Leon Shulman Gaspard (1882–1964) was an interesting addition to the New Mexico arts scene when he arrived in 1918. A Russian-born, French-trained veteran of the airborne campaigns of the Great War, he arrived physically diminished from a horrific plane crash that had put him in a French hospital for two years. Seeking a more hospitable climate, he arrived in Taos to find a vibrant arts community and an exotic blend of native, western, and Hispanic cultures. Having traveled widely throughout Russia, China, Mongolia, Tibet, Morocco, and Northern Africa as a fur trader, painter, army pilot and spy, Gaspard had a love of exotic cultures and a desire to document them artistically. Taos allowed him just such an opportunity, and he set out to paint the Native Americans in much the same way he had painted the native peoples of North Africa and Asia while in Paris. A pariah of sorts when he first arrived, Gaspard was saved socially when Herbert Dunton, one of the founding members of the Taos Society of Artists, took a liking to him and began to bring him around to meet his colleagues. A kindly and gregarious man, Gaspard eventually became accepted and well liked, and one of the most important of the many distinguished artists that made Taos their home in the early part of the twentieth century.

Leon Gaspard: The Call of Distant Places

Arts & Photography

Fenn, Forrest

Milburn, Carleen

Individual Artists

The Tia Collection

New Beginnings: An American Story of Romantics and Modernists in the West (Tia Collection)

Santa Fe and Taos were among the most important national and international art communities during the 1920s and 1930s. This book explores their similarities, differences, and connections. Legions of American and European artists found new beginnings in the physical and cultural landscapes of northern New Mexico, resulting in a new and deeply rooted orientation for modern art in America.   Produced on the occasion of the New Beginnings traveling exhibition, this lavishly illustrated catalogue presents 111 objects by 72 artists from the Tia Collection, including paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, and sculptures. To encourage a fresh view of the shift from representation to diverse branches of Modernism, the artworks are grouped into three sections: by the four seasons; by the vibrant mixture of Native American, Hispano, and Anglo themes; and by studio-made still lifes and portraits. Work by artists such as Ernest L. Blumenschein, E. Irving Couse, Stuart Davis, Leon Gaspard, Robert Henri, John Marin, John Sloan, and Walter Ufer are juxtaposed with lesser-known or virtually unknown works by William Verplanck Birney, Richard Crisler, Katherine Levin Farrell, Jan Matulka, Arthur Musgrave, Polia Pillin, and Beulah Stevenson.   The exhibition will travel to the Scottsdale Museum of the West, Scottsdale, Arizona; Booth Western Art Museum, Cartersville, Georgia; Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California; and Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, Montana.  

Wilson-Powell, MaLin

History & Criticism

Santa Fe and Taos were among the most important national and international art communities during the 1920s and 1930s. This book explores their similarities, differences, and connections. Legions of American and European artists found new beginnings in the physical and cultural landscapes of northern New Mexico, resulting in a new and deeply rooted orientation for modern art in America. Produced on the occasion of the New Beginnings traveling exhibition, this lavishly illustrated catalogue presents 111 objects by 72 artists from the Tia Collection, including paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, and sculptures. To encourage a fresh view of the shift from representation to diverse branches of Modernism, the artworks are grouped into three sections: by the four seasons; by the vibrant mixture of Native American, Hispano, and Anglo themes; and by studio-made still lifes and portraits. Work by artists such as Ernest L. Blumenschein, E. Irving Couse, Stuart Davis, Leon Gaspard, Robert Henri, John Marin, John Sloan, and Walter Ufer are juxtaposed with lesser-known or virtually unknown works by William Verplanck Birney, Richard Crisler, Katherine Levin Farrell, Jan Matulka, Arthur Musgrave, Polia Pillin, and Beulah Stevenson. The exhibition will travel to the Scottsdale Museum of the West, Scottsdale, Arizona; Booth Western Art Museum, Cartersville, Georgia; Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California; and Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, Montana.

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

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Books by The Tia Collection