Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953)

Joseph Henry Sharp was the first member of the Society to visit New Mexico and he is considered the founding father.  An established artist, he traveled to the West in 1883 and his enthusiasm was to draw other young artist’s to the area for many years.  Throughout his life Sharp’s primary concern in painting was to record Indian life before it had been significantly altered by modern influences. 

Born in Bridgeport, Ohio the Sharp family soon moved to Cincinnati where Joseph grew.  He showed an early fascination with Indians and stories of the West coupled with an interest in drawing.

Following study at the Chicago Art Institute, he traveled to Europe where his academic training was firmly secured.  Sharp did not actually see Taos until 1893 and having realized the stability of the Pueblo Indians, he spent years painting the Crow and Sioux on a reservation in Montana.  Sharp visited Taos in the summers and became a permanent resident in 1912.

Sharp’s work is distinguished by its attention to detail and scientific accuracy.  Many of his paintings depict his favorite models, in a corner of the studio among artifacts.  Often his work was executed with firelight, which lent a soft glow to his subject.  While in Montana, Sharp was commissioned to paint a series of Indian portraits and many remain as the only record of these people today.  Sharp also completed many landscapes and charming studies of Taos.

Masterworks of the Taos Founders presented by the Museum of the American West, Houston, TX