MORANG AND FRIENDS: Art and Influence of a Santa Fe Master

MORANG AND FRIENDS The Art and Inluence of a Santa Fe Master

MORANG AND FRIENDS

The Art and Inluence of a Santa Fe Master

A MATTHEWS GALLERY PUBLICATION SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO © 2014, all rights reserved

INTRODUCTION

I CAN LOOK from the front door of the gallery and see the former location of Alfred Morang’s home and studio just of Canyon Road. On January 29, 1958 Morang died tragically when the building caught ire. The next morning the Santa Fe New Mexican reported: “Alfred Morang, 56, one of Santa Fe’s best known and most colorful Bohemians died… last night”. The city mourned and, in a way, his death marked the beginning of the end of an older, wilder Santa Fe and the beginning of the new, more “civilized” city that it became.

Morang sufered from tuberculosis and left his home in Portland, Maine in the late 1930’s and initially came to New Mexico to recover. The reports vary, but when Morang got of the train he was met by Randall Davey or Raymond Jonson, two of the city’s most established artists. Soon he had made Santa Fe his home and his bohemian manner charmed his fellow artists and townspeople alike. He was a polymath who played the violin, wrote short stories that were published in national magazines, and painted. He opened an art school, had a local radio show and held regular salons at his home. He frequented Claude’s Tavern, the infamous and rowdy saloon on Canyon Road that served as a meeting place for fellow artists, politicians and ladies of the evening.

Many of his paintings are like a visual diary of Santa Fe in the 1940’s and 1950’s and have a raw sense that echoed the city’s spirit at that time. Technically his paintings are informed by impressionism, many painted thickly with a palette knife. They display a vital frenetic energy that seems as if he was trying to literally form life on the canvas from the pigments on his palette. The best of his work can rival that of the French masters he admired.

In addition to his own work, Morang’s inluence through his teaching and his ebullient enthusiasm for art in general encouraged many of the city’s artists. We have included artwork in this exhibition by some of those associated with him including Dorothy Morang, Janet Lippincott and William Vincent.

We are very pleased to present the irst retrospective of Morang’s work since the 1990’s and help reacquaint the public with his art and his life. We owe a major debt of gratitude to Paul Parker, who, as co-curator for this exhibition, provided invaluable information about Morang and sourced many of the paintings. Without his able scholarship and unstinting devotion to Morang this exhibition would not have been possible. We are also pleased he allowed us to include his essay, Hunting for Alfred Morang, a touching reminiscence and tribute to Morang in this catalog.

Thanks go out to the many collectors and gallerists who helped us source work for this exhibition and I also want to especially acknowledge the hard and accomplished work of Jordan Eddy, our communications director, who designed and compiled this catalog.

—Lawrence Matthews, Santa Fe, December 2014

WORKS

1. The Artist’s Studio—Portland, 1932 Pen and Ink 7.5 x 9.25 inches

2. Untitled (Abstract), 1941 Oil on Board 49.87 x 40 inches

3. Untitled (Abstract), n.d.

Oil on Canvas 50.5 x 26.5 inches

4. Into Tomorrow, n.d.

Oil on Panel 18 x 10 inches

5. Untitled (Abstract), n.d.

Oil on Board 25 x 22.25 inches

6. Capilla, 1945 Watercolor 21.5 x 26.5 inches

7. Bridge Street, Las Vegas, 1946 Watercolor 17.5 x 21.75 inches

8. Adobes and Poplars, n.d.

Ink and Watercolor 18 x 14.5 inches

9. Blue Mountain, Yellow Sky, n.d.

Ink and Watercolor 13 x 16 inches

10. Red Roof, n.d.

Ink and Watercolor 16.5 x 13 inches

11. Untitled (Adobe), 1947 Oil on Board 19.5 x 23.5 inches

12. Guadalupe Plaza, 1947 Oil on Panel 12.25 x 15 inches

13. Untitled (Mountain Landscape), n.d.

Oil on Board 13.5 x 17.5 inches

14. Four Adobes, n.d.

Ink and Watercolor 16 x 18 inches

15. Green Valley, n.d.

Ink and Watercolor 15 x 17.5 inches

ARTIFACTS

Clockwise from top left: Sketches by Alfred Morang, 1953; Morang’s violin; Santa Fe New Mexican article on Morang’s funeral services, February 2, 1958; Morang’s Santa Fe New Mexican column “Art in the News”; Sketches by Morang; Postcard to Morang from his adopted daughter Claire Latour; Handwritten notes on the prices of art materials.

