Bert Phillips – The Artist Who Knew Art

By Author: Harris Symonds
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Bert Geer Phillips was an American painter and can truly be called the founding member of Taos Art Colony. He was born in Hudson New York United States of America, and was always influenced by western tales and was always found with a paint and brush since he was a child.

He moved out early at the age of 16 and settled in New York where he attended Art Studio League of New York and National Academy of Design. In 1894, he travelled to Europe and studied at Julian Academy in Paris where he met future popular painters Ernest Blumenschein and Joseph Henry Sharp and became good friends with them.

He went back to New York in 1896 and joined Ernest Blumenschein in 1898 on his journey to the South West and decided to stay in Taos and paint while Blumenschein came back to New York.

Back then there were no white people coming to New Mexico and after the two painters headed to paint the Taos, their paintings grew much attention of tourists towards that part of the country.

Bert Phillip married Rose Martin a local from Taos in 1899, and conceived an idea to form Taos Society of Artists which came into reality ...
... in 1915, where he was a founding member along with his two friends Ernest Blumenschein and Joseph Henry Sharp.

Bert painted many typical New Mexico Pueblo people and much of the Landscape, he loved painting the native culture, their customs and dress and often painted them around fire light, he has made a major contribution in keeping the South beauty of nature alive even to this day.

He was so passionate and keen with his art and painting that later he began to lose his sight and was sometimes forced to stop painting. While his friends gained much popularity in the city life Phillip decided to stay in Taos till last and paint the real life of the Natives with all strength and pleasure.

Bert Geer Phillips has made a tremendous contribution to the American Art History, he studied the Native culture quite closely and since got married to a local developed more interest in their history and traditions all this is portrayed in his paintings and have been greatly appreciated and accepted. His paintings are mostly in oils and water colors and are exhibited in US and New Mexico.

Bert Phillips passed away in San Diego, California on June 16, 1956. Bert G. Phillips was the first of the premature Taos artists to settle eternally in the far-off mountain village, thus he is fairly well thought-out the founder of the Taos art colony.

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