Ernest Martin Hennings (American, 1886-1956)
Through the Aspen
Oil on canvas
16 x 20 inches (40.6 x 50.8 cm)
Signed lower right: E. Martin Hennings
Signed and titled on stretcher: "Through the Aspen" / by / E. Martin Hennings

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE NEW YORK COLLECTION

The aspen groves of New Mexico, dazzling in fall shades of yellow, gold, and red, provided a favorite landscape subject for the Taos Society of Artists. Where Ernest Blumenschein and E. I. Couse utilized aspens as a vibrant backdrop for Pueblo Indians hiking or riding horses, other members like Victor Higgins were drawn to the distinctive, "graphic" appearance of the trees that befit modernist compositions: slender, tall parallel tree trunks, flattened leaves branching in dense clumps high on the trunk, and white bark with dramatic black knots and grooves.

Like his close friends Victor Higgins and Walter Ufer, Ernest Martin Hennings came to Taos by way of the Munich School, Chicago, and the patronage of Chicago's former mayor, the art collector Carter H. Harrison, Jr. In 1924, Hennings joined the Taos Society of Artists and quickly developed his signature painting style: colorful, patterned, and poetic scenes of sensitively rendered Pueblo Indians communing with nature. Aspen forests were Hennings' choice setting for these tapestry-like paintings, where Indians on horseback are interlaced with the delicate trees, becoming a part of the overall natural fabric of woodlands, mountains, and sky.

Formally and conceptually, Through the Aspen illustrates Hennings' belief that man could best find wholeness and serenity in nature. Unlike the ideals of nineteenth-century painting, which diminished the scale of humans within expansive, grand vistas, Through the Aspen integrates man and nature: the two Indians are woven through the aspens like the warp and weft of a blanket. To underscore man's quiet fellowship with nature, Hennings turns the riders away from the viewer, gently guiding them through rolling hills beneath the warm New Mexico sun. The brilliance of Hennings' colors is attributed to his precise method of applying thin layers of oil paint and allowing each to dry completely before varnishing. This vibrant palette also assists in the unification of man and nature: the browns of the horses echo the aspen shadows, which create strong patterning against the yellow ground and turquoise sky.


Alternate Artist Spellings: "Hennings, Ernest Martin"

Unlined canvas; there appears to be moderate overall surface grime with several tiny accretions; light frame wear along right edge with evidence of frame pigment on work; under UV exam, there appears to be no previous restoration. Framed Dimensions 20.25 X 24 Inches