Peter Hurd at Sentinel Ranch 1968 - 1969

Peter Hurd Biography

Peter Hurd left his birthplace of Roswell, New Mexico in 1921 after receiving a senatorial appointment to West Point. He left the academy after only two years and decided to pursue a career not as a soldier but an artist. Peter sought out N.C. Wyeth in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania and studied as his private pupil. Wyeth warned Peter that studying under him would be much tougher than at West Point. Over the next ten years the warning proved true.

Peter Hurd at Chaddsford, 1920s

Peter knew he would return to the southwest one day. There he believed that the light, the air and the colors of the earth were like nowhere else. He retained his attire of cowboy boots and hat throughout his years in Chadds Ford. Peter attracted the attention of all the Wyeths, but it was N.C. Wyeth's oldest daughter Henriette with whom Peter would fall in love and marry in 1929.

Study of Henriette Wyeth, Peter Hurd, n.d.

After a decade on the east coast, Peter began to long for his independence and a return to the west. This desire ultimately lead the couple, along with their small children, back to San Patricio, New Mexico where they would spend the rest of their lives. The landscape of New Mexico inspired Peter and it was here that he developed his true artistic style.

He admired the sunlight in the region and the way it played upon the arid landscape. His delight in creating the moment was balanced by his inevitable feeling of despair. He knew the moment would be changing soon. This rush against time not only challenged Peter, but also led to his creation of field sketches.

En Rillito en la Primavera 1954

These were done quickly and with watercolor as seen in El Rillito En La Primavera. The moment is captured upon his page, yet it is inevitable that spring will come and the snow will soon melt away. The lack of people and objects emphasizes the landscapes Peter painted. His field sketches would lead to the large tempera paintings for which he is best known. In The Red Pickup we see Peter capturing the beginning of a storm as the clouds roll in forcing the workers to speed home.

The Little Red Pick Up 1967

      We also see the daylight disappear in The Day It Rained. The clouds have taken over in and the sky has completely changed colors. There is an impending sense that the sky will soon be completely black.

The Day it Rained 1965

The moment was captured in his painting, but it soon disappeared. These landscapes are the true essence of Peter Hurd. Created in the place he loved and lived for the majority of his life, these paintings are the culmination of Peter's artistic career. However, one must also remember the portraits he created, including that of his friend King Faisal of Saudi Arabia and the controversial portrait of President Lyndon Johnson. The later painting hangs in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.