Joseph Henry Sharp

Born and raised in Bridgeport, Ohio, Joseph Henry Sharp studied art in Cincinnati under Henry Farny and Frank Duveneck before traveling to Antwerp in 1881 to continue his education. He made several other trips to Europe in the 1880s and 1890s but also began exploring the American West, first visiting New Mexico in 1883. He felt a strong connection to the landscape and people and shared that interest with fellow American artists Ernest Blumenschein and Bert Philips when he met them in Paris in 1895. Soon after, the artist began splitting his time between painting the Pueblo peoples of New Mexico and at the Crow Agency in Montana. The three later became founding members of the Taos Society of Artists and established Taos as an important arts center in the Southwest. Soon after, the artist began splitting his time between painting the Pueblo peoples of New Mexico and at the Crow Agency in Montana. The three later became founding members of the Taos Society of Artists and established Taos as an important arts center in the Southwest.