Editing Oscar E. Berninghaus

{{short description|American painter}}

{{use mdy dates|date=March 2015}}
{{Infobox artist
| name          = Oscar E. Berninghaus
| image         = Photo of Oscar E. Berninghaus.jpg
| image_size    =
| caption       =
| birth_name    =
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1874|10|02|}}
| birth_place   = [[St. Louis, Missouri]]
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1952|04|27|1874|10|02}}
| death_place   = [[Taos, New Mexico]]
| nationality   = [[United States|American]]
| known_for     = [[Painting]]
| training      =
| movement      = [[Taos Society of Artists]]
| notable_works =
| patrons       =
| awards        = 
}}

'''Oscar Edmund Berninghaus''' (October 2, 1874 – April 27, 1952) was an American artist and a founding member of the [[Taos Society of Artists]]. He is best known for his paintings of [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]], [[New Mexico]] and the [[Southwestern United States|American Southwest]]. His son, [[Charles Berninghaus]] (1905–1988), was also a Taos artist.

==Early life and education==
Berninghaus was born on October 2, 1874, in [[St. Louis, Missouri]]. His father ran a [[lithography]] business, which stimulated an interest in [[watercolor painting]] in Oscar.  The young artist regularly sketched local scenes around St. Louis, including the [[History of St. Louis, Missouri#19th century expansion and growth|St. Louis riverfront]].  He developed an interest in business and sold his works to tourists and [[newspapers]]. At sixteen, he had quit school and taken a job with [[Compton & Sons]], a local lithography company, where he started as an [[errand boy]], but soon learned the technical details of [[engraving]], [[color separation]] and [[printmaking]]. In 1893, he left Compton & Sons and joined [[Woodward and Tiernan]], one of the largest printing concerns in the world at the time.<ref name="Peters">{{cite book |editor-last=Peters |editor-first=Gerald |title=The Taos Society of Artist: Masters and Masterpieces |year=1998 |publisher=Gerald Peters Gallery |isbn=0-935037-78-0}}</ref>

In search of something more than the practical experience he was receiving at the lithography companies, Berninghaus attended night classes at the [[St. Louis School of Fine Arts]] at [[Washington University in St. Louis]] and sketched and painted in his spare time.<ref name="Peters" />

==St. Louis artistic career==
By 1899, Berninghaus held his first one-man show, developed a reputation as an artist,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hunt |first=David |title=O.E. Berninghaus: Soulful Artist, Gentle Man |journal=American Art Review |date=February 1997 |volume=IX |series=1 |pages=124–129}}</ref> and worked teaching illustration at the School of Fine Arts.<ref>{{cite news |title=His Indian Neighbors Inspired Brush of Taos Artist of Missouri Loyalties |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/87306631 |access-date=3 July 2021 |publisher=Daily Standard (Sikeston Missouri) |date=16 November 1966}}</ref>  He was offered a [[commission (art)|commission]] by the [[Denver and Rio Grande Railroad]] to produce promotional sketches of the [[Colorado]] and [[New Mexico]] landscapes and soon traveled West.  After spending a day in Denver, he traveled south to [[Antonito, Colorado]], on a [[standard gauge]] railroad before transition to a [[narrow gauge]] track for the remainder of his trip into [[New Mexico]].  All the while, Berninghaus sketched, and was eventually invited by the [[conductor (transportation)|conductor]] to ride on the top of the train car.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.caldwellgallery.com/artists/oscar-berninghaus/biography|title=Caldwell Gallery|last=Grant Wingate|first=Zenobia}}</ref><ref name="Sanders">{{cite book |last=Sanders |first=Gordon |title=Oscar E. Berninghaus, Taos, New Mexico: Master Painter of American Indians and the Fontier West|year=1985 |publisher=Taos Heritage Publishing Company |isbn=0-9615177-1-9}}</ref>

When he passed nearby [[Taos, New Mexico]], he disembarked the train and travelled overland.  During his 8-day stay, he met and befriended [[Bert Phillips]], who had established himself as a painter in Taos the previous year.<ref name="Peters" /> Although he soon returned to St. Louis, and was married to Emelia Miller in 1900, Berninghaus was captivated by the [[Puebloan peoples|local Indian culture]] and the landscape and light of New Mexico.  For the next few years, the painter lived in St. Louis during the winters, where he pursued his commercial [[illustration]] work, and returned to Taos in the summers to pursue his [[fine art]] painting.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Sanders" />

