Laverne Nelson Black

Born in Viola, Wisconsin, Laverne Black became a painter and sculptor of western genre.  His style combined Impressionism and Modernism, and he did not receive much attention for his work during his lifetime but was much appreciated later for his pictorial record of western life.

In 1925, Black moved to Taos, New Mexico. There he painted the landscape, Indian culture, and horses. Many thought his best work resulted from his New Mexico paintings. On many of his works, he used modernist heavy palette knife applications and created large, loosely brushed blocks of color, but his painting still had close attention to detail.