Clockwise from top left: Sketches by Morang; Clipping from the Santa Fe New Mexican’s “It Happened in Old Santa Fe” column by Lorraine Carr, 1958; Watercolor by Morang, 1948; Typewritten article for Morang’s “Art in the News” column; Brochure for The Morang School of The Fine Arts.

16. Dancers at Midnight, 1947 Oil on Canvas 22.25 x 28.75 inches

17. Untitled (Figure), 1947 Watercolor and Gouache 25.5 x 21.5 inches

18. Dancing Girls, 1950 Ink and Pastel 21.5 x 17 inches

19. Santa Fe Hillside, 1949 Oil on Canvas 27 x 31 inches

20. Untitled (Portrait of a Woman), 1950 Oil on Board 31 x 24.5 inches

21. Untitled (Lady of the Night), n.d.

Oil on Panel 32 x 25 inches

22. For Claire with Love, 1951 Ink and Watercolor 19.25 x 21.75 inches

23. Gormley Lane, Santa Fe, 1951 Oil on Canvas 20.5 x 22.5 inches

24. Pecan Grove, n.d.

Oil on Panel 17 x 22 inches

25. Untitled (Landscape), n.d.

Oil on Panel 13 x 17 inches

26. Lady in Orange, 1953 Ink and Watercolor 14.5 x 14 inches

27. Autumn in the Park, 1954 Oil on Canvas 25 x 29 inches

28. Figures in the Abstract, 1955 Ink and Watercolor 15.75 x 17.5 inches

29. Alfred to Madgie, 1956 Ink and Watercolor 11.25 x 10.25 inches

30. Mitzi Cat, 1956 Ink and Watercolor 17 x 19 inches

31. Tuxedo, 1957 Ink and Watercolor 17.5 x 15.5 inches

32. Janet Lippincott Alfred the Painter, 1953 Oil on Board 24 x 19.5 inches

33. Dorothy Morang Untitled (Abstract), 1955 Pastel 26.5 x 18.5 inches

34. William Vincent Kirkpatrick Landscape #2, n.d.

Oil on Canvas 24 x 28 inches

35. William Vincent Kirkpatrick Untitled Landscape, n.d.

Oil on Board 7 x 9 inches

36. William Vincent Kirkpatrick Country Path, n.d.

Oil on Board 9.5 x 7.5 inches

37. William Vincent Kirkpatrick Upper Canyon Road, n.d.

Oil on Canvas 26 x 22 inches

HUNTING FOR ALFRED MORANG

I HAD BEEN thinking about this mission for a long time and I inally ind myself in the library seated in front of this antique microilm viewer the size of a small refrigerator and I have loaded the reel containing the early 1958 issues of the Santa Fe New Mexican.

I was not sure why I had this unremitting need to know more about Alfred Morang. I had irst seen his work painted on the adobe walls across from the bar in El Farol on Canyon Road and in Maria’s on Cordova, but I know the real inspiration came from my good friend Jim Parsons in Taos. Jim was an art dealer and appraiser forever and a friend and mentor for 20 years. When he mentioned that Alfred Morang was one of his favorites I knew I needed to pay attention. It was like Willy Wonka telling me about one of his favorite chocolate bars.

It helps that Alfred was such a compelling man, so well versed in music and literature as well as painting. He was the youngest person ever to perform a solo violin concert in the prestigious Jordan Hall in Boston. He was also an accomplished writer. The London Times once called him one of America’s leading nonpolitical short story writers. Erskine Caldwell was a friend of his and he often visited Alfred and his wife Dorothy in Santa Fe. Alfred’s short stories and poems were published alongside Frost, Poe and Twain. I do know the main reason I am so drawn to him is that his art touches me. Behind that art is Alfred’s story, his life experience and that is what drove him to create the art that Jim and I and many others enjoy so much.

