Henry C. Balink
(1882-1963)

By Rebekah Powers | May 2025

Chimayo Trading has acquired a charming portrait by Henry C. Balink, an early Taos artist. This is a rare gem, unusual for Balink who was mostly known for portraits of Native American men from the many tribes of the Southwest, this is a painting of a young Hopi girl. Balink also took great care to include authentic elements of her culture, including the Shalako kachina by her side, and the Hopi manta she has flung around her shoulders.

This painting was done from life, in a Hopi home with the little girl sitting with her moccasins turned to one side, modestly. The tribal details referenced by Balink in this painting illustrate how immersed he was, and how much respect he afforded the people he painted. The manta the girl is wearing is deeply rooted in Hopi culture, when the white would have come from handspun Hopi grown cotton, the red was ravelled Bayetta wool dyed with cochineal, the blue handspun wool dyed with indigo. The girl’s large brown eyes are almost liquid with feeling and presence.

Oil on canvas – 20″ x 16″

Henry Balink was born in Amsterdam, and knew he was meant to be an artist at a young age, which his parents did not support. At 11, he raised money to finance an art education by racing bicycles and working as a stunt man for the film industry, and at 16, he ran away from home to become an artist. When he was awarded the Queen Wilhelmina Merit Scholarship, his dream became a reality.

One decision would seal his place in art history, when he and his wife immigrated to the United States at the beginning of World War I. He would go on to work for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, painting copies of work there. It was a glimpse of a travel poster for Taos, New Mexico, undoubtedly painted by one of the Taos Society of Artists that would lure him to Taos where he settled with his wife in 1917.

It has been written that Taos artists were threatened by Balink and sought his deportation on the grounds of espionage. This might be what led him to move to Santa Fe where he taught art and sculpture at the Santa Fe Indian School. Balink evolved over time from the grays and browns of his early work in the Dutch tradition, to more vibrant hues and bravura in his brushwork reflecting his enthusiasm for Native American aesthetics.

An Abrums family tie in with Henry Balink involves Gabe’s great grandfather, who was a doctor for the railroads in Trinidad, Colorado. He had collected a couple of his paintings, so when he traveled over Raton Pass, he would visit the artist in Taos.

This poignant painting is a good example of what other artists found threatening about his work, now on display in the main gallery. Henry Balink is yet another unexpected thread woven into the tapestry of historic Western Art, at Chimayo Trading.

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Ranchos de Taos, NM 87557

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