In 1903 Berninghaus had two designs selected for the [[1904 St. Louis World's Fair]] medal competition.  In 1905 Berninghaus and his wife, Emelia, had their second son, Julius [[Charles Berninghaus]], who would go on to become a well known New Mexican [[landscape painter]] in his own right.  By 1908 the painter had firmly established himself as one of St. Louis' foremost artists, having won a competition at the ''[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]'', become a member of the St. Louis Artists' Guild, the [[Society of Western Artists (1896-1914)|Society of Western Artists]], and the [[Salmagundi Club]], and held a one-man exhibition of fifty Western paintings at the [[Noonan-Kocian Gallery]].

In 1914, a year after his wife died of [[diabetes]], the [[Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company]] release a promotional booklet titled ''Epoch Marking Events of American History'' that was composed of [[billboard]] illustrations that Berninghaus had previously completed for the company.  The book included 10 paintings by the artist featuring historical events important to the American West, including [[Hernando de Soto]]'s founding the [[Mississippi River]], [[Jacques Marquette]]'s descending the same river, [[Pierre Laclède]]'s founding of St. Louis, a scene from the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]], [[John C. Frémont]], a pioneer [[wagon train]] on the [[Salt Lake Trail]], and a [[Union Pacific]] train.<ref name="Sanders" />  Berninghaus painted a number of paintings for the Busch family throughout his lifetime, many of which were donated to the [[St. Louis Art Museum]].

==Taos Society of Artists==
{{main|Taos Society of Artists}}

In 1915, he became a founding member of the Taos Society of Artists, along with his friend Bert Phillips and four other artists.<ref name=":0" /> He was the first (temporary) chairman of the Society. He also spent more time as secretary of the Society than any other member. In 1917, Berninghaus received his first formal accolade for his Taos Indian-based fine art; the prestigious and much coveted [[St. Louis Artists' Guild]] Brown Prize for his painting ''The Sage Brush Trail''.  This painting went on to be exhibited at The Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (1917), National Academy of Design, Winter Exhibition (1917), Art World Winter Show, Academy of Design (1918), and numerous other national exhibitions. Arguably his first painting to receive national recognition and acclaim, this painting is referenced in many publications including "American Art Annual", volume 14, 1017, "El Palacio", Volume VIII (1920), "Painters, Pictures and The People", Neuhaus (1918), "Art World" Ruckstull (1917), "American Art Directory, American Federation of Arts" (1918), "Master Painter of American Indians and The Frontier West", Sanders. He continued to reside in St. Louis until 1925, when he finally made the move to Taos.<ref name="Peters"/>

Berninghaus was committed to the [[artist colony]] of Taos, maintained the Society's business affairs, and insisted that Taos would be the single location from which a distinctly [[American Art]] would originate; "We have had French, Dutch, Italian and German art. Now we have American art. I feel that from Taos will come that art."<ref name="Sanders" />

In 1936, Berninghaus was commissioned to paint ''Commerce on the Levee'', a rendition of early commercial life in St. Louis.  Upon completing the 8 foot x 12 foot canvas in his Taos, New Mexico studio, the painter is said to have wrapped the work around a [[Exhaust pipe|stovepipe]] to be shipped east.  The work was installed in the lobby of the ''[[St. Louis Globe-Democrat#Original publication (1852–1986)|St. Louis Star Times]]''.<ref name="Sanders" /> o

==Art clubs and associations==
Berninghaus was a member of the following arts organizations:<ref name="Sanders" />
* [[National Academy of Design]], New York, NY, Associate, 1926
* [[Salmagundi Club]], New York, NY
* [[Society of Western Artists (1896-1914)|Society of Western Artists]], Secretary 1911-1913
* [[Taos Society of Artists]], founding member, 1915-1927
* St. Louis Artists' Guild, board member
* Two by Four Club, St. Louis, Missouri
* Painters Group of the Middle West
* Deuce Poker Club

