Oscar E. Berninghaus

Oscar E. Berninghaus
Born	October 2, 1874(1874-10-02) St. Louis, Missouri
Died	April 27, 1952(1952-04-27) Taos, New Mexico
Nationality	American
Field	Painting
Movement	Taos Society of Artists
Influenced	Albert Looking Elk

Oscar Edmund Berninghaus (2 October 1874 – 27 April 1952) was an American artist and a founding member of the Taos Society of Artists. He best known for his paintings of Native Americans, New Mexico and the American Southwest. His son, Charles Berninghaus (1905–1988), was also a Taos artist.^[1]

Early life and education

Oscar Berninghaus was born on October 2, 1874 in St. Louis, Missouri. His father ran a lithography business, which stimulated an interest in watercolor painting in Oscar, who began by sketching the St. Louis riverfront. Later he worked from tales he heard from trappers and cowboys passing through, and developed a fascination with the American Old West.^[2]

As an artist, Berninghaus was largely self-taught. By 1886, he was an accomplished watercolorist. He developed an interest in business and sold his works to tourists and newspapers. At sixteen, he had quit school and taken a job with Compton & Sons, a local lithography company, where he learned the technical details of engraving, color separation and printmaking. In 1893, he left Compton & Sons and joined Woodward and Tiernan, one of the largest printing concerns in the world at the time.^[2]

Berninghaus attended night classes at Washington University in St. Louis and sketched and painted in his spare time.^[2]

Artistic career

Berninghaus developed a reputation as an artist and in 1899, he was given a commission by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad to produce promotional sketches of the Colorado and New Mexico landscapes. He spent a week in Taos, New Mexico, where he met and befriended Bert Phillips, who had established himself there the previous year.^[2]

Berninghaus was captivated by the local Indian culture and the landscape and light of the area, and returned to Taos nearly every subsequent summer. These visits grew longer, soon turning into six-month retreats. In 1915, he became a founding member of the Taos Society of Artists, along with his friend Bert Phillips and four other artists. He was the first (temporary) chairman of the Society. He also spent more time as secretary of the Society than any other member.^[2]

He continued to reside in St. Louis until 1925, when he finally made the move to Taos.^[2] After the Society disbanded in 1927, he became active in the Taos art colony.^{[citation needed]}

Other associations

Berninghaus was also a member of other eastern and western arts organizations, including the National Academy of Design, the Salmagundi Club, and the Society of Western Artists. He was one of the more successful members of the Taos Society of Artists, which enhanced the Society's prestige.^[2]

Collections

His paintings may be found in the collections of Amon Carter Museum (Fort Worth, Texas); Museum of New Mexico (Santa Fe, New Mexico); St. Louis Art Museum; murals in the Missouri State Capitol (Jefferson City, Missouri); Gilcrease Museum (Tulsa, Oklahoma); Stark Museum of Art (Orange, Texas); Nelson-Atkins Museum; Wichita Art Museum; and others.

Le Vieux Village (Old Ste. Genevieve, ca. 1735), by Oscar E. Berninghaus (1924). Mural from the Missouri State Capitol building depicting the original village settlement of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri located on the banks of the Mississippi River.

Notes

1. ^ Taos Painters: (Julius) Charles Berninghaus (1905-1988)
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Peters, Gerald III (ed.) The Taos Society of Artist: Masters and Masterpieces. Gerald Peters Gallery, 1998. ISBN 0-935037-78-0

Further reading

• Sanders, Gordon E. Oscar E. Berninghaus, Taos, New Mexico: Master Painter of American Indians and the Frontier West. Taos Heritage Publishing Company, 1985. ISBN 0-9615-1771-9

External links

• Taos Painters: Oscar Edmund Berninghaus (1874-1952)
• AskArt: Oscar Edmund Berninghaus (1874 - 1952)

Paintings

• Adobe House (1940)
• The Forty-niners (before 1942)
• Taos Indian Couple
• Taos Indians on Mesa
• Las Truchas Peaks, NM (ca. 1949)

Persondata
Name	Berninghaus, Oscar E.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1874-10-02
Place of birth	St. Louis, Missouri
Date of death	1952-04-27
Place of death	Taos, New Mexico