Alfred Morang (1901-1958) was a polymath who played the violin, wrote short stories that were published in national magazines, and painted. He opened an art school, had a local radio show, and held regular salons at his home. He frequented Claude’s Bar, the rowdy saloon on Canyon Road that served as a meeting place for fellow artists, politicians, and ladies of the evening.
Many of Morang’s paintings are like a visual diary of Santa Fe in the 1940’s and 1950’s and have a raw sense that echo the city’s spirit at that time. Technically his paintings are informed by impressionism and post-impressionism, many painted thickly with a palette knife. The best of his work can rival that of the French masters he admired.