June 21st, 2018: William Penhallow Henderson,(1877-1943)

Perhaps no other artist more perfectly exemplifies the artistic community that formed in Santa Fe in the early part of the 20th century as William Penhallow Henderson. A classically trained painter, Henderson was already an accomplished artist when his wife contracted tuberculosis, which brought them to Santa Fe in 1916. Initially, they planned to stay for one year, but like so many others, the culture of the Southwest and the high desert air enchanted them, and they stayed in New Mexico for the rest of their lives.
Partly due to the distance from traditional art markets, Henderson expanded his artistic repertoire to designing buildings and furniture. He designed the building that now houses the Wheelwright, as well as a number of residences in town, notably the White residence, now the School of Advanced Research. He created and built furniture for the houses he designed, incorporating Native American motifs with his distinctive, hand carved and hand adzed pieces.
This monumental ropero is a perfect example of the simple and elegant style, which Henderson was renowned for, of letting the natural wood and textures created by hand carving serve as ornamentation.
This armoire has the added distinction of having a removable contemporary inset, designed and built by Santa Fe artist Sergio Tapia, which perfectly caters your entertaining needs.