91

Ernest Martin Hennings (1886-1956), Homeward Bound (Sunset Near Taos)
Dimensions: 30 x 30
Framed/base Dimensions: 37 1/2 x 37 1/2 x 2 3/4
Signature: signed lower left: E. Martin Hennings
verso: titled

oil on canvas
30 x 30 in.

  • Provenance: Village Gallery, Taos, NM
    Estate of Earl C. Adams, 1972
    Coeur d'Alene Art Auction, July 1997, Lot 258 (label verso)
    Acquired by KSA Industries, Inc. (label verso) from the above
  • Notes:

    Titans of the American West from KSA Industries, Inc: A Bud Adams Company

    Ernest Martin Hennings was born to German immigrant parents in New Jersey; however, his family shortly moved to Chicago. Hennings showed artistic talent as a child and family lore tells that his teachers urged his mother to allow him to study art. One afternoon, he and a young friend came upon the Art Institute of Chicago, and as Hennings told it some years later:

    “It was rather strange that I chose painting for my profession, for practically none of my family showed any artistic tendencies. It happened that when I was 12 or 13 years old, another lad and myself wandered into the Art Institute of Chicago and it was during that visit I determined to become an artist. That day I secured a pamphlet that showed me that art could be studied. That had never occurred to me.”

    He then studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago as well as the Royal Academy in Munich where he would meet fellow Chicagoans and future Taos Society of Artists members, Walter Ufer and Victor Higgins.

    Martin Hennings made Taos his home in 1921 and remained there until his death in 1956. In his Taos works, Hennings’ stylized lines create poetic visual connections between the people and the stunning high desert where they lived, conveying a deep, soulful connection to the region.

    Hennings writes: "New Mexico has almost made a landscape painter out of me, although I believe my strongest work is in figures." (El Palacio, August 1946).

    Although Hennings largely considered himself a figure painter, it was when he brought together his uniquely stylized vision of the landscape and the people of New Mexico that Hennings reached the pinnacle of his artistic achievement. Hennings would render the background first and then consider where the figures in the piece would go. Once the figures were placed, any foliage that might obscure them was added on top of that. Because of the lengthy periods required to let pieces dry, he would work on multiple canvases at a time, finishing a stage and then setting the piece aside. Hennings would never sign his name until he was completely satisfied with his work.

    In this impressionistic rendering, Hennings contrasts a moody foreground—a barefoot wood gatherer prodding a donkey along a shaded cottonwood-lined path—with glowing upper foliage and distant hills, cast into high relief by the emblematic true-blue New Mexico sky.

    By the nineteenth century, Taos Valley had few trees remaining, as everything had largely been cut for firewood and construction. The leñadores, or wood gatherers, would travel daily to the mountains to harvest wood to bring down by burro for sale in the villages across the valley. While pick-up trucks and chain saws have replaced the burro and hand-saw, the tradition of the leñadores continues in Taos today.

    To learn more about Hennings’ life and legacy, please visit the Couse-Sharp Historic Site in Taos, New Mexico or online at couse-sharp.org. Through its archives, collections and programming, the Couse-Sharp Historic Site preserves and interprets Taos’ crossroads of cultures, promoting and facilitation research, education, and new perspectives on the Taos Society of Artists, early artists of Taos, and regional and Indigenous communities in relation to the greater story of the multicultural American West.

    Essay courtesy of Couse-Sharp Historic Site, 2025.

  • Condition: The painting appears to be in very good condition. The painting was viewed under blacklight and shows a few scattered dots and a 3/4 by 3 1/8 inch area of inpainting at the center of the canvas.

Accepted Forms of Payment:

ACH, American Express, COD (cash on delivery), Discover, MasterCard, Money Order / Cashiers Check, Personal Check, Visa, Wire Transfer

Shipping

Jackson Hole Art Auction may, in its discretion and at a purchaser's request, package and ship items as directed by the purchaser. In such event, purchaser agrees to the following conditions:

a. All such packaging, handling and shipping is at the sole risk of the purchaser, and Jackson Hole Art Auction shall have no liability for any loss or damage to such items.

b. Please allow 4-6 weeks for shipping.

September 13, 2025 10:00 AM MDT
Jackson, WY, US

Jackson Hole Art Auction

You agree to pay a buyer’s premium, as outlined below, and any applicable taxes and shipping.
Buyer's Premium
$0 - $1,000,000:
20.00%
$1,000,001+:
12.00%

View full terms and conditions

Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 $499,999 $25,000
$500,000 $999,999 $50,000
$1,000,000 + $100,000