New Mexico artists' ranch designated a national historic landmark

A pair of renowned artists’ Lincoln County home and studios were designated a National Historic Landmark on Monday.

The Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth house and studios in San Patricio were one of 19 new National Historic Landmarks announced by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. Wyeth was an accomplished Realist painter, while Hurd was known for depictions of ranching and Hispano culture.

“I don’t think (Hurd) was as fully appreciated as an artist as he deserved,” said Steven Moffson, state and national register coordinator with New Mexico’s Historic Preservation Division. “His art really focused on where he lived, the Hondo Valley in Lincoln County. So, he painted all the Hispanic workers that would help him. He painted all the people in the community. He focused on painting landscapes of the area.”

The designation is the highest recognition the federal government gives historically significant properties. While there are approximately 2,000 national historic register listings in New Mexico, this is only the 47th National Historic Landmark designated in the state, according to Moffson.

The couple’s family home and studios, also called Sentinel Ranch, remain in the same state as they were when in use by Hurd and Wyeth from 1934 to 1974, according to the National Historic Landmark summary.

Hurd often painted his neighbors, ranch hands and landscapes, and he developed a technique for painting with egg tempera on gesso panels, “which allowed him to capture the distinctive light and atmospheric conditions of New Mexico in large, luminous paintings,” according to the NHL summary.

Wyeth was known for her portraits and painted the official White House portrait of first lady Pat Nixon. She was also part of a Pennsylvania artistic dynasty: the eldest daughter of famed illustrator N.C. Wyeth.

Wyeth needed to “establish a sympathetic understanding between artist and subject,” according to a 1971 article in The Albuquerque Tribune.

“I can’t have some crashing moneyed boor sitting in my studio. It’s too hard for me not to start an argument,” she told the Tribune.

In 1964, the couple was commissioned together to paint a portrait of President Lyndon B. Johnson for the cover of Time Magazine when Johnson was named “Man of the Year.” Both artists were also recipients of the New Mexico Governor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts. Hurd won in 1977, while Wyeth received the award in 1981.

The Hurd house is privately owned by the couple’s youngest son, Michael Hurd, himself a painter. The ranch is operated as an art gallery with a collection of Hurd-Wyeth family artwork and has guest houses where visitors can book a stay.

Michael Hurd was also recognized by the New Mexico Governor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts in 2016 for his artistic work and for “vitally important work to preserve and enhance his family’s legacy and historic property in New Mexico,” the award description reads.

Cathy Cook is a news reporter for the Albuquerque Journal. Reach her via email at ccook@abqjournal.com.