these are the first two flower paintings and they are gorgeous,” Museum of Art Director Mary Kershaw said. “We are grateful for this significant donation to the Museum from the Thorpe family and proud to supplement our collection of works from the man considered the ‘spiritual father’ of the Taos Artists Society.”
The paintings were passed along to Kathryn’s son — and Lore’s husband — James following her death in 1979. They were left with Lore after James passed away in 1992.
“I’m very happy these beautiful paintings are going to be in a place where they will be honored and respected,” Lore Thorpe said in the release. “And that the public is going to be able to see these paintings because they are truly exceptional.”