Santa Fe, New Mexico 1986

Dorothy Dehner made this watercolor painting titled ‘Santa Fe, New Mexico’ on paper. Dehner’s painting presents a flattened map of geometric forms in delicate shades of pink, gray, and beige. The title directs us to understand the painting as a landscape, however, the composition of the image is in line with the grid-like order of abstract art. But even the abstract is rooted in a social and cultural history, and the history of modern art is full of artists escaping to New Mexico in search of a simpler life and the artistic freedom to explore new ideas about color and space. Was this artwork made to be progressive or conservative? Was Dehner thinking about the politics of imagery? As historians, we use archival sources, exhibition reviews, and artist’s letters, to contextualize works of art like this and to understand the power of art to either challenge or support existing social norms.