William Howard Shuster

William Howard Shuster Jr. (1893–1969) was an American painter, sculptor and teacher.

William Howard Shuster Jr.
Born(1893-11-26)November 26, 1893
DiedFebruary 9, 1969(1969-02-09) (aged 75)
Resting placeSanta Fe National Cemetery
NationalityAmerican
EducationJohn Sloan
Alma materDrexel Institute
Known forPainting
Notable work
Zozobra
MovementLos Cinco Pintores
Zozobra starting to burn

He was born November 26, 1893 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the second of three children.[1] He served in the U.S. Army during World War I in France, where he developed tuberculosis after being gassed.[2] He moved to New Mexico in 1920[3] to improve his health, and became friends with the small but growing arts community.

In 1921 he became a members of Los Cinco Pintores ("the five painters"), and showed throughout Santa Fe and the rest of the country as a group. In 1924 Shuster built and burned the first ever Zozobra, a giant puppet now burned every year in effigy, and symbolizing the gloom of the passing year. In addition to painting, Shuster received a disability pension and made money doing ironwork.[4] In 1952, he created El Toro, a symbol for the Santa Fe Rodeo.

His artwork is in the permanent collections of the Stark Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Delaware Art Museum, Newark Museum, and New Mexico Museum of Art.[5]

Notes and references

  1. John Sloan ~ Will Shuster: A Santa Fe Friendship. Santa Fe, NM: The Peters Corporation. 1993. ISBN 0935037497.
  2. Dispenza, Joseph & Louise Turner (1989). Will Shuster: A Santa Fe Legend. Santa Fe, NM: Museum of New Mexico Press. ISBN 0890131988.
  3. "Oral history interview with Will Shuster". Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  4. Robertson, Edna (1975). Los Cinco Pintores. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press. ISBN 0890130809.
  5. Lewandowski, Stacia (2011). Light, Landscape and the Creative Quest : Early Artists of Santa Fe. New Mexico: Salska Arts. p. 144. ISBN 9780615469171.


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