Monday, September 7, 2015

Abiquiu...

Friday, September 4, 2015
Abiquiu's main, and probably only claim to fame and saving grace that has protected it from the fate of so many other small adobe pueblo towns that have been left to melt in the rain and/or implode from the weight of time and neglect, is the fact that Georgia O'Keeffe lived and worked here during the later part of her life.  That she and Alfred Stieglitz treated Walker Evans poorly when he was starting out is all I know of her as a person, but as with any artist, her work speaks for itself.  She is the patron saint of American woman artists, and as such, a pilgrimage to Abiquiu has become a rite of passage that has made the place a bit of a cultural boom town, although the streets remain unpaved and commercial endeavor in the pueblo itself, nonexistent.  In fact, the whole Georgia O'Keeffe thing is so low key, it is almost un-American.  But if not for her, I would not have found the place and its many treasures.  Most extraordinary to this photo archaeologist was the discovery of the El Pinon Theater hidden away in the corner of the plaza.




On the north side of the square, at a right angle to the theater is Santo Tomas El Apostol Church.  Movie on Saturday, church on Sunday, a very short walk. 





This parish hall was on the opposite side of the plaza from the theater.  The plaza was large and appears to have had more buildings around it at one time, but I was unable to get the big picture, just the details which will give you some sense of the place.



Don't exactly know what this building is at this time, but it was on the road down the hill to the highway, and if you look to the left of the steps, you will see the pots in the picture below.



This is the road out of town leading up the hill toward the cemetery and a few more houses which Jackie told me to take.  I was reluctant, but she was right, and it does give some sense of place.




Talking about Jackie, here is a picture of her sitting outside of our room at the Abiquiu Inn at close to sunset.





Pablo







No comments:

Post a Comment