There is a very sad part to his story and it is that part that drew me to the library. Alfred Morang died in a ire in his Canyon Road apartment studio on a cold January night at the age of 56.

I had wanted to come here to the library and

read the January 29, 1958 issue of the Santa Fe New Mexican for some time. I wanted to know the details, I wanted to read what people said, I wanted to know what page it was on and how big the article was. I was scrolling through the microilm and as I started approaching the day he died I realized I was reading the papers that he probably read unaware he only had days to live.

The closer I got to the issue of the paper I had come to see the more time I took reading the articles and I even started reading the ads. I lingered the longest on Tuesday’s edition dated January 28, 1958. That was the last paper Alfred could have read.

There was an article on that day that I am sure must have caught Alfred’s eye and the headline read, “French Ballet loses Backing”. Alfred never made it to Paris, but his heart was there. His heroes were the French impressionists and he considered himself to be one of them. Monet and Bonnard were his favorites. The article explained that the French Education Ministry had withdrawn the government subsidy for the production of Francoise Sagan’s ballet “The Broken Date”.

The ministry’s action followed a storm of protest.

Apparently one dance was performed in a bathroom setting designed by painter Bernard Bufet and was described by some critics as scandalously erotic. I would like to have gone to Paris with Alfred and attended that performance.

A French ballet with a bathroom setting designed

by Bernard Bufet coupled with scandalously erotic, I am sure we both would have enjoyed that.

That Tuesday the Lensic was showing Pal Joey starring Rita Hayworth, Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak. Kaune’s was having a sale featuring Pork Chops at 59 cents a pound and Swanson’s Pot Pies at four for a dollar with your choice of chicken, turkey or beef. Cherry Motor’s at 607 Cerrillos Road had an ad for the new Rambler American for $1789. The ad proclaimed that one had been driven from New York to Los Angeles using only

80 gallons of gas averaging over 30 mpg. I remembered that time. One week before this ad ran I had celebrated my 12th birthday and becoming a teenager was in sight. Unlike today I was looking forward to getting older and that was the time I began thinking about cars. Chevrolet had just introduced the 283 V-8 a year earlier in the now iconic 1957 Chevy. The fuel economy push left over from the war was fading fast and the Plymouth Hemi and the “Little GTO” were on the horizon. The economical 6 cylinder Rambler American never had a chance.

I read every bit of that Tuesday’s paper. It was as if I felt that Alfred would be okay as long as I did not turn the page, but I knew it was time to see what I had come to see. I took a last look at the classiieds and marveled at an ad for a 2-bedroom adobe with wall-to-wall carpet “close in” for $16,500 and then I hit the button and watched the microilm reel turn slowly.

The irst thing I saw positioned on the top left side of the front page of that Wednesday edition of the Santa Fe New Mexican was a large photograph of a cat crouching on the corner of a charred mattress. The rest of the bed was strewn with papers and tubes of paint. Underneath the right half of the photo was a caption “Mourning for Her Master…This lonely cat was found wandering through the charred ruins of the home of her master Alfred Morang who died in the ire early this morning. The cat is on the bed where he died.” Morang’s friends had commented on his love of cats and noted that he often went hungry himself so he could aford to feed them. Two other cats perished in the ire with him. Unfortunately I discovered that the cat on the mattress in the picture had to be put down because it had extensive lung damage. There was also a picture of Alfred. A cigarette in a holder was hanging from the corner of his mouth dangling over his scraggly beard and he was wearing a black hat with a brim that was tilted slightly to the left making him look decidedly like

an artist and decidedly French. The story next to the photo read “Well Known Artist Dies In Home Fire… Alfred Morang, 56, one of Santa Fe’s best known and most colorful Bohemians died at about 1:30 am last night in a tragic ire at his home in the 600 block of Canyon Road.”

Friends reported they had last seen Alfred in Claude’s Tavern around midnight. His apartment was just up the alley out back.

Five days after the ire the New Mexican noted…“Funeral services were held Saturday at the Fairview Memorial Park Crematorium in Albuquerque for Alfred Morang, widely known Santa Fe artist, writer and critic who was burned to death early Wednesday morning in a ire at his home here. The body was escorted to Albuquerque by a group of close friends, including Randall Davey, Will Shuster, Harlan Lizer, Walter Dawley and William Currie. Alfred was transported in a Spanish Colonial coin made by Abolonio Rodriguez, custodian of the art museum.”

