Now is the Time

If you have ever been inclined to visit Albuquerque this would be a good time, particularly if you are interested in Twentieth Century American Art and Art History.  I say this because I just visited the current exhibit at the Albuquerque Museum of Art, Mabel Dodge Luhan & Company: American Moderns and the West.  This is a gigantic show with over 150 pieces related to Mabel Dodge Luhan and her artist friends who gravitated toward Taos, New Mexico in the first half of the last century. 

The exhibit started off at the Harwood Gallery in Taos; it will be in Albuquerque until January 22nd and will then go to Buffalo on March 10th.

As luck would have it I came across a copy of Mabel's biography at my local used bookstore and am about half way through it at the moment.  The author, Lois Rudnick, is one of the curators of the exhibit.

While the show has virtually something for everyone given Mable's vast circle of friends, what interested me of course was the photography.  There are fine examples in the show of work by Ansel Adams, Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand and many others.  A portrait of Tony Lujan, Mabel's last husband, has made me rethink my ideas about Adams who has worn a bit thin for me, particularly his later portraits.  The Lujan picture is very strong and clearly shows the influence of Strand who mentored Adams in Taos.

Tony Lujan, Taos, New Mexico 1929 by Ansel Adams