Harwood Museum, Taos
Mabel Dodge Luhan and Company
American Moderns and the West
Mabel has long been a heroine of mine
she came to Taos in 1918
1918!!! It is remote now....
she put the Taos Pueblo on the map
(it is still today the most successful pueblo in those string
of ancient pueblos that still line the Rio Grande)
this is a photo by Ansel Adams in 1941
(he was just one of the artists Mabel brought to Taos)
my photo of the pueblo on my first visit to Taos in May
she meets Tony Lujan, a member of the Taos pueblo
(another photo by Adams)
buys 12 acres of land with a small house adjoining the pueblo lands
and eventually turns it into this
(not my photo)
but it shows the patio
and this is the room I stayed in on the right....
the most amazing thing about her house
is that you can just wander around and hang out
read her books
sit on her chairs
and gather up the ambience that is left
this is the stairway to her bedroom
off the kitchen
(where they make you a full breakfast - it is a great place to stay)
one can stay in her room too, but that seemed a little much
She also built several other houses on the property
and invited writers and artists to come to Taos and stay
this is the house that Frieda and DH Lawrence lived in 1922
on her property
this is a photo I took in May
the new owner totally remodeled the inside
and left the outside just like it was when the Lawrences lived there.....
many, now famous, artists and writers
came through Mabel's
Georgia O'Keefee, Ansel Adams, Carl Jung, Willa Cather, Mary Austin, the Lawrences and Dorthy Brett, Rebecca and Paul Strand, Jon Marin, Una Jeffers, Carlos Chavez, Maynard Dixon, Dorothea Lange, Martha Graham and others
the story that most fascinates me is about the Lawrences
they came to Taos in 1922, then returned in 1924
to the ranch north of Taos that Mabel gave them in exchange
for the original manuscript of "Sons and Lovers"
Lawrence invited all his friends in England to come to New Mexico
and start a community dedicated to an alternative more real way of living...
only Dorothy Brett came
that's Mabel on the left, Frida in the middle and the Brett
(as they called her) on the right
Dorothy and Mabel were both in love with Lawrence,
which Frieda was none too happy with
and they each wrote a book about him and his time in Taos
Frieda also wrote a book about her life with Lawrence and he wrote
about their time in New Mexico too...
it's a real study in human character to read all their versions...
after D H died in 1930
Frida moved back to their ranch and spent the rest of her life there....
she died in 1956 in Taos
she is another of my heroines......
Mabel wrote many memoirs about her life
which I thought were fascinating and you can find them all on Amazon
******
BACK to the exhibit
one of the best parts was seeing 2 original O'Keeffes
another highlight was to see a few of the paintings of Dorothy Brett
(she tells the story of going out and painting in the desert with Lawrence
and he came over and painted on her painting
adding things.......really?)
I find this one especially interesting
it is a really bad painting up close
but it shows her and the other two women who loved him
and Lawrence himself - her "three fates"
I really liked this one...
she also lived near the Lawrence ranch until her death in 1977
******
in 1948 Mabel and Tony build a smaller house down the road.....
she died in August of 1962 and he died in January of 1963
in 1970 Dennis Hopper buys Mabel's house and has it for 7 years
lots of famous people visited then too
story has it that Bob Dylan wrote a song on this very bench
that my sweet friend Carol and I are sitting on!!
in 1996 the house was purchased by a non-profit
and it's run as a bed and breakfast and conference center
Mabel I wish I had known you.....
xxoo