Alfred was born in Ellsworth, Maine in 1901 and came to Santa Fe in 1937. Like many who came here he sufered from TB. He immediately became a ixture in the Santa Fe art scene. He wrote a weekly column for the newspaper and he produced a weekly radio program for 17 years on KVSF called “The World of Art with Alfred Morang.” Most of all he was famous for his enthusiasm for art and his ability to teach and many beneited from “The Morang School of Fine Art”.

Walt Wiggins authored a book published in 1979 appropriately titled “Alfred Morang…

A Neglected Master”. Walt uncovered several quotes during his research for his book and my favorites include the following. “When Alfred Morang’s life came to a tragic end in January of 1958 nothing before or since has so shaken the New Mexico art colony. Some say it was a sense of guilt that struck the community for not having

shown a greater sense of appreciation for one who, by destiny, was diferent.” One Santa Fe artist reasoned, “Why shouldn’t Santa Fe be stunned with the loss of Alfred? After all, he taught half of us how to paint and the other half how to see.”

The February 10th, 1958 issue of the Santa Fe New Mexican carried the report of the local memorial service for Alfred in Lorraine Carr’s column “It Happened in Old Santa Fe”.

Dr. Reginald Fisher, director of the art museum spoke irst. “Friends this is not a funeral, we are simply gathered here for a creative expression of merit and appreciation of a spirit that has been active in an activity that we in Santa Fe like to call art. Alfred was an inventive, searching and daring spirit as French as Lautrec, yet he never saw Paris. Last week his restless spirit found peace.”

Painter and close friend Randall Davey was next.

“I have known Alfred since he arrived back in 1937. He was a kind, a gentle and a humble soul and in all those years I never heard him speak unkindly of his fellow man. He was a great painter; many of you did not think so, because often he sold his work for a mere pittance through necessity. Nevertheless it was great art and the happiest work I have seen in New Mexico. He had a love and a delight for painting and I doubt that anyone will surpass him in this ield.”

I hope Alfred enjoyed himself on that Tuesday.

I hope he spent some time with friends and some extra time petting his cats. I hope he wrote another poem and put the inal touches on his most recent favorite painting before he headed down the alley to Claude’s that evening.

Claude James ran the well-known Canyon Road bar where he often spent time and, as legend has it, her rowdy spirit was just what was needed to run that place. I would love to have met Alfred there that fateful night for a few drinks. I’m sure

we would have talked through the evening about art and life as we cast occasional glances at the ever present ladies that were often the subject of his paintings and when Claude said, “It’s midnight, would you fellows like another one?” I would nod and say, how about a couple of shots of your best cognac. I would love to take a sip, lean back and turn to him and say “Alfred I know you often say that you don’t believe in art for art’s sake, but you believe in art for people’s sake. Can you explain to me what you mean by that, and please…take your time?”

A few weeks after I inished writing this story I found myself engrossed in the details of planning a trip to Paris. I was not sure why, but suddenly it came looding over me with incredible clarity. Human life really is very fragile and it really is all going to come to an end someday and we do not know when. I knew then I needed to go to Paris and I needed to go now. Unfortunately most people have that epiphany too late in life. They start thinking about the things they never got to do after it’s too late to do them. I knew then that this sudden obsession with Paris was a message from Alfred. Paris was his promised land, but he never made it there and I was going to go for both of us.

I told a friend in Santa Fe this story and he said, “You should do something for Alfred in Paris.”

It was a great idea, but what would I do? I had been in Paris ive days when I suddenly knew.

I found an image of a Morang painting on my laptop. I printed it and wrote a bit on the back about Alfred and headed of to the Musee d’Orsay. This time as I enjoyed the paintings I was also searching for a repository for Alfred’s work and I inally found it. I can tell you that a ine example of the genius of Alfred Morang now has a home in Musee d’Orsay on the banks of the Seine and it will take a jackhammer to ind it. He is close to Monet and Bonnard, the masters he so admired. Alfred, you inally made it.

