Editing Taos art colony (section)

==Postwar modernism==
===Taos Moderns===
In the 1940s a group of artists, some of whom had studied contemporary European and American modernist art under the [[G.I. bill]], came to Taos. Arriving from cities like [[New York City|New York]] and [[San Francisco]] that were centers for the forms of [[abstract art|abstract]] painting that emerged after [[World War II]], they transformed Taos into a hotbed of contemporary art. These artists became known as the "Taos Moderns" and included [[Thomas Benrimo]], [[Emil Bisttram]], [[Edward Corbett (artist)|Edward Corbett]], [[Joseph Glasco]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Witt |first=David L. |title=Modernists in Taos: From Dasburg to Martin |publisher=Red Crane Books |year=2002 |isbn=1878610783 |location=Sante Fe, New Mexico |pages=75, 135, 142, 190–191, 208–209, 259, 268–270, 266–267, 269 |language=English}}</ref> [[R.C. Ellis]], [[Cliff Harmon]], [[Janet Lippincott]], [[Ward Lockwood]], [[Louis Leon Ribak]], [[Beatrice Mandelman]], [[Agnes Martin]], [[Robert Ray (artist)|Robert Ray]], [[Earl Stroh]], and [[Clay Spohn]].<ref name="TaosModerns" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ictstandardization.com/moderns/|title=MODERNS – Ictstandardization.com|website=ictstandardization.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-05-10}}</ref> Other visiting artists include [[Richard Diebenkorn]], [[Mark Rothko]], [[Ad Reinhardt]], [[Clyfford Still]], and [[Morris Graves]]. [[Andrew Dasburg]] already came to Taos and was a mentor to many of the new artists, and his own works also evolved towards a more abstract expressionist style.<ref name=TaosModerns>{{cite web |url=http://www.harwoodmuseum.org/collections/taos-moderns |title=Taos Moderns |work=Collections |publisher=Harwood Museum of Art |access-date=2011-05-29}}</ref><ref>203 Fine Arts, Taos, http://taosmoderns.com/</ref>

Like earlier artists, they portrayed the colorful New Mexican landscape and cultural influences, such as the "timelessness they perceived in [[Puebloan peoples|Puebloan]] culture and the deep connection to the land they noted in the everyday life of both Native Americans and Hispanics influence experimentation and innovation in their own art." Rather than capturing realist images of people and the landscape, they sought to capture the true meaning of their subjects.<ref name=TaosModerns/>

===Other postwar artists===
[[File:Bill Rane, Woman Entangled c. 1990.png|thumb|upright=0.85|Bill Rane, "Woman Entangled" c. 1990. Oil on canvas, 60" x 48". This is one of Rane's best-known paintings.<ref name=THH/>]]
Other postwar artists such as [[R. C. Gorman]] and [[Bill Rane]] also made Taos their home.<ref name=TU/><ref name=Rane&Gorman>{{cite web |url=http://www.billranestory.info/id52.html |title=Bill Rane & R.C. Gorman |year=2007–2008 |work=Bill Rane Story |publisher=A j P Global Enterprises, Inc. |access-date=2011-05-31}}</ref>

[[R. C. Gorman]] (1931–2005) was an internationally renowned artist of the Navajo Nation, sometimes called the "Picasso" of the American Indian Arts. Even so, he was not accepted by the entire Taos art colony. Gorman opened "The Navajo Gallery" in 1968 on historic Ledoux Street, the first art gallery owned by a Native American in the United States. It contained a large body of his work and those of some local Taos artists. Gorman was a collector of art, such as works by European masters Picasso and Chagall, and local artists, such as Bill Rane, whose work Gorman identified as his favorite of the artist colony.<ref name=Rane&Gorman/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rcgormangallery.com/the-gallery |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080803091959/http://www.rcgormangallery.com/the-gallery |url-status=usurped |archive-date=August 3, 2008 |title=Navajo Gallery, The Gallery  |publisher=Navajo Gallery |access-date=2011-05-31}}</ref>

Bill Rane (1927 - 2005) was an artist and Taos gallery owner. His historic Taos gallery is maintained by his widow, Judith Rane.<ref>[http://www.billrane.com/ Bill Rane gallery]</ref> Bill Rane was born in Oregon, grew up in Idaho, and studied art and literature at [[San Francisco State University]] and the [[University of California, Berkeley]]. Rane lived and worked in the [[Bay Area]] of California until he moved to Taos, where he lived until his death in 2005.<ref name=THH>Bill Rane Trust, ''The Master's Hand: Reflections on Rane''. 2008, Taos, {{ISBN|9781436329088}}</ref>