Taos - Ernest Blumenschein Museum

In Ledoux Street is the adobe house of the artist Ernest Blumenschein, who came here in the 19th century. On September 3rd, 1898 while driving the storm-ravaged roads of northern New Mexico, the wheel on their light surry slipped onto a deep rut and broke. The men, Burt Phillips and E.L. Blumenschein, tossed a three-dollar gold piece to determine who would carry the wheel to the nearest blacksmith for repair.

Blumenschein lost the toss and so made the twenty-mile trek to Taos with the broken wheel. Thus began a great experiment in American art.
Blumenschein and Phillips spread the word about the beauty of Taos and urged other artists to come and see for themselves. In July of 1915, Joseph Sharp, Blumenschein, Phillips and fellow artists Oscar E. Berninghaus, E. Irving Couse and W. Herbert "Buck" Dunton created the Taos Society of Artists. The entire home is open to the public, with artwork by Blumenschein and other Taos artists. There are antiques and furniture as well arranged to be much as they had been when the family was living there.