—Paul Parker, Santa Fe, December 2014

INDEX 1. The Artist’s Studio—Portland, 1932 Medium: Pen and ink Signature: Lower right Frame dimensions: 14 x 18 inches Image dimensions: 7.5 x 9.25 inches Provenance: Forrest Fenn Galleries; Private collection, Santa Fe

7. Bridge Street, Las Vegas, 1946 Medium: Watercolor Signature: Middle left Frame dimensions: 17.5 x 21.75 inches Image dimensions: 10.75 x 15 inches Provenance: Museum of the Southwest, Midland, TX, 1986; Private collection, Santa Fe

2. Untitled (Abstract), 1941 Medium: Oil on board Signature: Lower right Frame dimensions: 49.87 x 40 inches Image dimensions: 47.5 x 37.5 inches Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe

8. Adobes and Poplars, n.d.

Medium: Ink and watercolor Signature: Unsigned Frame dimensions: 18 x 14.5 inches Unframed dimensions: 4 x 5 inches Provenance: Private collection, Idaho

3. Untitled (Abstract), n.d.

Medium: Oil on canvas Signature: Lower right Frame dimensions: 50.5 x 26.5 inches Unframed dimensions: 50 x 36 inches Provenance: Private collection, Oklahoma

9. Blue Mountain, Yellow Sky, n.d.

Medium: Ink and watercolor Signature: Lower right Frame dimensions: 13 x 16 inches Unframed dimensions: 4 x 8 inches Provenance: Private collection, Idaho

4. Into Tomorrow, n.d.

Medium: Oil on panel Signature: Lower left Frame dimensions: 18 x 10 inches Image dimensions: 14.75 x 6.75 inches Provenance: Aaron Payne Fine Art; Private collection, Santa Fe

10. Red Roof, n.d.

Medium: Ink and watercolor Signature: Unsigned Frame dimensions: 16.5 x 13 inches Unframed dimensions: 4 x 4.5 inches Provenance: Private collection, Idaho

5. Untitled (Abstract), n.d.

Medium: Oil on board Signature: Lower right and on verso Frame dimensions: 25 x 22.25 inches Image dimensions: 22.5 x 19.75 inches Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe 6. Capilla, 1945 Medium: Watercolor Signature: Lower right Frame dimensions: 21.5 x 26.5 inches Image dimensions: 14 x 19 inches Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe

11. Untitled (Adobe), 1947 Medium: Oil on board Signature: Lower right Frame dimensions: 19.5 x 23.5 inches Unframed dimensions: 15.75 x 20 inches Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe 12. Guadalupe Plaza, 1947 Medium: Oil on panel Signature: Lower right Frame dimensions: 12.25 x 15 inches Image dimensions: 7 x 9.5 inches Provenance: Will Shuster, Santa Fe; Private collection, California; Private collection, Santa Fe

13. Untitled (Mountain Landscape), n.d.

Medium: Oil on board Signature: Unsigned Frame dimensions: 13.5 x 17.5 inches Image dimensions: 10 x 14 inches Provenance: Dee Jackson, Santa Fe; Private collection, Santa Fe 14. Four Adobes, n.d.

Medium: Ink and watercolor Signature: Lower right Frame dimensions: 16 x 18 inches Unframed dimensions: 9.5 x 7.5 inches Provenance: Private collection, Idaho 15. Green Valley, n.d.

Medium: Ink and watercolor Signature: Lower right Frame dimensions: 15 x 17.5 inches Unframed dimensions: 4 x 8 inches Provenance: Private collection, Idaho 16. Dancers at Midnight, 1947 Medium: Oil on canvas Signature: Lower left Frame dimensions: 22.25 x 28.75 inches Unframed dimensions: 18.12 x 24.12 inches Provenance: Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 1972; Center Gallery, Colorado State University, 1973; The Museum, Texas Tech University, 1976; Private collection, Santa Fe 17. Untitled (Figure), 1947 Medium: Watercolor and gouache Signature: Lower right Frame dimensions: 25.5 x 21.5 inches Unframed dimensions: 14.75 x 11 inches Provenance: Private collection, California 18. Dancing Girls, 1950 Medium: Ink and pastel Signature: Lower right Frame dimensions: 21.5 x 17 inches Unframed dimensions: 11.5 x 8 inches Provenance: Private collection, Idaho

9. Santa Fe Hillside, 1949 Medium: Oil on canvas Signature: Lower right Frame dimensions: 27 x 31 inches Unframed dimensions: 16 x 20 inches Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe 20. Untitled (Portrait of a Woman), 1950 Medium: Oil on board Signature: Lower left Frame dimensions: 31 x 24.5 inches Unframed dimensions: 24 x 18 inches Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe 21. Untitled (Lady of the Night), n.d.

