Representing the Robert Ellis Estate, 203 Fine Art is honored to present a landscape series by a

pivotal icon of the Taos art scene. The artwork in this exhibition is a unique take on landscape

painting, with mediums ranging from oil on canvas, lithographs to drawings. Ellis, an artist and

educator, enjoyed experimenting with his own artwork, often painting landscapes from a bird's eye

perspective, reconfiguring his square canvas to create diamond forms, and creating rhomboid-shaped

mono-prints of valley views and landmark scenes of northern New Mexico.

It was the rich, cultivated farmlands of Northern New Mexico that inspired the geometric realizations

of Ellis’ landscape series, particularly the San Cristobal Valley, which surrounds the D.H. Lawrence

Ranch. After teaching a workshop at the ranch, which ultimately led to his discovery of the

surrounding land, Ellis returned every weekend to capture his unique perspective.

While creating this landscape series, Ellis remained professor emeritus at UNM in Albuquerque. After

dedicating almost a decade to his field studies of Northern New Mexico, Ellis became Director of the

Harwood Museum of Art in 1990. Through this position, Ellis befriended and supported the artists in

Taos, helping to promote the more modern and forward-thinking. It is here that Ellis becomes

accredited with one of his most profound acts of service to the larger Taos community, by procuring

seven large, minimalist paintings by Agnes Martin. These paintings are on permanent display at the

Harwood Museum. Through the creation of his own artwork and of those he supported, Robert Ellis

imparted a major contribution to the legacy of art in Taos.

Since his time as Curator of Education at the Pasadena Art Museum in the 1950s, where he helped

establish Southern California’s reputation as a major contemporary art center, Robert M. Ellis’s

professional career as an artist and educator spanned six decades. Working with artists like

Andrew Dasburg and discovering paintings by Agnes Martin spurred a curiosity for New Mexico that

would be physically explored later in his career. Through this exhibition, we invite the public to

discover this unique collection, along with the Robert Ellis Estate’s mission of preserving and reviving

the art and history of this important artist.

For more information, please visit: https://203fineart.com/robert-m-ellis/