Book Review: The Art Colonies of Santa Fe & Taos, New Mexico, 1956-2006: My Time There – A memoir of art, essays, letters, and rare photos, about two of America’s most important colonies.
Author: R.H. Dick. With an introductory essay by Bambi Ellis
Publisher: University of Missouri Press – 127 pages
Book Review by: Paiso Jamakar
A beautifully-bound, full-color, large-size (11.5” x 8.75”) collection on thick glossy paper, of paintings, poems, rare photos and sculptures with essays and letters, this is a memoir by Missouri native Robert H. Dick about two of America’s most important art colonies.
An art colony, for those who do not know yet, is simply a place where artists and art abound. Additionally, it is a place where they can be understood, as some artists have remarked to me in the past.
In September of 1898, artists Bert Phillips and Ernest Blumenschein discovered Taos in New Mexico. They became co-founders of one of America’s most famous art colonies. In a few decades, more artists, as well as writers made their way into Taos as well as into Santa Fe, attracted by the landscape and the lifestyle in those two places.
Among those who made their way and settled in Santa Fe and Taos were: D.H. Lawrence, Georgia O’Keefe, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Nicolai Fechin.
This book, with previously unpublished materials – text, such as letters and other documents, as well as images such as black and white photos of people and sculpted items and full-color paintings – looks at life in the two colonies from the mid-1950s onward.
With his paint brush and his camera, Missourian Bob Dick gives us rare views of art and life in the now vanishing world of the artists of his generation.
A stunning, colorful painting (oil on canvas, 24” x 48”) of men on horses coming down a hill captures the attention of the reader even before getting set to read the book. This painting spans two pages – 8 and 9 – of the book is by the author himself, with a beautiful frame by Marcia Vegas.
The next page has the text of a poem The Wild Men of Taos written by the author. The adjoining page 11 – has that poem written by hand with color drawings on it of the countryside.
This book also has a number of poems by Andrea Paulette.
The author writes of his experiences the first time he went to Santa Fe and Taos in 1956:
“Both Santa Fe and Taos were alive with creative people. Leonard Bernstein, Elizabeth Taylor, Jack Nicholson and many others could often be seen in cafes. Celebrities seemed to like the casual environment, where no one really cared what your past was, who you were, or what you did. I remember being told by someone that Santa Fe was really an interesting village.”
This is a rare glimpse into the life of artist and poet Robert H. Dick and lives and times of other artists in the art colonies of Santa Fe and Taos.
R.H. Dick was born in Kansas City. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Education and a Masters in American History from Central Missouri State University. Graduate work was completed in French History and Economics at the University of Missouri at Columbia. He has done additional work at Harvard, Yale, Columbia (New York) and at the Sorbonne University in Paris, France.
As an artist he has been the recipient of numerous awards, and has had several successful one-man exhibitions. He co-authored the book An American Art Colony: The Art and Artists of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri 1930-1040, which won the Missouri Governor’s Award in 2005. He lives in t. Louis, Missouri.
Andrea Paulette is a native of St. Louis, Missouri. She attended Nerinx Hall High School. Andrea earned a Bachelor of Science in Education from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Her writing credits include being published in Art D’Tour magazine.
She is the author of the groundbreaking book The Lost Perspectives of the Painted Lady: Memoirs of an Artist’s Model (2004). She is classically trained in vocal performance and theater and has sung in Carnegie Hall. She has also been featured in the Public Broadcasting System program Living in St. Louis. She currently resides in Des Moines and works as a teacher.
