Bert Geer Phillips

Bert Geer Phillips was a pioneering American painter whose lifelong fascination with Kit Carson and Native Americans found its fullest expression in his work. A prodigious talent, Phillips was painting before he could write and earned his first watercolor award as a child. After studies at the Art Students League and the National Academy of Design, he established a New York studio, later traveling to England for pastoral watercolors. In Paris, he honed his skills at Académie Julian under Benjamin Constant and Jean-Paul Laurens and met artists Joseph Sharp and Ernest Blumenschein.

Inspired by Sharp’s stories of Taos, they journeyed west in 1898 and Phillips became the first Taos artist to settle permanently. He married Rose Martin in 1899. In 1912, he joined Blumenschein, Sharp, Irving Couse, Oscar Berninghaus, and Herbert Dunton to found the Taos Society of Artists. Phillips’ romantic, lyrical depictions of Pueblo Indians reflected deep understanding and respect. He also championed Native rights, helped secure Taos Pueblo’s sacred mountain from prospecting, and named the Kit Carson National Forest.