7th SUMMER SALE NOW Taos New Mexico ILA MCAFEE 'Horses-Grand Canyon' 20" x 24"

Description: 7TH ANNUAL SUMMER SALE NOW *Price Shown is the Sale Price ORIGINAL AND VINTAGE .............ILA MCAFEE.............'HORSES GRAND CANYON', OIL ON BOARD, 20" x 24"............. STUNNING HORSES IN LANDSCAPE............. This is a 20" x 24" Original and Vintage oil on board by the important Taos, New Mexico painter Ila McAfee, 1897-1995. This is a view of two horses on the rim of the Grand Canyon. Signed at lower right and again on McAfee's White Horse Studio label on back with the title, along with the label of the art gallery at the Taos Inn. The painting has been in the family of the Taos Inn since the 1940s. Fine condition. Unframed. The Biography Follows: Ila Mae McAfee was born near Gunnison, Colorado in 1897 and grew up on a ranch. From a very early age, she loved horses and began to draw them as soon as she could hold a pencil. She attended classes at the West Lake School of Art in Los Angeles and the Art Institute of Chicago where, writes Robert Parsons, "she studied and worked under the tutelage of Lorado Taft, a noted sculptor, and muralist James McBurney, whose assistant she eventually became. After some years she moved to New York City and attended the Art Students League and the National Academy of Design. While in New York McAfee also worked as an illustrator and painted portraits of horses for wealthy owners and breeders." Parsons continues: "It was during this period that she began receiving her first commissions for murals. But while McAfee must have found pleasure in these successes one imagines that the emotional pull of the west continued to exert a profound influence. While in Chicago McAfee had met and married fellow art student Elmer Turner, who also happened to be from Colorado. So when the pair decided where they wanted to pursue their artistic careers it was the west to which they returned, and found lifelong inspiration." During a trip to California to complete a mural in Los Angeles, the couple stopped in Taos and became so enamored with the beauty of the valley that they moved there soon after. McAfee dedicated her career to capturing the special qualities of the Taos landscape, painting and making prints in that area for 65 years. In 1993, she moved to Pueblo, Colorado, where she died in 1995. Writes Parsons: "By artistic synthesis McAfee laid claim in an exceptional way to the landscape she had known since childhood. She was distinctive and very much a Westerner. Her long, prolific career exemplifies the trajectory of American art at the time, which was one of moving toward self-discovery, confidence and the delineation of an American aesthetic that embraced American themes. Few accomplished this with more authenticity than Ila McAfee." As ever this is guaranteed 100% money back, to be as represented.

Price: 4500 USD

Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico

End Time: 2024-09-01T16:14:05.000Z

Shipping Cost: 15 USD