Victor Higgins (1884-1949)

Unlike other members of the Taos society of Artists, Higgins was never a commercial illustrator, and the major influences on his painting were German, not French.  He studied at the Royal Academy of Munich at a time when realism was encouraged, and he continued to embrace the German method throughout his life, a method characterized by spontaneous reaction to the subject without preliminary drawing.  Although Higgins gained early recognition in painting, mostly portraits of Native Americans, his artistic fulfillment came with painting the landscape and natural forms.  In this, he became a major transitional figure linking realism with modernism.  Higgins propensity for using heavy brushstrokes and profuse paint is clearly seen in his landscapes.

Artists of the 20^th Century, NM.  The Museum of Fine Arts Collection

At fifteen, Higgins defied his parent’s wishes and left his native Indiana for Chicago, where he studied at the Art Institute and the Academy of Fine Arts.  Sponsored by collector Carter Harrison, Higgins spent 2 ½ years studying and traveling in Europe.  While in Munich he associated with Walter Ufer and Martin Hennings.  The year after his return, 1914, Harrison sent him on a painting trip to New Mexico.  There Higgins found the strong light and the lure of the land a powerful antidote to academic training.  He joined the Taos Society of Artist in 1917, but he continued to divide his time between Chicago and Taos for some years and to exhibit in New York, with occasional paintings sent to Europe.  Higgins results in painting were a rich and varied body of work in still life figure painting and landscape.

Art in New Mexcio, 1900-1945 Paths to Taos And Santa Fe: Eldrege, Schimmel, Truettner