Joseph Imhof - Mission at Rancho, NM
Rare print by Joseph A. Imhof, with only two proofs of this print printed on gray paper.
Joseph Imhof ‘s first exposure to art was at the age of six, when his godfather gave him a box of watercolors. When Imhof graduated from high school his father refused him further education unless he became a priest. Imhof rejected priesthood and began teaching himself lithography. He was later hired by the then famous art company, Currier & Ives.
Eventually earning enough money from this job as a lithographer, he purchased a bookstore. In 1891 Imhof quit his job, sold the bookstore, and pursued a formal art education in Europe, traveling and painting for four years in France, Germany and Belgium.
While in Europe Imhof met Buffalo Bill Cody onboard a ship, and joined him in Antwerp to spend time sketching and painting various members of the ‘Wild West Show’. This experience had a profound effect and influence on Imhof’s career. His focus shifted to ethnographic and anthropological record, more than his artistic expression. When he returned to New York, he rented a studio in Flatbush and began to study the Iroquois Indians.
In 1905 Imhof visited the Southwest for the first time to record the ceremonies of the Pueblo Indians. He later built a studio in Albuquerque, NM and spent much time in the next few years traveling around the region.
In 1929 Imhof and his wife moved to Taos permanently and built a home facing the mountains behind the Taos Pueblo. He would ask native models to live in his home for a time before he painted them.
Imhof collected Indian artifacts, and created the first lithography press in Taos.
This work is one of a very small edition, printed on grey paper. It measures 13.25 x 16.25 inches sight size, and 20.25 x 23 x 1.35 inches overall.
Signed and titled by the artist.
