American artist Kenneth Miller Adams painted his portraits of Pueblo Indians from life. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Students League. He served in the U.S. Army in World War I. In 1924, he moved to Taos, New Mexico. He was a member of the Taos Society of Artists. In 1938, he moved to Albuquerque when he was awarded a Carnegie Corporation grant as the first artist-in-residence at the University of New Mexico. He later taught at the University until he retired in 1963. In “Taos Indian Woman,” a young Native American woman stares off into space, as if her mind wandered far from the studio. She is seated, and her body is mostly turned to the viewer, but her gaze is averted, giving the impression of being lost in thought. Her hands are folded neatly in her lap, with her fingers interwoven. Adams has paid close attention to the rendering of her hands, emphasizing their size and shape. The unidentified woman has dark hair, neatly parted in the middle and pulled back from her face. Her complexion is relatively light with noticeable, softly-painted touches of blush on her cheeks. Her lips are closed, and her eyes are downcast, yet there's a strength and dignity evident in her posture and features. Adams draped her in a Pendleton blanket of rich, bold colors – blues, greens, reds, and browns that many viewers might have mistaken for an authentic Indian textile. These blankets copied Native American designs, and Pendleton Mills shipped them from Oregon to the Southwest to be exchanged for wool, silver jewelry, and other handcrafted items. American Indians wove fewer textiles as they acquired more Pendleton blankets through trading, and unsuspecting East Coast tourists collected the blankets as souvenirs of the Wild West.
“Taos Indian Woman” by Kenneth M. Adams (American) - Oil on canvas / c. 1924-1930 - Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington DC) #WomenInArt #PortraitofaWoman #Taos #art #KennethAdams #Adams #artwork #SAAM #Smithsonian #AmericanArt #Indigenous #SmithsonianAmericanArtMuseum #NativeAmerican #beauty