Walter Ufer’s first encounter with Taos, New Mexico was in 1914 when his patron, Oscar Mayer, the meat-packing tycoon, sent him on a painting trip. The Taos Indians were his primary subjects and he saw them as having been oppressed for centuries, forced to sacrifice their cultural and ethnic identity. He suggested that, “The Indian has lost his race pride; he wants only to be an American.” He brought his sensitivity to the plight of the indigenous peoples to his portraits such as this example.
