O. E. Berninghaus

Oscar Edmund Berninghaus (1874-1952)

Berninghaus came to Taos in 1899 while on an illustration trip through the Rockies. A chance encounter with Bert Phillips in Taos led him to begin working in oils when he returned to St. Louis where he worked as a commercial lithographer. A few months of night classes at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts, led Berninghaus to a successful career as a painter and illustrator. He spent summers in Taos until 1925, when he settled in Taos permanently, drawn by the diverse population and scenic landscape. Berninghaus helped form the Taos Society of Artist in 1915. By the early 1920’s, he was well known in the East as a painter of Indians and the southwestern landscape, which remained his favorite subject for the next thirty years. Berninghaus’s family stills lives in Taos.

Source: Art in New Mexico, 1900-1945 Path to Taos & Santa Fe by Eldredge, Schimmel, Truettner.