Louie Ewing, Pop Chilee, Circa 1960

Description

This artwork titled "Pop Chilee" c.1960 is an original serigraph by noted New Mexico artist Louie Ewing, 1908-1983. It is … moreThis artwork titled "Pop Chilee" c.1960 is an original serigraph by noted New Mexico artist Louie Ewing, 1908-1983. It is hand signed in white pencil by the artist. The image size is 17.5 x 23.5 inches, framed size is 21.35 x 27.35. Framed in a wooden silver frame. The artwork is in excellent condition, the frame is in good condition, it have some minor restorations, barely visible.

About the artist:

Louie Ewing was born in Pocatello, Idaho. In 1933 he moved to California and studied art in a junior college. He followed his art professor, Stanley Breneiser, to Santa Fe in 1935. There they both taught at the newly organized Eidolon Art School, which unfortunately closed after one year. Ewing married Marrie Breneiser, his teacher's daughter, in 1935, and the couple decided to stay on in Santa Fe.

He joined the WPA's Federal Art Project working under Russell Vernon Hunter. In the late 1930s the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the Federal Art Project sent Russell a group of materials on the process of silk screening with encouragement to spread the technique in the Southwest. Russell selected Louie Ewing as the person to master the technique and show it to others. Ewing headed the WPA printmaking workshop in Santa Fe. In short order, Ewing had set up a silk screening shop and was producing prints. Silk screening became a major artistic expression in the Southwest. Louie Ewing is viewed by some to be one of the first artists in the United States to "work creatively with serigraphy" on posters and book illustrations. He also did many landscape paintings of New Mexico.

In the late 1940s Ewing taught at the Indian School in Santa Fe and trained a number of Native Americans in the silk screen technique. Later, in 1951, a group of Native Americans (Harrison Begay, Charles Barrow, and A. Hamilton Mencher) founded the Tewa Enterprises print shop in Santa Fe where the likes of Woody Crumbo, Harrison Begay and Gerald Nailor printed their work. Many Anglo artists also took up the technique, including many from surrounding states-Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma-who were exposed to silk screening while visiting Santa Fe. In a sense, Louie Ewing was the founder of this rich vein of Southwestern expression.

In 1938, Federal Arts Project of New Mexico funded a Portfolio of Spanish Colonial Design in New Mexico; and with this, he began a long series of book publications in which his original silk screens were tipped into the books. Although Ewing was not the first produce silk screens for books, he was the first in the Southwest and it was an original innovation for him. In 1939, Kenneth Chapman, curator of the Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe, collaborated with Russell Vernon Hunter in a WPA project for in which Ewing made silkscreen prints from his original paintings of fifteen Navajo blankets. The fifteen silk screens were each printed 200 times and the resulting portfolios were distributed to libraries, universities and museums.

Based on these publications, Louie Ewing is viewed by some to be one of the first artists in the United States to "work creatively with serigraphy" on posters and book illustrations. In addition to his books, Ewing produced many posters, including the posers for the Inter-tribal Indian Ceremonials held at Gallup, N.M., designing and printing them for 33 years. These posters have now become treasured collector items.

Ewing did not limit his artistic output to serigraphy. He also did many landscape paintings of New Mexico, working in nearly all media - watercolor, gouache, oil, stained glass, tile, sculpture. Ewing did not seek to acquire fame in the art world. His exhibitions were almost all confined to New Mexico.

Ewing continued to produce serigraphs throughout his life. His body of work is one of the monuments to New Mexico life in the 1930s-1970s.

Exhibitions:

- 1934 Faulkner Gallery. Santa Barbara, California.

- 1935 22nd Annual Exhibit. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, N.M.

- 1940s Twenty Prints of the Year: Selected Examples of Current Work by Leading New Mexico Print Makers. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, N.M. Five New Mexico Printmakers. Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, N.M.

- 1942 New Mexico State Fair. 1st prize in drawing.

- 1943 Spring in Santa Fe: 30th Annual Exhibit. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, N.M.

- 1944 New Mexico State Fair. 2nd prize in watercolor.

- 1947 Spring in Santa Fe: 34th Annual Exhibit. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, N.M.

- 1948 16th Annual Exhibit. Oakland Art Gallery, Oakland, California. 35th Annual Exhibit. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, N.M.

- An Exhibition of Color Prints: Seven New Mexico Printmakers. Clovis Art Assoc, Clovis, N.M.

- Dallas Print Society: First Southwestern Print Exhibition. Dallas Museum of Fine Art, Dallas, TX.

- 1949 New Mexico State Fair. 2nd prize in Graphic Arts.

- 1950 3rd Southwestern Exhibition of Prints and Drawings . Dallas Print Society, Dallas Museum of Fine Art, Dallas, TX.

- 1951 4th Southwestern Exhibition of Prints and Drawings . Dallas Print Society, Dallas Museum of Fine Art, Dallas, TX.

- New Mexico Artists: An Invitational. Museum of New Mexico Exhibition, Santa Fe, N.M.

- 1952 5th Exhibition of Graphics Arts in New Mexico. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, N.M.

- 1953 6th Exhibition of Graphics Arts in New Mexico. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, N.M.

- 40th Annual Exhibition of New Mexico Artists. Museum of New Mexico Exhibition, Santa Fe, N.M., Purchase Award.

- 1954 7th Exhibition of Graphics Arts in New Mexico. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, N.M.

- 1957 The Fiesta Show, 44th Open Door Exhibition. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, N.M., Honorable Mention.

- Southwest Artists Annual. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, N.M.

- 1958 Biennial Exhibition for New Mexico Artists. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, N.M.

- 1960 Biennial Exhibition for New Mexico Artists. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, N.M., selected for National Traveling Exhibition.

- The Fiesta Show, 47th Open Door Exhibition. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, N.M., Awarded Gallery Recognition.

- 1961 Gallery Five. Santa Fe, N.M.

- Albuquerque Public Library. Albuquerque, N.M.

- 1962 The Santa Fe Invitational Exhibition. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, N.M.

- Southwestern Artists Biennial. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, N.M.

- 1963 Biennial Exhibition for New Mexico Artists. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, N.M.

- 1975 Santa Fe Painters Gallery. Santa Fe, N.M.

- 1977 1st Armory Show. Sanata Fe, N.M.

- Self Portraits. Graphics House, Santa Fe, N.M.

- The Santa Fe Six. Fenn Galleries, Santa Fe, N.M.

- 1979 50 Years of Santa Fe Realists. Ernesto Mayans Gallery, Santa Fe, N.M. Santa Fe Festival of the Arts. Santa Fe, N.M.

- 1980 Santa Fe Festival of the Arts. Santa Fe, N.M.

- 1981 One Man Exhibition. Ernesto Mayans Gallery, Santa Fe, N.M.

- Portraits and Self-Portraits. An Invitational. Ernesto Mayans Gallery, Santa Fe, N.M.

- 1982 Louie Ewing: A Tribute to His Painting Career. Ernesto Mayans Gallery, Santa Fe, N.M.

- 1984 Memorial Show. Governor's Gallery, New Mexico State Capitol, Santa Fe, N.M.

- 1985 Louie Ewing: A Selection of his Silkscreen Prints. Fort Collins Museum, Fort Collins, Colorado. - Louie Ewing: The Silkscreen Prints. Ernesto Mayans Gallery, Santa Fe, N.M.

Collections: Museum of New Mexico, Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe; Roswell Museum, Roswell, N.M.; Palace of the Governor's Angélico Chavéz History Library, Graphics Collection, Santa Fe, N.M.



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