A Spectacular Etching
By Gene Kloss

By Rebekah Powers | April 2024

Chimayo Trading is very excited to share the recent acquisition of an extremely desirable and rare etching by Gene Kloss, “Christmas Eve Taos Pueblo”. Gene Kloss is the legendary printmaker and painter who captured pieces of culture and history with over 600 copper etchings, drypoint, and aquatints. Of all the scenes from that she etched from memory, this rendering of the drama and magic of the ever evolving Christmas Eve ceremony illuminates the spirit of the pueblo better than any other.

Every year on Christmas Eve at Taos Pueblo, the ancient adobe buildings are the backdrop for dramatic bonfires that illuminate the holy procession from the church through the village. Kloss conveys the rhythm of the drumming and dancing, the rising smoke as it finds its way to the brilliant rays of light from the moon. Her composition, light and shadow and soft edges combine in her characteristic way to tell a complete story, but somehow allow room to dream.

“Christmas Eve Taos Pueblo”, Aquatint & Drypoint, 1946, 13″ x 16″

“Christmas Eve Taos Pueblo” was created in 1946, and includes two printing techniques, Aquatint and Drypoint. Aquatint is an etching technique in which a zinc or copper plate is dusted with powdered resin, warmed to fuse the resin to the plate and placed in an acid bath. Repeated immersions create the subtle tonal gradations for which Kloss is known. Drypoint involves a pointed steel needle, or jewel point, used to make rough edges incisions in the copper plate which creates a soft line when printed. Because the burr code erodes with printing, the edition is limited to around 30.

This image of the Christmas Eve ceremony by Gene Kloss is the one most people think of, but there was an earlier version by the same name, created 12 years earlier, both of which are included in Volumes I and II. In a letter to a friend Kloss describes the scene:

“The patron Saint is carried under its canopy, the way lit by
pine pitch torches and bonfires-the Indian songs lift with the
Smoke to the night sky. As the wind blows down from Sacred Mountain,
the light shifts revealing all as a varied, vibrant manifestation of
universal Spirit.”

There is no more uniquely spectacular experience of Christmas Eve than to attend this ceremony lasting all evening and into the night. Or, you could acquire this special moment etched in time by a name that will live on: Gene Kloss.

“West and East Mitten Buttes, Monument Valley”, Original Watercolor, ca. 1960s, 21″ x 29″

“Fraser Peak, Twining NM (Taos Ski Valley)”, Original Watercolor, ca. 1930s, 19″ x 25″

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#1 Saint Francis Church Plaza
Ranchos de Taos, NM 87557

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