The Department of Interior designated the home and studio of Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth a National Historic Landmark.
Peter Hurd (1904-1984) was born in Roswell, NM. After a few years at the US Military Academy at West Point, his heart was leaning more to art so departed with full permission from the Academy. Hurd began his work with renowned artist N.C. Wyeth in Pennsylvania where he met his wife, Henriette Wyeth (1907-1997), daughter of N.C. Wyeth and sister of Andrew Wyeth.
They moved to the Hondo Valley in New Mexico and captured the living views of the area as depicted in Hurd’s paintings. Hurd often included acquaintances in his paintings. Driving on Highway US 70, it would not be surprising to see his old pickup parked on the side of the road and Hurd standing in front of an easel painting the colorful landscape.
Henriette Wyeth Hurd was an exceptional still life and portrait artist in her own right and spent her time raising their 3 children, painting, and encouraging her husband’s artistic projects.
THE ALAMOGORDO CONNECTION – WPA and Art-in-Architecture Programs of Federal Art Project (PFA)
In 1938 as part of the WPA (Works Project Administration), a new post office was constructed in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Upon completion of the building and as part of the Art-in-Architecture program around the nation, Hurd was given the opportunity to paint a mural on the front of the new US Post Office.
In an article in Thumbwind.com, it states, “Many of these United States Post Office murals were painted across the country from 1934 to 1943 and commissioned by the United States Department of the Treasury. Striving to boost the morale of the American people suffering from the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt commissioned murals to be painted on some Federal public buildings. The idea was to have artists paint murals that depicted uplifting subjects and scenes, which would bring cheer to those unemployed and underprivileged who could and did access them.” It further stated, “The Art-in-Architecture Program was a federal government art project initiated in 1933 and completed in 1943. The program included murals and sculptures for public display in prominent locations in the community.”
The New Mexico Magazine describes the murals in Alamogordo, NM, “There, outside the former post office (now the Otero County Administration Building), Hurd was commissioned in 1940 by the Treasury Department’s Section of Fine Arts to create three frescoes on the main entrance. To the left of the doorway, a mural depicts Hurd’s own home against the vast backdrop of the San Andres Mountains and White Sands National Park. The woman figure is based on Edna Imhoff, a teacher in Reventon; the girl is Della Joiner, daughter of the Hondo postmaster. On the right, a Hispano man based on Hondo Valley shepherd Dorothel Montoya prays for rain. “Come blessed rain, come to caress the thirsty land,” reads the inscription in Spanish beneath him.” The three-part mural surrounds the entrance of the building. The main portion of the fresco is titled “Sun and Rain” with the two flanking murals titled “Sorghum” and “Yucca.”
Exhibits and Murals
The largest collection of works by Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth is housed at the Roswell Museum and Art Center.
According to the Texas State Historical Association, “Hurd first attained national fame in the late 1930s, and over the next four decades he earned many awards and distinctions. He served as a war correspondent artist of Life magazine during World War II and received the European Theater Medal for Service Overseas in 1947. In 1959 he was appointed to the Commission on Fine Arts by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and in 1966 he painted the official portrait of President Lyndon B. Johnson; it now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington. Hurd’s art has been exhibited in museums throughout the country and is part of many permanent collections. He worked in a variety of media, including oil, lithography, watercolor, egg tempera, charcoal, and fresco. The most notable of his mural paintings depicting the history of southwestern life can be seen in Lubbock, Dallas, and Big Spring, Texas.”
Sentinel Ranch, San Patricio, NM – National Historic Landmark
Sentinel Ranch was purchased in the 1930s as home to Peter Hurd and his wife Henriette Wyeth. What started as 40 acres increased to 2,400 acres. The Sentinel Ranch is located off US 70 thirty-four minutes from Ruidoso or one hour from Roswell. The ranch incorporates the Hurd La Rinconada Gallery & Guest Homes along with the Sentinel Ranch Wine Tasting Room.
Go visit and see the amazing landscapes of the Hondo Valley captured in the paintings by Peter Hurd and relax in the breathtaking setting of Sentinel Ranch and the environment that inspired Peter Hurd and his wife Henriette Wyeth.