Medium: Oil on panel Signature: Lower right Frame dimensions: 32 x 25 inches Unframed dimensions: 21.5 x 14 inches Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe 22. For Claire with Love, 1951 Medium: Ink and watercolor Signature: Lower right Frame dimensions: 19.25 x 21.75 inches Unframed dimensions: 11 x 13.75 inches Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe 23. Gormley Lane, Santa Fe, 1951 Medium: Oil on canvas Signature: Verso Frame dimensions: 20.5 x 22.5 inches Unframed dimensions: 16 x 18 inches Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe 24. Pecan Grove, n.d.

Medium: Oil on panel Signature: Verso Frame dimensions: 17 x 22 inches Unframed dimensions: 12.5 x 18 inches Provenance: Walt Wiggins, Santa Fe; Private collection, Santa Fe 25. Untitled (Landscape), n.d.

Medium: Oil on panel Signature: Lower right Frame dimensions: 13 x 17 inches Unframed dimensions: 10 x 14 inches Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe

26. Lady in Orange, 1953 Medium: Ink and watercolor Signature: Lower left Frame dimensions: 14.5 x 14 inches Unframed dimensions: 6 x 6 inches Provenance: Private collection, Idaho 27. Autumn in the Park, 1954 Medium: Oil on canvas Signature: Lower right Frame dimensions: 25 x 29 inches Unframed dimensions: 16 x 20 inches Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe 28. Figures in the Abstract, 1955 Medium: Ink and watercolor Signature: Lower right Frame dimensions: 15.75 x 17.5 inches Unframed dimensions: 7.75 x 9.5 inches Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe 29. Alfred to Madgie, 1956 Medium: Ink and watercolor Signature: Lower right Frame dimensions: 11.25 x 10.25 inches Unframed dimensions: 7 x 6 inches Provenance: Will Shuster, Santa Fe; Private collection, California; Private collection, Santa Fe 30. Mitzi Cat, 1956 Medium: Ink and watercolor Signature: Lower center Frame dimensions: 17 x 19 inches Unframed dimensions: 8 x 10 inches Provenance: Private collection, Idaho 31. Tuxedo, 1957 Medium: Ink and watercolor Signature: Lower right Frame dimensions: 17.5 x 15.5 inches Unframed dimensions: 9.5 x 7.5 inches Provenance: Private collection, Idaho

32. Janet Lippincott Alfred the Painter, 1953 Medium: Oil on board Signature: Lower left Frame dimensions: 24 x 19.5 inches Image dimensions: 15 x 11 inches Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe 33. Dorothy Morang Untitled (Abstract), 1955 Medium: Pastel Signature: Lower right Frame dimensions: 26.5 x 18.5 inches Image dimensions: 19 x 12 inches Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe 34. William Vincent Kirkpatrick Landscape #2, n.d.

Medium: Oil on canvas Signature: Lower left Frame dimensions: 24 x 28 inches Unframed dimensions: 20 x 24 inches Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe 35. William Vincent Kirkpatrick Untitled Landscape, n.d.

Medium: Oil on board Signature: Verso Frame dimensions: 7 x 9 inches Unframed dimensions: 5 x 7 inches Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe 36. William Vincent Kirkpatrick Country Path, n.d.

Medium: Oil on board Signature: Verso Frame dimensions: 9.5 x 7.5 inches Unframed dimensions: 7 x 5 inches Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe 37. William Vincent Kirkpatrick Upper Canyon Road, n.d.

Medium: Oil on canvas Signature: Lower left Frame dimensions: 26 x 22 inches Unframed dimensions: 19 x 15 inches Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe