Victor Higgins: An American Master

"This exhaustive monograph establishes Victor Higgins's place in the greater pantheon of American art. With Georgia O'Keefe, Higgins can be seen as one of the two best painters of the people and places in the American Southwest."

Victor Higgins's intensely lit paintings of Taos, N.M., capture the area's austere beauty as well as the self-reliance, dignity and age-old traditions of the Native Americans. Although he was a cerebral artist who painted in a three-piece suit, Higgins (1884-1949) created works whose integrity and purity arguably place them with the best of George Bellows, John Sloan, Reginald Marsh and Georgia O'Keeffe. His strong, semi-mystical landscapes, from which human figures are usually absent, seem like transcendent revelations. Cubist-influenced watercolors of storms and mountains are reminiscent of John Marin. Higgins's Aspens series has a universal appeal, and the "Little Gems" of the 1940s--jewel-like oils of pueblo towns and sprawling mountains--make every brush stroke count. Director of the Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame, Porter writes with authority and verve in this breathtakingly illustrated study, which accompanies a traveling exhibition.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Higgins (1884-1949) is best known for landscape paintings and scenes of Indian life in and around the artist's colony of Taos, New Mexico. This lavishly produced catalog accompanies a traveling exhibit of Higgins's work and aims to establish his place in the "greater pantheon of American art." The artist's early life is explored, as are the fruitful years in Taos, where he refined techniques, met other artists, and became acquainted with D.H. Lawrence and Mabel Dodge. The watercolors and oils are distinguished by bold forms and brilliant colors. The paintings, though quite pleasing, probably don't support the author's claim that Higgins is an "American master." However, this carefully researched book is certainly recommended for libraries with a strong interest in the art of the American Southwest.
- Ste phen Rees, Bucks Cty. Free Lib., Levittown, Pa.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.