Customer Reviews

Mabel's Santa Fe and Taos: Bohemian Legends (1900-1950)

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In December of 1917, Mabel Dodge Luhan, a wealthy patron of the arts, arrived in the very rural community of Taos, New Mexico. She arrived with an emotional need that drove her to be a focal point and a catalyst in the New Mexico art community. Although she died in 1962, she is still a controversial figure in Taos, where her spirit lingers in her house; now a Bread and Breakfast frequently used for artists retreats. Her personal artistic expression is found in the books she wrote, but she is best known for the amazing role she played in drawing painters, writers, and other artists to Taos and Santa Fe.

"Mabel's Santa Fe and Taos" gives a brief biography of Mabel and of many of the most famous people whose lives she influenced. The people covered in this book include Charles Lummis, Adolf Bandelier, the Taos Society of Artists, Alice Corbin Henderson and William Penhallow Henderson, Witter Bynner, Spud Johnson, Andrew Dasburg, D.H Lawrence and Frieda Lawrence, Dorothy Brett, and Georgia O'Keefe. This book also contains historical information about the culture of Taos and Santa Fe from 1900-1950, weaving together the people and the places in Mabel's world.

The text is informative and well written. Black and white photographs of the people and places are found throughout the book. Although this is an excellent overview that could be appreciated and understood by those new to the subject, it can also be used to summarize previous knowledge of the Santa Fe and Taos art colony during this time period.

Fabulous Taos photographs and history! Realy nicely written, and wonderful photos from that time and place.