Ernest L. Blumenschein, (1874-1960), oil on linen, 30 x 25 inches (actual), signed lower left, E.L. BLUMENSCHEIN.TAOS., titled and signed verso: Studio Fireplace Ernest Blumenschein, The Aritst / Private Collection, NM.

In 1919, Blumenschein and his wife Mary purchased four rooms on Ledoux Street in Taos from fellow Taos Society of Artists member W. Herbert "Buck" Dunton, making their permanent home in Taos. The well-lit room depicted here was built in 1797 and had been Dunton's studio, and Blumenschein continued the tradition, taking advantage of the large window on the side wall, which allowed the pristine sunlight to enter unimpeded. Between 1919 and 1931, the Blumenscheins acquired additional rooms and remodeled the house into what is its present state. The fireplace in the studio can be glimpsed in the background of insightful and well-known portraits by the artist, including The Plasterer and Portrait of Jim Romero, both completed in 1921. It remains very much intact today, as visitors to what is now the E. L. Blumenschein House & Museum can attest.

Exhibition: Paintings of American Indians and Their Country by Ernest L. Blumenschein. Cincinnati, Ohio: Cincinnati Art Museum, February 1928, no. 42. Blumenschein: A Retrospective (1902-1958). New Mexico College of Agricultural and Mechanical Arts, 14 December 1958 - 4 January 1959 (as Fireplace).

Literature: "The Artist Colony Corner," Taos Valley News (January 7, 1928). "Museum Events," El Palacio 25.6-7 (August 11-28, 1928): 96.