Bert Geer Phillips | |
---|---|
Born |
Hudson, New York |
July 15, 1868
Died | June 16, 1956 San Diego, California |
Nationality | American |
Education |
Art Students League of New York National Academy of Design Académie Julian |
Known for | Painting |
Movement | Taos Society of Artists |
Bert Geer Phillips (July 15, 1868 – June 16, 1956) was an American artist and a founding member of the Taos Society of Artists. He was the first artist to permanently settle in Taos, New Mexico (1898) and is considered to be the founder of the Taos art colony. He is known for his paintings of Native Americans, New Mexico, and the American Southwest. He was also a benefactor of the Western artist Harold Dow Bugbee, who became curator of the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon, Texas in 1951.
Phillips was born in Hudson, New York in 1868. During his childhood he was influenced by tales of the exploits of American frontiersman Kit Carson and other tales of Western adventure involving American Indians, such as those in James Fenimore Cooper's . In his recollections of childhood, he noted that he could always be found with paintbrush in hand. He was one of the first to enroll when George McKinstry opened an art studio in Hudson.
Phillips left home at age sixteen, moving to New York City where he attended the Art Students League of New York and the National Academy of Design. In 1894 he traveled to Europe, briefly staying in London before moving to Paris, where he studied at the Académie Julian. While at the Académie he became friends with Ernest Blumenschein and Joseph Henry Sharp.