The Taos art colony was an art colony founded in Taos, New Mexico, by artists attracted by the culture of the Taos Pueblo and northern New Mexico. The history of Hispanic craftsmanship in furniture, tin work, and other mediums also played a role in creating a multicultural tradition of art in the area.
Helmut Naumer, Sr. (1935–36), Taos Pueblo
Taos Mountain, Trail Home. Cordelia Wilson, ca. 1915-1920s, Private collection
Edward S. Curtis, A Taos girl, three-quarter length portrait, seated, facing front, ca. 1905
Santo, Small Spanish Colonial retablo, Harwood Museum of Art
Art colonies are organic congregations of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, who are often drawn to areas of natural beauty, the prior existence of other artists, art schools there, or a lower cost of living. They are typically mission-driven planned communities, which administer a formal process for awarding artist residencies. A typical mission might include providing artists with the time, space, and support to create, fostering community among artists, and providing arts education, including lectures and workshops.
Ogunquit was the largest art colony in Maine for the better part of the 20th century. Initially drawn to the landscape, artists later came to study modernism with Robert Laurent and Hamilton Easter Field or regional impressionism with Charles Herbert Woodbury.
Champs à Barbizon (Field in Barbizon), an 1882 portrait by Georges Seurat of the countryside in France
Claude Monet depicts the French countryside in Poppy Field in a Hollow near Giverny, an 1885 oil on canvas portrait
An art colony of students at the Newlyn Art School in England in 1910