Before I left Raleigh, sculptor and gallery owner Jim of Litmus Gallery, Raleigh mentioned that we had to see Nedra Matteucci Gallery before anything else if we were going to be in Santa Fe. He highly recommended the sculpture gardens of Nedra Matteucci. We walked near the Canyon Road area of Santa Fe where a lot of the galleries are located in search of this place. When we got there, it was very hard to miss. The first thing that draws your attention is the massive sculptures next to the sidewalk. In the entrance sign photo above you can see an Indian squaw to the left of the sign. She is shown in a better view below and is by Glenna Goodacre, sculptor of the US Sacagawea dollar coin. This gallery is an unbelievable treasure, it has more art and sculpture than many of the world's major art museums.
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| 20 foot high sculpture by the road, Nedra Matteucci |
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| Indian Squaw by the sidewalk at Nedra Matteucci |
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I'm not sure if the above Glenna Goodacre sculpture is a model for the US dollar that she created. I do know that her model for the dollar coin was a 22 year old Shoshone Indian who was a student at the University of New Mexico at the time. Here is a comparison with a closeup from the above and her US Sacagawea dollar sculpture:
Entry to the gallery building is through a picturesque courtyard with interesting old trees, plantings and of course sculpture. Antiques scattered about reflect the Santa Fe and New Mexican countryside.
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| Courtyard Entrance, Nedra Matteucci |
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Inside the building the quality of the art on the walls is stunning. These are museum quality artworks (with museum quality prices in the 7 figures). We kept going into room after room of incredible art. Seated in a lot of the rooms were very well dressed art dealers, sitting at their desks in front of computer screens and talking with artists and art buyers all over the world. We thought we were intruding so several times we stopped to ask if it was OK to be in here. We were welcomed in every nook and cranny. I peeked into one of the closets in a room and saw an array of art and sculpture for worldwide buyers:
One of the Nedra Matteucci art dealers ran across the street for a Starbucks mid morning. I had to photograph her since she looked like artwork herself:
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| Fashionably dressed Nedra Matteucci art dealer |
We probably spent over an hour walking through room after room of incredible paintings and wonderful sculptures when one of the dealers asked us if we had been out to the sculpture garden yet. We were puzzled but with her direction found our way through the labyrinth of winding rooms and hallways to the back door leading to the garden. This was another of those "oh wow" moments. A one acre pond heavily landscaped with mature trees and bushes, waterfalls, lawns and sculpture everywhere was over the top of my expectations. Greeting us as we entered the garden was, you guessed it, more life size sculpture by Santa Fe artist Glenna Goodacre:
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| Glenna Goodacre Sculpture at the garden entrance |
Pictures can not do the grounds justice. This was a walled paradise with gardens, water and art everywhere.
Libbie shot this picture of the koi pond with a bird sculpture in the foreground.
Some of the sculpture is well executed with much detail. For example, I'm shooting the piece titled "Hometown" by sculptor George Willindeen. The couple is studying home blueprints and next to the man is a box of carpenter tools as can be seen in the next two photos. The blueprint can be clearly read even in the bronze.
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| Hometown | |
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| "Hometown" (partial view) |
As can be seen directly above, there is an astonishing attention to detail in the box of tools. Here then is the sculpture viewed from above. The garden wall makes an attractive backdrop.
Life imitating art is a favorite subject of mine. The following sculpture by Michael Naranjo is titled "Fountain of Youth". A shirtless barefoot boy is at the edge of the water, trouser legs rolled up, washing an unknown object in the flowing stream.
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| "Fountain of Youth" |
In a stroke of good fortune, as I walked around to the other side of the pond, a groundsworker appeared and started fiddling with the watering system (you may have to click on the picture to see it in more detail).
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| Life imitating Art |
Of course, when you try to pose something like this, results are indecisive. The work is "Child with Birds" by Stanley Bleifield. We all know Libbie and her love of birds so I wonder which subject is the Child in this photo. (hint: click on the picture and look at her shirt)
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| "Child with Birds" |
Sculptor Felipe Castaneda recreated a classic Venus at her bath with this piece titled "Banista".
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| "Banista" by Felipe Castanada |
Libbie is looking at another Felipe Castanada sculpture, this one is titled "Nativa".
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| "Nativa" by Felipe Castanada |
This Koi pond is so beautiful I would love to recreate it in my backyard. I've seen backyard makeovers where they install patios and BBQ grills and all kinds of fake looking plantings, walls, bridges and streams. This is the real thing. Forget HGTV, just build a nice Koi pond, surround it with marvelous plantings and then populate it with art worthy of the Kings and Czars. This is the Nedra Matteucci sculpture garden.
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| Emperor by Dan Ostermiller (pond center) |
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| "Summer Shower" by George Lundeen |
One of my favorite sculptures is this one by Glenna Goodacre, titled Irish Immigrants. It's a solo piece from her monumental Philadelphia memorial of the same name. The Philadelphia sculpture has 35 life size bronzes of Irish Immigrants. I'm not sure why I like this sculpture. The woman appears to be nurturing. Her cape or poncho adds to this illusion. The texture in the cloth indicates she's not a model or glamor figure but instead the basic and loving caregiver to this child snuggled against her shoulder. Her hair is simple and straight. She's devoid of any jewelry. There's many similarities here in concept to Goodacre's Sacagawea art piece. The plain, simple, giving woman as caregiver. This is the backbone of our culture captured here.
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| Irish Immigrant by Glenna Goodacre |
In contrast to the Irish Immigrant, I like the rugged individualist portrayed in this Western Art, "Waiting For an Answer". The man is a working cowboy, the anticipatory expression on his face combined with the man's dog almost in sympathy with him makes this piece work.
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| "Waitin For an Answer" by George Lundeen |
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| "Waitin for an Answer" closeup |
Sometimes the name of the work of art is just as intriguing as the art implementation itself. An example of this is "Monday" by Glenna Goodacre. I wonder what her story is? Monday is traditionally the start of the work week. Is she the artist's model starting a new week? Is she one of those people who have to work all weekend, for example in retail. Now this is her day off and she's relaxing in the sun. Is Monday the day she goes for her weekly massage or visits the sauna? Or is Monday something entirely different? Her gaze shows a focus on something in the distance. Intriguing indeed.
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| "Monday" Glenna Goodacre |
I'm not sure what to think of Doug Hyde's "Evening Star". The style is certainly different from the other figurative sculptors in this gallery.
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| "Evening Star" by Doug Hyde |
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Libbie encounters "Harvest Dreams" by George Lundeen.
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| "Harvest Dreams" George Lundeen |
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| "Harvest Dreams" George Lundeen |
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And finally, in a tribute to the whimsical, here's a 2 ton chicken, "Priscilla" by Dan Ostermiller.
I can't wait to return to the Nedra Metteucci Galleries. This makes the top of my list in Santa Fe (next to the Santa Fe Opera of course).
