Oscar Edmund Berninghaus
1874-1952
Oscar Edmund Berninghaus was an American painter, who specializes in the American West. He was one of the founders of the Taos Society of Artists in 1898and part of the Taos art colony in Taos, New Mexico.
Oscar Berninghaus excelled at drawing animals and figures in contemporary garb in Southwestern landscapes. Many of his early paintings were Impressionistic, "suffused with color and light". His first encounter was with the village of Taos, an encounter that would influence his life and artwork forever after.
He was born in St. Louis, Missouri to German born parents Berninghaus. From an early age he developed an interest in art through his family's lithography business. He attended night classes at the St. Louis School of Fine Art, but never had any formal training. He was able to make a name for himself as a talented artist.
At the age of sixteen Berninghaus joined the lithography firm of Compton and Sons, and later the printing company, Woodward and Tiernan. He also made extra money by providing sketches of news events for the local St. Louis papers.
In 1899 he was commissioned by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad to sketch the vast Western landscapes. It was this trip that exposed Berninghaus to Taos, New Mexico and the town soon became the inspiration for his artwork as well as his home for half of the year until he moved there permanently in 1925. It would also lead Berninghaus to become one of the founding members of the Taos Society of Artists (TSA) and place him among the great painters of the Southwest.
|
|