==Collections==
Today Berninghaus paintings can be found in the collections of:<ref name="Sanders" />
* [[Amon Carter Museum]] ([[Fort Worth, Texas]])
* [[Sid Richardson Museum]] ([[Fort Worth, Texas]])
* [[New Mexico Museum of Art]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sam.nmartmuseum.org/view/objects/asimages/People$0040142?t:state:flow=32775533-1b5a-47a5-a0df-320d66df5da1 |title=Related for Oscar Berninghaus |work=Searchable Art Museum |publisher=New Mexico Museum of Art |access-date=January 13, 2014}}</ref>  ([[Santa Fe, New Mexico]])
* [[St. Louis Art Museum]]
* [[Colby College Museum of Art]] ([[Waterville, ME]])
* [[Gilcrease Museum]] ([[Tulsa, Oklahoma]])
* [[Stark Museum of Art]] ([[Orange, Texas]])
* [[Nelson-Atkins Museum]]; [[Wichita Art Museum]]
* [[Blanton Museum of Art]], [[Austin, Texas|Austin]]

==Murals==
Berninghaus's murals adorn the walls of:<ref name="Sanders" />
* [[Missouri State Capitol]] ([[Jefferson City, Missouri]])
* [[Gateway Arch National Park]], St.Louis, Missouri
* [[List of United States post office murals#Kansas|Fort Scott, Kansas post office]], ''Border Gateways''
* [[List of United States post office murals#Arizona|Phoenix Federal Building and post office]], Phoenix, AZ
* [[List of United States post office murals#Oklahoma|Weatherford, Oklahoma Post Office]]

[[File:Oscar E. Berninghaus, Border Gateways, 1937.jpg|thumb|center|550px|''Border Gateways,'' by Oscar E. Berninghaus (1937) depicting immigrants arriving in Kansas territory following the [[Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854]]. Mural is located on the second floor of the Fort Scott, Kansas Federal Courthouse.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://explorekansas.blogspot.com/2013/08/border-gateways-by-oscar-berninghaus.html |title=Border Gateways by Oscar Berninghaus |work=Explore Kansas |date=August 18, 2013 |access-date=March 4, 2015}}</ref>]]

==See also==
* [[Ernest L. Blumenschein]]
* [[E. Irving Couse]]
* [[W. Herbert Dunton]]
* [[E. Martin Hennings]]
* [[Walter Ufer]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
;Paintings
*''[https://web.archive.org/web/20140116070223/http://sam.nmartmuseum.org/view/objects/asitem/People$0040142/0?t:state:flow=d952ad84-8b16-4857-a2ef-b886c5ca82b0 Making Camp]'' ({{circa|1930}})
*''[https://web.archive.org/web/20140116070225/http://sam.nmartmuseum.org/view/objects/asitem/People$0040142/2?t:state:flow=d952ad84-8b16-4857-a2ef-b886c5ca82b0 Spring Plowing]'' (1937)
*''[http://www.ou.edu/artcollections/collections/american/berninghaus-taos.html Adobe House]'' (1940)
*''[https://www.sidrichardsonmuseum.org/gallery.php/art/fortyniners The Forty-niners] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171028042826/https://www.sidrichardsonmuseum.org/gallery.php/art/fortyniners |date=October 28, 2017 }}'' (before 1942)
*''[https://web.archive.org/web/20140116070230/http://sam.nmartmuseum.org/view/objects/asitem/People$0040142/1?t:state:flow=d952ad84-8b16-4857-a2ef-b886c5ca82b0 The Rabbit Hunter]'' ({{circa|1945}})
*''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100224053940/http://www.ou.edu/fjjma/home/main/fall_2008/southwestern/Berninghaus.html Taos Indian Couple]''
*''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120224092439/https://www.ou.edu/content/fjjma/experience/collections/featuredCollections/TateCollection/Berninghaus_TaosIndians.html Taos Indians on Mesa]''
*''[https://web.archive.org/web/20140115042122/http://addisonrowe.com/Gallery_Artists/Oscar_E._Berninghaus/ Las Truchas Peaks, NM]'' ({{circa|1949}})

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berninghaus, Oscar E.}}
[[Category:1874 births]]
[[Category:1952 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century American painters]]
[[Category:American male painters]]
[[Category:20th-century American painters]]
[[Category:American muralists]]
[[Category:Artists of the American West]]
[[Category:Artists from Taos, New Mexico]]
[[Category:American modern artists]]
[[Category:Painters from St. Louis]]
[[Category:Taos Society of Artists]]
[[Category:Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts alumni]]
[[Category:Painters from New Mexico]]
[[Category:Section of Painting and Sculpture artists]]